Many patients are resistant to taking health advice from nurses, even when it's objectively good for them.

Asking patients what they know builds trust and helps nurses tailor information to their needs.

Sharing info in small, manageable chunks boosts patient understanding and engagement.

Asking permission before offering advice respects autonomy and lowers defensiveness.

A Problem and an Opportunity

Nurses garner more public trust among Americans than any other group of professionals and provide a large proportion of direct patient care.1,2 Even so, patients may not adhere to nurses’ medical and lifestyle recommendations. Indeed, unless patients are highly motivated, they may tune out or resist such medical advice, or agree but then fail to follow through.

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a research-backed communication approach that evokes a patient’s intrinsic motivation and can help them resolve ambivalence and move towards positive change.3 I’ve witnessed its efficacy first-hand in my clinical practice, but don’t just take it from me: Peer-reviewed studies and meta-analyses show that an MI-consistent approach is associated with improvements in medical adherence, lifestyle behavior change, patient satisfaction, and even medical outcomes.4,5

After training thousands of nurses and other healthcare professionals in MI, I’ve found that one technique in particular, called Ask—Offer—Ask, consistently ranks among the most helpful tools. Ask—Offer—Ask allows nurses to discover what a patient already knows about a topic and then offer targeted information (including corrective information) in small, manageable chunks. The result is a flowing nurse-patient dialogue that inspires cooperation and decreases resistance.

Interested? Here’s how to do it.

This step actually has three parts:

Ask the patient what they already know (or think they know) about a topic.

Share a reflective statement that summarizes or reiterates what the patient has said.

Ask permission to share information on the........

© Psychology Today