A nurse wants to teach alternative coping strategies to a patient experiencing severe anxiety. Which action should the nurse perform first?

A) Verify the patient's learning style.
B) Lower the patient's current anxiety.
C) Create outcomes and a teaching plan.
D) Assess how the patient uses defense mechanisms.

A patient experiencing severe anxiety has a markedly narrowed perceptual field and difficulty attending to events in the environment. A patient experiencing severe anxiety will not learn readily. Determining preferred modes of learning, devising outcomes, and constructing teaching plans are relevant to the task but are not the priority measure. The nurse has already assessed the patient's anxiety level. Use of defense mechanisms does not apply.