Quality of A psychiatric Nurse

A Psychiatric Nurse needs to have excellent interpersonal skills. They also need to be a great listener and know where the patient is coming from, drawing on personal experiences if they have not been in a similar situation themselves. These include-

  1.  Self-awareness 
  2.  Self-acceptance 
  3. Accepting the Patient 
  4.  Professionalism 
  5.  Reliability 
  6.  Empathizing with the Patient 
  7.  Being Available 
  8. Being Sincerely Interested in Patient Care
  9. The Ability to Think Critically 
  10.  Accountability 

✔️Self-awareness -

She should have her own beliefs and values related to life and should be able to acknowledge and accept her own feelings and their influence on her behaviour. She should have the ability to recognize when she is under stress and the influence of the stress on her physical and mental performance, and should be able to find ways to get adequate release from the stress

✔️Self-acceptance -

The nurse should not only be aware, but also accept her strengths as well as her limitations. Self-understanding helps her to be assertive in life situations without being aggressive and feeling guilty.
 

✔️Accepting the Patient -

 Acceptance conveys the feeling of being loved and cared. The nurse should accept the patient as he is, as a sick person, regardless of caste, colour, race or behaviour. The ability to talk therapeutically with patients requires an attitude of acceptance, tolerance and genuine interest in the patient. 

✔️ Professionalism -

Developing the professional skills of a psychiatric nurse is dependent upon learning as much as possible about the patient his illness and the
helping role of the nurse as it specifically applies to the patient.


✔️ Reliability -

The nurse must demonstrate honesty, truthfulness, resourcefulness and competence in her dealings with the patients and their families. She must prove herself to be trustworthy and as a person who can be relied upon in any situation.

✔️Empathizing with the Patient -

Empathy is an important tool in understanding others' feelings. Empathy is a process when a person gets into another person's situation and experiences what the other person feels and then is able to step back and analyse the situation. The nurse need not necessarily have to experience it, but has to be able to imagine the feelings associated with the experience.

✔️ Being Available- 

The Nurse should be approachable all the time to the patient. She should convey to the patient that she is available not only to meet his physical needs, but also to assist him in dealing with his psychological needs.

✔️Being Sincerely Interested in Patient Care-

This can be demonstrated by:

  •  Studying patient's behaviour pattern
  • Allowing him to make his own choices and decisions as far as possible
  •  Being aware of his likes and dislikes
  •  Being honest with him
  •  Active listening

✔️The Ability to Think Critically -

The ability to think critically is crucial for mental health nurses. A critical thinker analyses information before drawing conclusions about it. It is purposeful, reasonable, reflective thinking that drives problem solving and decision making and aims to make judgments based on evidence.

✔️ Accountability -

 Mental health nurses are accountable for the nature of the effort they make on behalf of patients and answerable to patients for the quality of their efforts

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