A 38-year-old woman is scheduled for a breast-conservation therapy with a lumpectomy. As the nurse prepares her for surgery, she begins to cry and says, "I just do not know how to handle all of this." An appropriate response to the patient by the nurse is,

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The nurse encourages the patient to express feelings about the diagnosis and surgery. The response beginning, "I can see you are really upset" may indicate that the nurse is uncomfortable being with the patient while she is upset. The response beginning, "The important thing is that the tumor was found" places the nurse's value system above the patient's current concerns. And the response, "With this surgery you will have very little change in the appearance of your breast" does not address all the patient's possible concerns and is not true.

A 38-Year-Old Woman Is Scheduled for a Breast-Conservation Therapy with a Lumpectomy