A nurse is taking a health history from a client who states that he ha

A nurse is taking a health history from a client who states that he has been to numerous physicians and has had numerous laboratory tests (all of which were abnormal) and exploratory surgery, but no one is able to explain the etiology of his problem.

The client also states that he has a PhD in epidemiology and he has a rare form of a neurological disorder. The nurse who utilizes critical thinking will make this statement:
1. “Why don’t you just tell your physician what you think you have?”
2. “Did you bring your prior tests and results with you, so we don’t repeat anything?”
3. “If you know what you have, what do you want from us?”
4. “Describe what tests you’ve had and explain the symptoms of this disorder.”

ANSWER

Correct Answer: 4
Rationale 1: “Why” questions make clients very defensive and doing so does not utilize critical thinking skills.
Rationale 2: Asking a “yes/no” question offers little other information and doing so does not utilize critical thinking skills.
Rationale 3: Asking the client what he wants does not help to find out more information about the client’s situation or prior history and doing so does not utilize critical thinking skills.
Rationale 4: In critical thinking, the nurse also differentiates statements of fact, inference, judgment, and opinion. The nurse will have to ascertain the accuracy of information and evaluate the credibility of the information sources.