Scope- Importance of the Study of Psychology

Psychology and the Nurse

In the field of nursing, research on human behavior is extremely valuable. The role of nurses in the healthcare system is crucial. Nurses directly interact with patients, their families, neighbors, coworkers, and individuals from other professions. She needs to comprehend both herself and other people. If a nurse has some understanding of human behavior by studying psychology, she can build strong relationships with patients, their visitors, the community, coworkers, etc.

In fact, understanding psychology helps nurses better understand both themselves and their patients. She will recognize that:

• A patient should be treated with the utmost respect and genuine warmth since he is a human being with unique body, thoughts, motives, and wants.
• Ailment is unpleasant and uncomfortable. The patient has anxiety and uncertainty about his future as a result. A patient enters the ward feeling quite anxious. All his worries and fears should be slowly eased away, and he should be allowed to unwind.
• Every person responds to disease differently depending on their physical, social, cultural, or intellectual state.
• Because disease affects self-esteem, many patients experience infantile regression when they are unwell.
• Patients may respond differently to disease depending on their age, the ailment's severity, and their personality type. It is important to consider the patient's intellectual, emotional, and cultural elements in addition to the physical symptoms of the specific condition.
• A nurse needs to be an attentive listener. The patient should be given the opportunity to communicate his issues in his own language and manner. The approach taken by the nurse should always be humanistic and unique to each patient.

The approach of nursing the whole patient or understanding the patient will definitely help in providing effective nursing care. Thus in conclusion. the knowledge of psychology helps a nurse to make a number of adjustments:

• Adjustment to a new environment.
• Adjustment to work routine.
• Adjustment to patients.

Significance of psychology in nursing

Why?

Better and effective provision of nursing care to the client.

How?

• 1. Better understanding of the individual:
  • Individual: A complete bio-psycho-social model
    • Biological influences: genetic built-up, physique, developmental age, gender, neuro-anatomy, biochemicals etc.
    • Psychological influences: need, motive, desire, sensation, perception, congnition, intelligence, learning capacity, personality, coping mechanism etc.
    • Social influences: value, attitude, belief, norm, language, family environment, school environment, work environment etc.

Why people behave as they behave (regressively, b. Why people behave aggressively, happily etc.)

• 2. Better understanding of self.
  • Own feelings.
  • Own ways of controlling feelings.
  • Professional knowledge.
  • How can own behavior affect others'.

Overall Benefits

• Strengthened nurse-patient interaction through the nurse's empathy for the patient, unconditional positive respect for the patient (acceptance of the patient as they are), and congruence, or sincerity, in the patient's care.
• Patient treatment that is based on need.
• Patient adaptation.
• Adaptation to the workday.
• Adaptation to a new setting.