Transcript How to Prevent Harmful Events and Promote Patient Safety

Communication for Nurses: How to Prevent Harmful Events
and Promote Patient Safety
Chapter 9
The Patient-Safe Communication
Strategy of Humor
Communication for Nurses: How to Prevent Harmful Events
and Promote Patient Safety
Encourage Emotional Release Using
Patient-Safe Humor
 Reduces stress levels if used effectively
 Something (verbal or nonverbal) that is
amusing and results in smiling or laughter
 Joke, kid, clown, mimic
 Laugh at imperfections in ourselves and laugh
WITH others about the imperfect nature of
situations
Communication for Nurses: How to Prevent Harmful Events
and Promote Patient Safety
Physiological Effects of Laughter and
Humor
 Arousal Phase
 Catecholamines (adrenaline) released , increasing blood pressure,
respirations, heart rate, and muscle contractions
 Stimulates immune system
 Laugh till cry—tears contain steroids and toxins produced under stress
 Can reduce the perception of pain
 Relaxation Phase
 Automatic muscular tensions are released
 Drop in blood pressure and heart rate below the pre-laughter levels
 Feels good to laugh
Communication for Nurses: How to Prevent Harmful Events
and Promote Patient Safety
Nontherapeutic Humor
 Malicious teasing or putdowns
 Do not use if patient is very ill or distraught
 What is funny to one person can be insulting
to another (know background of the person)
Communication for Nurses: How to Prevent Harmful Events
and Promote Patient Safety
How patients use humor
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Emotional situations
Embarrassing situations
Unpleasant situations
“Hopeless” situations
Avoidance tactic
Communication for Nurses: How to Prevent Harmful Events
and Promote Patient Safety
How nurses use humor
 Make contact with patients and establish and
maintain nurse-patient relationships
 Emotional stability (put a distance between
self and pain and suffering)
 Patient education
Communication for Nurses: How to Prevent Harmful Events
and Promote Patient Safety
Now you’ve blown it….
 Patient is offended by your attempt at humor
 “I’m sorry; this is a serious situation, and I
shouldn’t have been joking. I joke to release
my own tensions.”