The nurse is sitting with a patient diagnosed as having schizophrenia,disorganized type,who starts to laugh uncontrollably,although nothing funny has occurred.The nurse should say:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The patient is likely laughing in response to inner stimuli such as hallucinations or fantasy.Focusing on this clue to internal stimuli and exploring the patient's experience of this stimuli (e.g. ,the content of the hallucination)shows an interest in the patient and provides potentially valuable assessment data,enabling the nurse to better understand the patient.The other options are less useful in eliciting a response,since no joke may be involved,and the patient is probably not focusing on what the nurse said in the first place."Why are you laughing?" implies that the behavior is wrong or unacceptable,diminishing the patient's self-esteem and hampering the therapeutic relationship.

The Nurse Is Sitting with a Patient Diagnosed as Having