Master recap: the technique bank, the blocker bank, and the ten-minute drill

THE TECHNIQUE BANK — what the patient does next

• Broad opening — chooses the topic
• Open-ended question — supplies detail
• General lead — continues talking
• Silence — fills the space
• Restating — elaborates the detail
• Reflecting — confirms or corrects the feeling
• Clarifying — resolves the ambiguity
• Focusing — narrows to one thing
• Exploring — goes deeper
• Making an observation — explains the behavior
• Offering self — stops being alone
• Verbalizing the implied — names the unsaid
• Presenting reality — hears the difference safely
• Seeking consensual validation — agrees on meaning
• Summarizing — checks your understanding

THE BLOCKER BANK — what it costs

• False reassurance — ends the topic
• Giving advice — removes the decision
• Approval or disapproval — makes the nurse the judge
• Requesting an explanation — demands a defense
• Defending — sides against the patient
• Minimizing — denies the size of the feeling
• Changing the subject — abandons the cue
• Closed questioning — yields one word
• Stereotyped comment — signals no one is listening
• Probing — extracts without consent
• Challenging the belief — provokes escalation

THE TEN-MINUTE DRILL — mark each response T or B, then write the blocker code beside every B.

1. "Tell me more about that." 2. "You'll feel better once you're home." 3. "You seem close to tears." 4. "Why didn't you call someone?" 5. "I will stay with you until it passes." 6. "Everyone gets nervous before surgery." 7. "You said the voices are louder at night." 8. "What you need to do is talk to your daughter." 9. Silence, remaining seated with the patient. 10. "Did you sleep well?" 11. "I do not hear the voice, but I believe you hear it." 12. "That was the right decision." 13. "You mentioned feeling trapped. Say more about trapped." 14. "Let's look at your discharge paperwork instead." 15. "I notice you have not eaten today." 16. "Dr. Reyes would never say that to you." 17. "Are you thinking about killing yourself?" 18. "It could be much worse." 19. "So the panic starts when you are alone in the car." 20. "Why do you think you are depressed?"

Answer key, set inverted in the bottom margin: T — 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19. B — 2 reassurance, 4 why-question, 6 stereotyped comment, 8 advice, 10 closed question, 12 approval, 14 changed subject, 16 defending, 18 minimizing, 20 why-question.

CROSS-LINK INDEX — response pattern p.3 · defense mechanisms p.4 · delirium p.5 · psychotropic emergencies p.6 · mood, anxiety, trauma, eating, and electroconvulsive therapy p.7 · psychosis, personality, and substance p.8 · suicide risk p.9 · legal status p.10 · de-escalation, seclusion, milieu, and crisis intervention p.11

OUTBOUND POINTERS — → BOOK 01 · P21 the six always-right moves · → BOOK 03 delegation · → BOOK 04 · P11 general restraint · → BOOK 05 class-level pharmacology · → BOOK 06 math · → BOOK 07 · P6 every value · → BOOK 12 · P10 postpartum screening · → BOOK 16 the countdown plan

Margin noteif you can sort these cold, psych is done.

Takeawaythe technique bank and the blocker bank are one skill, and the drill proves whether it transfers under time pressure.