Psychiatric Nursing
THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION – Principles or Characteristics, Techniques and Non-therapeutic Communication Therapeutic communication is an interpersonal interaction between the nurse and the patient during which the nurse focuses on the patient’s specific needs to promote an effective exchange of information. All nurses need skills in therapeutic communication to effectively apply the nursing process and to meet …
NURSING PROCESS – Definition, Steps, Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation and Evaluation DEFINITION Nursing process is an orderly, systematic manner of determining the patient’s problems, making plans to solve them, initiating the plan or assigning others to implement it and evaluating the extent to which the plan was effective in resolving the problems identified. The five …
NURSING DIAGNOSIS Nursing diagnosis is defined as clinical judgments about individual, family or community responses to actual and potential health problems. Nursing diagnoses are used to describe nursing interventions, and to delineate the parameters for developing outcome criteria. A nursing diagnosis statement consists of the problem of patient response and one or more related factors …
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS – Instruments for Assessment of Symptoms Psychological testing of patients is ideally conducted by a clinical psychologist who has been trained in the administration, scoring and interpretation of these procedures. Instruments for Assessment of Symptoms Brief psychiatric rating scale Psychiatric symptom checklist Clinical global impression Anxiety self-rating scale Hamilton anxiety scale Beck’s anxiety …
NURSING MODEL Nursing focuses on the individual’s response to potential or actual health problems. Under the nursing model, human behavior is viewed from a holistic perspective. Nursing View of Behavioral Deviations Behavior is viewed on a continuum from healthy adaptive responses to maladaptive responses that indicate illness. Each individual is predisposed to respond to life …
INVESTIGATIONS IN PSYCHIATRY Investigations are useful to detect alteration in biologic function and to screen for medical disorders causing psychiatric symptoms. Routine Investigations A complete hemogram (total and differential blood count, hemoglobin, ESR) and urinalysis are the basic routine tests. Leucopenia and agranulocytosis are associated with certain medications (Clozapine). Treatment with lithium and neuroleptic malignant …
HOLISTIC MODEL The holistic view of the patient, with the body and soul seen as inseparable, and the patient viewed as a member of a family and community was central to Nightingale’s view of nursing. The primary goal of nursing is to help patients develop strategies to achieve harmony within themselves and with others, nature …
QUALITIES OF A PSYCHIATRIC NURSE Certain attitudes are necessary for a psychiatric nurse to deal with psychiatric patients. These include: SELF-AWARENESS A Psychiatric nurse should have a realistic self-concept and should be able to recognize her own feelings, fantasies and fears. She should analyze her own professional strengths and limitations. Her ability to be aware …
PSYCHIATRIC NURSING SKILLS Mental health nursing is the practice of promoting mental health as well as caring for people who have mental illness, potentiating their independence and restoring their dignity. In order to fulfill this arduous occupation, a mental health nurse must possess a sound knowledge base and the requisite skills for good nursing practice. …
NATURE OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING Psychiatric nursing is a profession, possessing its unique history, ideology, knowledge and skills. It provides services to individuals whose primary health needs are related to mental, emotional and developmental problems, especially serious disorders and persistent disabilities. It is committed to the maintenance, promotion and restoration of optimal mental health for …
