Sample interview questions: How do you handle situations where patients express delusions or hallucinations?
Sample answer:
Handling Delusions or Hallucinations in Psychiatric Nursing
- Remain calm and non-judgmental.
- Validate the patient’s experiences. Acknowledge that their perceptions are real to them, even if they differ from objective reality.
- Use empathy and understanding. Try to see the situation from the patient’s perspective and understand the underlying causes of their beliefs or experiences.
- Avoid challenging or confronting the delusions. This can escalate the situation and increase anxiety.
- Focus on the patient’s feelings and needs. Provide emotional support and help them cope with the distress associated with their delusions or hallucinations.
- Distract or redirect the patient. Engage them in other activities or conversations to help them focus on other aspects of reality.
- Use reality orientation techniques.<... Read full answer
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