Using the OARS strategy for communication, Write 3 open-ended questions, 3 affirmations, and 1 reflection statement for each scenario below:

Scenarios for round 2:

1. Resident has just moved to long-term-care. He is mentally intact but has been weak and falling at home. His children live far away and have just left after moving him to the facility. He says that he wants to go home but knows it isn’t safe. He is angry at himself and his children for making him leave his home of 40 years.

2. You are speaking with a patient who has MS. He was admitted to your SNF after a fall and feels hopeless. He knows this is a lifelong condition that will eventually end in death. He is 55 and had been in good health. He says he is depressed and wants to just die and get it over with.

3. (No resident role. Switch to co-worker role) You have a coworker who is constantly bossing and berating the younger and less experienced staff around. They have told you they are scared of this coworker and want to quit. You and the coworker are in the breakroom and you want to talk about this with her to see if she will change her behavior.

What Are Some Techniques for Handling Difficult People? Now that we have discussed conflict-management techniques, we are ready to look at techniques for handling difficult people. How do you deal with an abusive physician or supervisor? How do you react when someone constantly complains and grips about something? How do you handle the know-it-all who will not even listen to your thoughts about an issue? Implications for Nursing Practice Effective role socialization occurs when the nurse engages in actions that benefit other nurses and/ or patients and families by helping, supporting, and encouraging mutual goal accomplishment and/ or well-being.

There must be positive interdependence among the nursing staff. • Nurses must understand and use constructive conflict-management skills. • Mediation techniques should be employed when disputes arise between employees and/ or patients and their families. • There must be a high level of trust among the nursing staff. • Prosocial behavior should be noted among staff, with the feeling of “sink or swim together” versus “you sink and I swim.” • Do not procrastinate in dealing with difficult employees, patients, or their families. • A high basic self-esteem is noted among nursing staff in an empowering, healthy workplace environment. • The conflict negotiation strategy used may be collaboration (win-win) or mediation. Considering this Information How might you use some of the strategies listed in this chapter to handle a difficult employee? What types of activities are you involved in as a student that promote a positive professional practice environment? What essential skills would be important for a nurse to possess to serve as a mediator?

1) Sexual Addiction: What qualifies something as a sexual addiction?

• Can you think of a behavior that you would qualify as a paraphilia that does not qualify as a sexual addiction? On which qualification does it escape the label of addiction? Do you think sex addiction is an adequate explanation for paraphilic behavior?

2) Determining Abnormality: What is a statistical definition of abnormality? How do sociological, psychological, and medical approaches to abnormality differ from the statistical definition?

• Which do you think is the proper approach to use?
• How would each approach evaluate a person who watches soft-core pornography on a daily basis?