If a patient exhibits anxiety during teaching, which approach is best?

• A. Increase pace and information.
• B. Ignore the anxiety.
• C. Provide reassurance and maintain a calm, supportive environment.
• D. Use more technical jargon.

Answer: (C)

When a patient shows anxiety during teaching, the priority is to ease fear and create a calm, supportive learning environment. Anxiety heightens arousal and narrows focus, which makes it hard to process new information or remember it later. Providing reassurance and a steady, nonthreatening demeanor helps lower physiological arousal, builds trust, and makes the patient more willing to engage, ask questions, and participate in the teaching. In practice, speak slowly, use plain language, present information in small, manageable chunks, and check understanding with teach-back. Pushing more information or jargon while the patient is anxious would hinder learning, and ignoring the anxiety or using a more intense pace would not help the patient absorb the material.