I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Psychosocial Nursing

2. Course Prefix & Number:
PNUR 1168

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

Lab Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

This course presents general principles of communication in the health care setting. The course will build on the student's basic skills and assist in developing skills in the care of emotional/mental illness, substance abuse, and social problems emphasizing nursing interventions in all health care settings.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

No placement tests required

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

7. Other Prerequisites
Admission to the Practical Nursing Program

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

Ridgewater College, NURS 1600, 3 credits
St. Cloud Technical College, PRSG 1444, 2 credits

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course fulfills a requirement for the following program(s):

Practical Nursing, Diploma

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate oral communication skills	Demonstrate therapeutic communication techniques (both verbal and nonverbal).
Work as a team member to achieve shared goals	Demonstrate teamwork through group presentations, in classroom, on various psychosocial disorders.
Discuss/compare characteristics of diverse cultures and environments	Discuss diverse cultural and environmental situations related to client care across the health care continuum.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Demonstrate psychosocial nursing care;
• Describe the impact of patient behavior problems in a managed health-care setting;
• Identify Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in explaining a patient's response to illness;
• Recognize defense mechanisms and adaptive and maladaptive coping mechanisms;
• Describe key components of a psychosocial observation;
• Use therapeutic communication;
• Explain how culture will influence a patient's health and illness;
• Describe legal, ethical and confidentiality issues commonly encountered by nurses in the health-care setting;
• Describe anxiety disorders and the most appropriate nursing interventions;
• Describe the depressed, suicidal, and grieving patient and appropriate nursing interventions;
• Describe the bipolar disorder and appropriate nursing interventions;
• Describe the confused patient and appropriate nursing interventions;
• Identify factors contributing to substance abuse and nursing interventions;
• Identify eating disorders and appropriate nursing interventions;
• Differentiate between functional/dysfunctional families;
• Identify factors that may precipitate spiritual distress;
• Identify the indications for anti-psychotic, anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, and anti-manic medications;
• Practice professional boundary issues and implications for nursing practice; and
• Examine personal beliefs, values and biases for formulating a non-judgemental, tolerant attitude when caring for patients.

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Culture, Religion
• “Cultural 6 Phenomena”
2. Understanding
• Mental health
• Mental illness
3. Issues
• Legal
• Ethical
4. Confidentiality
• HIPAA
• Policies and procedures
5. Defense Mechanisms
• Rationalization
• Intellectualization
• Reaction formation
• Dissociation
• Displacement
• Repression
• Regression
6. Mentally Healthy Nursing
• Boundaries
• Teamwork
• Assertiveness vs. aggressiveness
• Burnout
7. The Nurse Client Relationship
• Therapeutic communication
• Role plays
• Blockers to communication
8. Stress and Coping
• Hans Selye
• Adaptive and maladaptive stress
9. Psychobiology and Psychopharmacology
10. Schizophrenia
• Positive and negative symptoms
• Types
• Treatment and nursing care
11. Mood Disorders
• Bi-polar
• Treatment and nursing care
12. Personality Disorders
• Borderline
• Antisocial
• Dependant
• Dramatic
• Narcissistic
13. Psychosocial Issues in General Client Care
• Manipulation/staff splitting
• b. Noncompliance
14. Anxiety Disorders
• Generalized anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
15. Substance
• Abuse
• Dependency
• Treatment
16. Eating Disorders
• Anorexia
• Bulimia
17. Dementia and Cognitive Disorders
• Delirium
• Confusion
18. Violence and Abuse
• Types
• Mandatory reporting
19. Patient in Pain
• Description of pain
• Quality of pain
• Characteristics of pain
• Alleviating interventions
• Aggravating causes
20. Psychosocial Issues in General Patient Care
• Crisis
• Chronic illness
• Spiritual needs
• Religious issues