After completing this course you’ll be able to:
| 1. | Determine the nurse’s role in psychiatric care. |
| 2. | Identify techniques to enhance communication with patients. |
| 3. | Describe a variety of therapies used to treat psychiatric disorders. |
| 4. | List basic components of the psychiatric nursing assessment. |
| 5. | Explain the ethical and legal issues in psychiatric care. |
| 6. | Describe the theories of growth and development. |
| 7. | List the characteristics of mentally healthy young people. |
| 8. | Identify the signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. |
| 9. | Discuss treatment options for children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders. |
| 10. | Discuss the status changes of older adulthood. |
| 11. | Explain the roles and responsibilities of geropsychiatric nurses. |
| 12. | Determine the best care settings for older adults with psychiatric disorders. |
| 13. | Explain diagnosis, treatment, and nursing interventions for older adults with age-related cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s dementia, and vascular dementia. |
| 14. | Explain the phases and subtypes of schizophrenic disorders. |
| 15. | Discuss theories on the cause of schizophrenia. |
| 16. | Discuss the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of schizophrenic patients. |
| 17. | Perform nursing interventions for schizophrenic patients. |
| 18. | Discuss the effects of mood disorders on function. |
| 19. | Explain the proposed causes of mood disorder. |
| 20. | Determine how to assess a patient’s suicide risk. |
| 21. | Explain the various types of bipolar and depressive disorders. |
| 22. | Discuss the assessment and interventions for patients with mood disorders. |
| 23. | Discuss the positive and negative effects of anxiety. |
| 24. | Explain how anxiety disorders impair functioning. |
| 25. | Discuss the proposed causes of anxiety disorders. |
| 26. | Distinguish acute stress disorder from posttraumatic stress disorder. |
| 27. | Discuss the assessment and intervention for patients with anxiety. |
| 28. | Explain how stress can be converted to physical symptoms. |
| 29. | Distinguish between conversion disorder and factitious disorders. |
| 30. | Discuss the proposed causes of somatization and somatoform disorders. |
| 31. | Identify the signs and symptoms of somatoform disorders. |
| 32. | Discuss the assessment and interventions for patients with somatoform disorders. |
| 33. | Explain the general characteristics of dissociation. |
| 34. | Identify the diagnostic tools used to evaluate dissociative disorders. |
| 35. | Discuss the proposed causes of dissociative disorders. |
| 36. | Identify the signs and symptoms of dissociative disorders. |
| 37. | Discuss the assessment and interventions for patients with dissociative disorders. |
| 38. | List major features of personality disorders. |
| 39. | Identify the proposed causes of personality disorders. |
| 40. | Discuss the assessment findings and nursing interventions for patients with personality disorders. |
| 41. | Determine the recommended treatments for patients with personality disorders. |
| 42. | List major features of eating disorders. |
| 43. | Identify the proposed causes of eating disorders. |
| 44. | Discuss the assessment findings and nursing interventions for patients with eating disorders. |
| 45. | Determine the recommended treatments for patients with eating disorders. |
| 46. | List the types of substance abuse disorders. |
| 47. | List the street names for commonly abused substances. |
| 48. | Discuss the proposed causes of substance abuse. |
| 49. | Explain how to assess for substance abuse and dependence. |
| 50. | Explain nursing interventions for patients experiencing substance withdrawal. |
| 51. | List the sleep stages and circadian rhythms. |
| 52. | Identify types of sleep disorders and their causes. |
| 53. | Discuss the assessment findings in patients with sleep disorders. |
| 54. | Explain special procedures used to diagnose sleep disorders. |
| 55. | Explain treatments and nursing interventions for patients with sleep disorders. |
| 56. | List the stages of sexual development. |
| 57. | Identify the phases of the sexual response cycle. |
| 58. | Explain the categories and definitions of sexual disorders. |
| 59. | Discuss the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of sexual disorders. |
| 60. | Explain nursing interventions for patients with sexual disorders. |