Trivium Patient Communication Skills 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A patient with limited English proficiency needs discharge instructions. What is the BEST approach?
- Speak loudly and slowly in English
- Use a qualified medical interpreter (Correct answer)
- Ask the patient's bilingual family member to interpret
- Provide written instructions only in English
Correct answer: Use a qualified medical interpreter
Using a qualified medical interpreter ensures accurate and unbiased communication for patients with limited English proficiency.
Question 2: Which technique best demonstrates active listening during a patient interview?
- Completing documentation while the patient speaks
- Maintaining eye contact and nodding appropriately (Correct answer)
- Interrupting to clarify points as they arise
- Standing near the door to signal time constraints
Correct answer: Maintaining eye contact and nodding appropriately
Maintaining eye contact and nodding shows the patient they are being heard and encourages continued communication.
Question 3: A patient becomes tearful when discussing their diagnosis. The healthcare worker should FIRST:
- Change the subject to reduce distress
- Offer a tissue and acknowledge their feelings (Correct answer)
- Call a social worker immediately
- Continue explaining the diagnosis without pause
Correct answer: Offer a tissue and acknowledge their feelings
Acknowledging the patient's emotional response shows empathy and helps build therapeutic rapport before continuing.
Question 4: Closed-ended questions are MOST useful when:
- Exploring a patient's feelings about their illness
- Gathering specific factual information quickly (Correct answer)
- Building rapport during the initial interview
- Encouraging the patient to elaborate on symptoms
Correct answer: Gathering specific factual information quickly
Closed-ended questions elicit specific yes/no or factual answers, making them efficient for gathering precise clinical data.
Question 5: Which statement by a healthcare worker BEST reflects the use of 'I' messages in therapeutic communication?
- 'You need to calm down before we can continue.'
- 'I feel concerned when appointments are missed because it affects your care.' (Correct answer)
- 'Everyone gets nervous about procedures like this.'
- 'You should have told us sooner about these symptoms.'
Correct answer: 'I feel concerned when appointments are missed because it affects your care.'
'I' messages express the speaker's perspective without blaming the patient, reducing defensiveness and promoting dialogue.
Question 6: When documenting a patient's statement in the medical record, the healthcare worker should:
- Summarize the statement in clinical language
- Record the patient's exact words in quotation marks (Correct answer)
- Omit statements that seem medically irrelevant
- Paraphrase to make the record more professional
Correct answer: Record the patient's exact words in quotation marks
Recording exact patient statements in quotes accurately preserves the patient's own account for legal and clinical purposes.
Question 7: A patient refuses to make eye contact and gives one-word answers. The MOST appropriate response is to:
- Document the patient as uncooperative
- Use open-ended questions and allow periods of silence (Correct answer)
- Reschedule the appointment for another day
- Ask a colleague to take over the interaction
Correct answer: Use open-ended questions and allow periods of silence
Open-ended questions and comfortable silences invite a withdrawn patient to engage at their own pace without pressure.
Trivium Patient Communication Skills 2
A patient with limited English proficiency needs discharge instructions.
What is the BEST approach?