Lifespan Psych - an observation

mindofmidwifery, ADN · May 11, 2016

Sometimes there's nothing you can say. Just being there for someone is enough, no words can help. I learned that in my CNA class [emoji106]ðŸ½ and later from experience working with patients and families. You can't learn everything in school and you can't expect them to teach everything.

HIPAAPotamus, BSN, RN · May 11, 2016

I think a lot of that skill comes from knowing how to speak to people. I don't know if that's something that can be directly taught.

Lifespan Psych was more about understanding theories and age-related traits.

BBboy · May 11, 2016

I've had both communications and nursing communication courses. Knowing what to say in the moment can be taught in the classroom but it is also something that you just have to "feel" after having been exposed to certain situations. The biggest components to remember in any trying situation is to be respectful, as well as asking the target individuals if they need anything. Sometimes even physically being there is just enough.

Something that is important to remember however, something i constantly think of now, is to not provide the patient with false hope. If they ask if their cancer will be beat it'd be much better to say "We'll do our best together as a team and take it step by step" rather than "yes, we're going to beat cancer badly". Its trippy to think about since you want to dwarf them with positives but yeah

elkpark · May 11, 2016

Undergraduate courses in psychology are not focused on counseling or clinical interventions; in psychology, actual clinical practice is taught at the graduate level. Your nursing courses will include basic education in therapeutic communication, and how to talk to people in different kinds of crises.

In the kinds of situations you mention, it's less about what you say to people in those circumstances and more about listening to them, and encouraging them to talk about what they're going through and how they're feeling.

It's not clear to me what you mean by "the skill of being able to direct (not council) a person."

crazydoglady89 · May 11, 2016

I'm not really sure why you expected to learn communication from a psych class. It seems you didn't really read the course syllabus, or maybe this is your first psych class so you weren't sure what to expect?

You can gain experience with the sorts of situations you speak of through personal experience, volunteer work (hospice volunteering is an excellent way to give back and to make yourself more comfortable with the process of death, dying, and how to talk about it with patients and families). The rest you will gain from nursing coursework as previous posters stated.

It's too bad you found the course meaningless. I was refreshed on a lot of topics I hadn't visited in a while (I was initially a psych major with my first BS degree) and also learned a lot of new things.

Zibbie · May 11, 2016

Personally I felt like I learned a lot about myself. May not be useful for work and what not but hey.

Zyprexa_Ho · May 11, 2016

I don't think you understand what the purpose of lifespan development is. It is not to be able to counsel people as they go through life. It is simply learning the changes themselves that happen as we age.

Extra Pickles · May 11, 2016

The course you're talking about is a very basic general ed type of course. You will get further in depth in psych, clinical psych and its components in nursing school. You aren't there yet. Lifespan Psych is nothing more than a very basic foundation. You haven't taken the courses yet that you are thinking will be helpful.

Zooey72 · May 11, 2016

In A&P2 I learned that in the not too distant past the parent of a diabetic child would have to taste the child's urine to see if it tasted sweet to "test" for blood sugar levels. While that is interesting, it is not relevant to anything I will be doing. That example was all of what lifespan psyche was to me. Interesting, but will never be used.

My mother died a horrible death from lung cancer. She lied in bed for 2 months in agony before she died not even knowing where she was or what was going on. What do you say to someone who has cancer? I think telling someone that would horrify them, and that is not my what I want to do. By "directing" someone I mean be supportive and send them to someone who can help them; a shrink, a priest, or even a doctor, whoever.

The course description was pretty clear, but that does not make the class any less meaningless. I think there is a value in teaching a nurse how to deal with those situations, and not teaching meaningless trivia that will never be used.

The reason I bring up this class as opposed to Stats, English Comp, etc is that I can see a use for a psche class. In college you take classes that don't mean squat. You do it because that is what you have to do; I have no issue with that. It just annoys me that if you are going to make this mandatory there is an op. to make your time in the class worth while instead of learning that Adolf Hitler was breast fed until he was 7 years old, and that may have indirectly led to the Holocaust.

Extra Pickles · May 11, 2016

I think the problem is you seem to think that Lifespan Psych is meant for nurses or nursing students. It isn't. It's a very general introduction to understanding psych issues at different stages of the lifespan. That's it, nothing more. You are expecting an indepth class but you didn't take an in depth class, at least not yet.

You will get meaningful psych classes later. You did not take a course that is supposed to provide meaningful nursing information yet. Let it go.

Extra Pickles · May 11, 2016

Put another way, the course you took is meant for anyone who needs a basic but rounded education. A college degree is supposed to mean the person who earned it is reasonably well-rounded and that's all this class is for. People who take every major possible take this class. It isn't a nursing course.