3rd semester psych

obloom14 · Jan 26, 2013

When it comes to taking psych; it's a matter of HOW you will communicate with your patients. For instance if a client starts hallucinating and he tells you, "I see a snake on the floor."....you as the nurse would NOT ask ANY questions that starts with the word "WHY". You will talk them out of the hallucination. Bring them back to reality with your communication techniques. NEVER NEVER ASK WHY! THat's a big NONO lol. They drilled this into our minds during nursing school.

NinaBelle, DNP, APRN · Jan 26, 2013

Therapeutic communication

Psych Meds-

Coping Styles( defense mechanisms)

Good Luck.

tarotale · Jan 26, 2013

we take psych in level 2, so that's interesting. I know that every school might have little differences in exams, so I am not sure how they will test you, but also pretty sure it won't be too different from my school. I advice you to go meet the professors in person and ask them for success tips on exams and study methods. I do that every semester and worked out well.

Back to the main point, my professors emphasized on diagnosis (identifying the disorder) and intervention (what you will do about it). For example, you have two pateints A and B. A has taken hallucinogen and B has taken PCP. If you know their diagnosis, you will be able to figure out that hallucinogen patients are calmer and docile, so it is OK to intervene by being firm to them and negating their hallucinations. But PCP makes patient belligerent and very violent, dangerous, so with that, you know better not to intervene by confronting and negating beliefs. Also I think with PCP, you need to have the light on bright, which is unlike with many other disorders, but again, that's how you know by being able to discern diagnosis and characteristics of each disorder.

Know the communication questions also. They appear a lot on tests imo. I am sure that you know right communication by now since you're level 3; one thing that is different with psych communication is that you don't explore into patient's crazy thoughts. If he tells you "the doctors will kill me", avoid asking "exploring into question", which is what you normally do to non-psycho patients, b/c you are reinforcing their beliefs. Just choose answer that empathize, but negating; example would be "I understand your fear sir, but I can assure you they will not hurt you." It's really all application questions and knowing what you will do with specific situations with specific disorder or condition. Good luck

crystalmichele2013 · Jan 26, 2013

Thank you :)