How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching and Counseling in Difficult Circumstances | Page 83

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communicating any sense of superiority, of belittling the patient in any way, instead being ‘very
appreciative of how difficult it is’ and expressing gratitude for their efforts and work.
Assist, do part of the task (6/28)
Instead of abandoning patients to complete the task themselves, once they had agreed, nurses
suggested that with some patients it was a good idea to render further assistance: ‘the main thing
would be to do things with them’. Finding the right level of assistance to provide was considered to
be a ‘fine balance between being caring and encouraging people to take action without actually
taking the action for them’. Starting to give assistance also ran the risk of eliciting passivity from
the patient and frustration from the nurse at the slow pace of progress, with one nurse confessing ‘I
would probably end up doing a