DISCUSSION POST #2.1—COMMUNICATION TRAPS:
Initial Post
As you've learned, there are ten communication traps. These traps include:
For this discussion, you should respond to the following set of questions. In your
discussion post, be thoughtful and thorough in your response.
Discussion Questions:
Answer each of the following questions:
For each communication trap, provide an example of a poor
communication exchange with a patient.
1. False assurance : A patient who is severely ill and has been in the hospital
longer than they had expected expressing their frustration about this to their
nurse and the nurse replying and saying, “Don’t worry, I promise things will get
better”.
2. Unwanted advice: a patient stating: “I don’t know what to do about my brother.
He is so lost.” Nurses reply: “If I were you, I would call him up today and
explain to him that you can’t support him any longer and that he needs seek
help.”
3. Using authority: a postoperative patient asking, “Why do I need to keep getting
the Lovenox injections, I am walking frequently and wearing compression
socks?” and the nurse stating: “Your doctor and surgical team has this
medication ordered for you still for a reason and he knows best what you
need.”
4. Avoidance language: a palliative care provider who was consulted for a patient
due to ineffectiveness of cancer treatment and poor prognosis asking the
patient “Do you want comfort care?” or “Do you want us to focus on keeping
you comfortable?” and the patient saying, “Yes of course”. Not realizing that
the provider was actually asking “Would you like us to stop efforts to prolong
your life and “only” provide ongoing interventions to alleviate
symptoms/provide comfort.
5. Engaging in distancing: A provider performing a testicular exam on a male
patient stating, “there is a lump in the left testicle.” Instead of saying “there is
a lump in your left testicle.”
6. Using professional jargon: A provider after reviewing a patient’s radiographic
results after they fell stating to them “You’ve sustained a comminuted tibial
plateau fracture that is going to require an ORIF.”
7. Leading/biased question: A provider/nurse asking a patient “You don’t use any
illicit substances or street drugs, do you?
8. Talking too much: A patient is explaining and answering questions related to
their social history during a patient interview and the provider keeps providing
lengthy advice and their own personal rhetoric after each short response that
