Psychology | Distance Learning Systems (DLSI)

The Importance of Psychology in the Nursing Profession

Despite the coming completely from different disciplines, Psychology has a huge relevance on the nursing practice. Many aspiring nurses have wondered the need fro them to devote hours in studying Psychology. They don’t realize that both are interrelated with each other.

Nurses work in a setting where they’re required to interact with other professionals in an effort to bring the best quality care for their patients. They need to fully understand how other people behave and act in certain situations – this is where Psychology comes into play.

In managing patients with different illnesses, both nurses and psychologists not only work in understanding the physical pain associated, but also change their thought and attitudes to improve well-being.

When assessing a patient’s condition, nurses also consider how patient’s respond to their illness. Some patients are optimistic and easily cope with their illness, while others have a negative reaction where they become angry and stubborn. Nurses may find it very difficult to handle such patients and need to include them as part of their evaluation of the patient.

With the help of psychology, nurses will know how to interact with their patients based on different factors such as gender and age. For instance, young patients may be more afraid than adults. They may have difficulties in understanding their illness. A nurse can apply his knowledge of child development and psychology and relate to the young patients in a way their apprehensions are alleviated. Thus, psychology can help improve the nurse and patient relationship. As a result, patients can openly interact and communicate with them and inform them about their specific needs.

With psychological knowledge also, nurses are able to get the trust of their patients. This makes the patients more responsive with the instructions they are given. Sometimes, they even take a positive role in their own wellness.

Learning Psychology and its Benefits

Psychology is basically the study of behavior, mental operations and performance of people. It is also the connection of educational, theoretical and applied science.

Students who studied psychology devotedly were able to understand the compound process of the brain that commands the actions of all human. They also have come to realize that they can make use of psychology in understanding the behaviors, situations and everyday life of all the people.

Why Learning Psychology is important?

Basically, there are a lot of reasons why learning psychology is important. Students will have the chance to experience the following:

The ability to understand own behavior

Studying psychology will allow students to understand their own behavior, emotions and ideas. They will also realize that studying the principles of psychology will allow them to assess, evaluate and provide solutions to all unwanted emotional situations.

Enhanced Communication Expertise

Most famous psychologists have discovered that humans are involved in all kinds of communication. Studying psychology will allow students to understand that communication skills can improve the effectiveness of human interaction.

The ability to understand the behavior of other people

According to Heidelburg of University of Ohio, studying psychology enables students to understand the behavior of other people. They will have the ability to read people’s minds and emotions. Understanding human emotions can be hard, but if students can master the principles of psychology, it will be easier to understand human actions. In addition, it can also improve student’s ability to help others in dealing with their dilemmas.

Better Career Ahead

Students who are so devoted in studying psychology have one thing in common. They want to become the best and effective psychologists. They also know that there is an urgent need for more psychologists since there are increasing numbers of individuals with mental disability. Right after mastering all theories and principles of psychology, students will have the chance to prepare themselves in obtaining a certification or license.

Learning the basics of psychology is important because it can be applied and used to countless life experiences.

Psychology in Medical Education

Psychologists have to acquire a much better knowledge of the fundamental biological sciences if they wish to engage in a much bigger position in educating medical students, and take part in study and treatment inside the health care process.

Health-related schools are switching from being organized on biologically based departments to multidisciplinary organizations, and that study funded by the National Institutes of Health is requiring a much more interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary strategy. These changes generate a chance for psychology to play a better role in medical instruction and health investigation.

The inability for making psychology highly relevant to the biological fundamentals of medicine can lead to psychology getting minimally highly relevant to medical education and practice. For instance, a psychologist who would like to work in an interdisciplinary treatment plan targeting cancer must provide expertise about a few of the behavioral aspects in the start of cancer – but should know something about oncology and defense mechanisms function, as well.

Definitely, in order to comprehend and educate about these topics, it is essential that we have a number of this fundamental knowledge. There’s a necessity for clinical health psychologists to understand more about anatomy, physiology and pharmacology. For college students studying to become pharmacists for example, psychology offers quite a bit to educate about patient decision-making, social support and problem management and self-care. For example, research has discovered that asking a patient, “Any questions?” when they pick up a prescription decreases the likelihood that a patient will in fact ask a question. By contrast, asking, “What questions do you have?” results in more connection between patient and pharmacist.

Psychologists may also provide important communication instruction on how to build a connection with patients – whether it’s working with children who won’t sit still in the chair or adults who become stressed when dealing with a dental appointment.

A lot more has to be completed to help make education and training possibilities readily available for psychologists within educational health centers.

Relating Psychology to Health

Psychology is not only for people with mental problems or illnesses. Patients with any health conditions may have undergone psychological difficulties, before or during the condition. The behavioral and social factors cause or lead to almost every reason for dying, illness, and disability and directly cause roughly 1 / 2 of deaths every year. Mental and behavioral health care play a substantial role within the prevention, diagnosis and/or management of the 15 main reasons for dying within the United States. These diseases are cancer, pneumonia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, Septicemia, hypertension, chronic lower respiratory system disease, accidents, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, kidney disease, suicide, chronic liver disease, Parkinson’s Disease as well as assault/homicide.

According to some research, psychological distress might have an adverse effect and is capable of doing modifying various options that come with the immune response system. Around 85% of physician visits are suitable for issues that possess a significant psychological and behavioral component, for example chronic ailments. For instance, studies have proven an association between depression and cancer.

Ideas, attitudes, and feelings can accelerate the start of cardiovascular diseases. This leads to the conclusion that most people are experiencing diseases in relation to their mental and psychological health. People with diabetes are two times as likely as people without diabetes to possess serious psychological distress. Depression is prevalent in roughly 20% of cancer patients and could slow down treatment and recovery. Children and care providers of cancer patients might also experience depression.

Supplying mental and behavioral health services included in a health care model greatly increases access for underserved people. A built-in health care approach helps eliminate stigma in addition to increasing the understanding of the psychosocial facets of health. Psychologists play a vital role in integrated health care by helping people modify their behavior to avoid and get over health problems. People in the United States can be more healthy and efficient when psychology is incorporated into primary health care.

RN Class Admission Requirements

RN classes have specific requirements to complete to become a registered nurse. Registered nurses have a very challenging career with good compensation and opportunity for career growth. They usually work in hospitals, sometimes in clinics, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities. Their main responsibility is to offer care to patients, administer treatments and medications and work with the physician regarding the status of the patient. If you are interested to become a registered nurse, you are required some education as well as trainings and of course passing the NCLEX.

The first prerequisite needed to become an RN is to earn a high school diploma with an average grade of 2.0. You must also have finished subjects in health science, anatomy biology, and first aid. Communication is integral in nursing since you have to communicate to patients, physicians and other health worker from time to time, so you need to have a good grade in English or any related subjects. There are some nursing schools that require student applicants their standardized test scores in SAT or ACT.

Nursing education programs usually combine classroom instruction with supervised clinical practice. Nursing students are required to have some experience in the field so they may be ready to deal with actual scenarios, even during the RN classes. There are different courses that students are required to complete. These are the anatomy, chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, physiology and psychology. Nursing students may be required to get some actual experience in nursing homes, hospitals, clinics and public health department.

After students completed the program and passed the necessary requirements, they must take and pass the national licensing examination called the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) for them to obtain a nursing license and for them to be allowed to work on different healthcare institutions.

Psychology in Nursing

Nurses play a vital role in the recovery and wellness of any patient since they have more time dealing with the patients than the physicians or other healthcare professionals. To be able to have an understanding with the patients condition and feeling, and to make the rehabilitation and medication easier, the nurse must know the psychology behind every human behavior. Psychology is the key to understanding the attitude and behavior of people which may help in the wellness of the patient.

Recovery from a severe health condition doesn’t just require a complete medication; the mind has its part too in making the patient cope and recover. It is the job of the nurse to make the patient believe that he will get well and to influence their attitude and thoughts about their condition.

The focus must not only center in the patient’s physical reaction to his illness or to the medication, it must also be on the patient’s “response and reaction” to illness. The way the patient views himself as a patient is important to understand. Individuals have different reactions and approach towards illness.Once we understand the patient, things can be done to improve the health and well-being of the patient.

Psychology is significant in Nursing Practice because it helps in establishing the communication processes between the patient and the nurse in order to increase the therapeutic relationship. Understanding can be created by knowing how people react in various conditions of illness and pain.

Psychology delivers an occasion for nurses to know their responsibilities in a better way and to be aware where to focus. However, nurses have the skills and training to deal with different situations and various types of patients. Nurses need to understand the psychology behind every patient which plays a vital role in health-related matters.

Clinical Psychology

The stressful surroundings of clinical psychology preparation is well conventional. The intellectual and emotional demands it places on most trainees cannot be overstated. Nonetheless, there is mounting evidence suggesting that training may be even more challenging for those who are ethnically and/or racially different from the dominant group.

Experiences of exclusion for such trainees are not uncommon, as a result, it has been posited that many courses may still be failing to meet the needs of BME trainees be it in terms of systematic course inclusion of issues of diversity, the management of overt and concealed experiences of racism and the provision of appropriate support to help BME trainees cope with the supplementary emotional demands which may be placed upon them.

This is the first in a series of posts within which needs to be aimed to connect in a process of reflection upon my experience of difference within training. Hoping to provide some illustrations of some of the ways difference may affect personal behaviors, trainees’ experiences and the training environment.

Although some differences are bound to be reflected within training cohorts, those born and raised outside the UK, those who are not British citizens, those who do not speak English as a first language or are otherwise ethnically, culturally and/or racially different; are likely to find themselves in teams of one within their year group.

Individuals are, to a large extent, products of their life-experiences. It is well recorded that as human beings we tend to have a natural affinity towards other individuals with similar backgrounds. The cultural factors together with the potential non-traditional professional and/or educational pathways into training may have an impact relationally, mean standing out as dissimilar, having to contend with hyper visibility and/or holding different worldviews which may be at odd with many in training.

The normative influences and expectations in relation to white middle class norms and values abound. If one is neither, conforming, ‘fitting in’ and being open about one’s views can be extremely challenging. As an example, as any person, who has stood out for all of the above reasons, my personal perspective into discussions has often been defined as critical, labeled as radical and at times as ‘irrelevant’, an isolating and invalidating experience particularly when there has been no intention to challenge. Often, simply speaking about my experience or that other BME groups would be deemed challenging or create palpable discomfort.

Psychology and Engineers

Simply put, engineers make things. But is discovering that “new” innovation, a large psychological leap from factor A to factor B, or are there scores of unseen advanced actions in between? The University of Pittsburgh’s Joel Chan and Christian Schunn say that not enough has been done to comprehend how engineers make. Knowing the procedure, they say, may offer a street map for boosting up advancement.

Chan, a graduate student in psychology in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and his mentor Schunn, a professor of psychology as well as a senior researcher in Pitt’s Learning Research and Development Center, released a document online in the publication Cognitive Science that goes into the technicalities of the innovative technological advancement mind by analyzing the procedure in the real world. “Most organizations make all their money on new things,” Schunn says. “They hardly break even on old items. They have to innovate to be practical and that’s a hard direction to adhere to.”

In the desire of advancement, Schunn says, organizations pay big cash to professionals to help encourage creativeness. “But little of what they do is depending on research,” he contributes. So, along with Chan, Schunn used several hours of transcripts of an experienced technological advancement team’s “brainstorming” classes and split down the discussion consistently, looking for the direction by which thought A led to thought B that led to cutting-edge C. “We want to comprehend the characteristics of cognitive restrictions,” Schunn says. “Why do we get trapped (on an idea), what types of factors get us unstuck and why do they work?”

What they discovered in the classes they analyzed is that new concepts didn’t spring completely formed after large cognitive actions. Creativity is a stepwise procedure in which idea A spurs a new, but carefully relevant thought, which encourages another step-by-step step and the sequence of small psychological developments sometimes, gradually finishes with a modern concept in a team setting. Channeling Thomas Edison’s dictum that genius is 1% motivation and 99% perspiration, Schunn says that “inspiration makes some perspiration.”

Positive Psychology Studies

In An Introduction to Positive Psychology, Dr. William Compton depicts positive psychology as looking “to make typical life more satisfying.” It uses the scientific method to comprehend the positive and candidly satisfying parts of human behavior. It is the study of what actions, interests and inspirations best contribute to the good life. These interests are accessible to us paying little heed to our heritage, background or socioeconomic standing. They are uninhibitedly accessible to any individual who decides to commit their lives to them. Here are some interesting positive psychology studies done by researchers.

1. From Wealth to Well-being – Harvard Business School, 2009. While there does seem, by all accounts, to be some association between happiness and income when fundamental needs are not yet met, individuals have a tendency to overestimate the impact of riches on happiness by 100%. Money does not lead as much happiness that individuals think it will.

2. Purchasing Experiences, not Possessions, Leads to Greater Happiness – San Francisco State University, 2009. This psychology study shows that experiential buys, for example, a dinner out or theater tickets, bring about better well being than material belongings. These experiences have a tendency to fulfill higher order needs, particularly the requirement for social connectedness and a feeling of being invigorated.

3. The Science of Gratitude – University of Pennsylvania, 2005. One of the best contributing variables to general happiness in life is the amount of appreciation we show. Furthermore, an observable contrast could be experienced with as little as three words every day (“Thank you for… “).

4. Trust, Morality, and Oxytocin – Claremont Graduate University, 2011. In light of research discoveries, psychologists believe humankind’s trust, compassion and ethical quality expand as their levels of oxycotin expand.

5. For a Better Day, Smile – Michigan State University, 2011. Individuals who smile as a consequence of developing positive thoughts can fundamentally and promptly enhance their mood. Simply put, one easy approach to enhance your state of mind at this moment is to recall pleasant memories and smile about it.

The Science of Psychology

First and foremost, there are no “facts” in science. The scientific method is developed in such a way that one can ever confirm anything, they can only disprove something. That is what allows us to keep looking, never avoiding at their understanding of the way the world works. That is why it’s the concept of severity and the concept of progress. A technically sound concept is falsifiable. So no, it is not the case that “hard” science has “facts” and psychology has theories; they all only have concepts. In every way, psychological science sticks to the scientific method as much as any other science. They stick to the same guidelines and strategies. They even evaluate psychological phenomena to the best of their capability.

They use calculations and analysis and even design individual actions in past analysis just like any other science. They test their concepts for reliability and credibility and they test the factors of their concepts. There is however 2 variations between their science and other sciences that have nothing to do with how they practice science, but rather what they study: They are a much more recent science and what they analysis is more complex. The first psychological lab was established by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879 and you can think about how basic the devices would have been back then. While this might seem like several decades ago, keep in mind that Galileo developed his first telescope in 1609. Imagine how much larger a leg up astronomy has had on psychology. Cognitive psychology was not a study subject until at the early 1950’s during the cognitive trend, but not formally until Ulric Neisser’s Intellectual Psychology guide was already released in 1967.

They have had approximately 50 years of studying individual cognition. The study of individual knowledge contains procedures relevant to: feeling, interest, knowing, studying and memory, language, intellect, problem-solving, decision-making. Imagine the scope of phenomena and actions all that contains. Can you appreciate what a short amount of time that is for such a complex study of topic? And that is just cognitive psychology. Psychology as a whole studies every part of the individual experience, such as social, child, character, neuro and abnormal psychology.