Page 2252 - Saunders Comprehensive Review For NCLEX-RN

Priority Nursing Actions

Anxiety in a Client

1. Provide a calm environment, decrease environmental stimuli, and stay with
the client.
2. Ask the client to identify what and how she or he feels.
3. Encourage the client to describe and discuss her or his feelings.
4. Help the client identify the causes of the feelings if she or he is having
difficulty doing so.
5. Listen to the client for expressions of helplessness and hopelessness.
6. Document the event, significant information, actions taken and follow-up
actions, and the client’s response.

Reference

Varcarolis (2017), p. 134.

1. Recognize the anxiety.
2. Establish trust.
3. Protect the client.
4. Modify the environment by setting limits or limiting interaction with others.
5. Do not criticize coping mechanisms.
6. Provide creative outlets.
7. Monitor for signs of impending destructive behavior.
8. Promote relaxation techniques, such as breathing exercises or guided
imagery.
9. Monitor vital signs, and administer antianxiety medications as prescribed.
10. Do not force the client into situations that provoke anxiety.

The immediate nursing action for a client with anxiety is to decrease stimuli in the

environment and provide a calm and quiet environment.

E. Interventions: Mild to moderate levels

1. Help the client identify the source of their anxiety.
2. Encourage the client to talk about feelings and concerns.
3. Help the client identify thoughts and feelings that occurred before
the onset of anxiety.
4. Encourage problem solving.
5. Encourage gross motor exercise.

F. Interventions: Severe to panic levels

1. Reduce the anxiety quickly.

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