What is Lifespan Developmental Psychology for Nurses?
When it's time to receive medical care, we assume that the people who are treating us will have extensive training that allows them to meet our every need. Beyond the actual therapeutic attention that our bodies may need in order to heal, we expect that our care team will address us personally, with sympathy for our individual situation.
Unquestioningly, nurses in particular are often called upon to do so much more than simply administer medication and tend to the physical needs of a patient. Anyone who is considering a career in nursing, should understand the relationship between a person's medical and psychological needs. This is why the study of lifespan developmental psychology should be a critical component to the training of every nurse.
Lifespan Developmental Psychology: What it's All About
Part of understanding your patients and how you can serve them better is to get a clear picture of what the varying stages of development are for each individual. Taking a developmental psychology class that intensely focuses on how humans grow and change over the span of their life will open your eyes to a better level of treatment for each person you treat.
By studying the varying ways that human psychology applies to how people live and progress, registered nurses have the opportunity to become the very best in their field. You never know what age or stage your next patient will be, and you always want to be prepared with the very best level of care you can provide.
The Effect of Development on Treatment
When learning about lifespan developmental psychology, and you learn about the ways that people grow and adapt to both the good and the challenging situations that life brings, there are some specific areas you will learn about. Each of these will impact your ability to serve your patients well and give them the care they deserve.
Those areas include:
- Physical: the way the body and its functions mature from infancy to adulthood
- Cognitive: considers the way in which we consciously think about certain things, how we understand, learn and remember
- Social: focuses on the ways that we react and interact socially (with other people)
- Intellectual: considers the growth of logical thinking
- Perceptual: learning about the ability to understand a person, place, or thing in a deeper, more real way
- Personality: changes that occur in our personality can be influenced by the setting we grow up in and the physical aspects of our development
- Emotional: focuses on the human's emotional growth and ability to use those emotions to progress forward in individual development
What Does It Take?
It's no secret that the greatest asset of every good medical care provider is compassion and understanding. Yes, the technical knowledge that comes from a great education is critically important. And yes, the more experience you gain, the more ease you will have in providing the necessary care for each patient.
But one thing that must come from within is a genuine compassion for the person you are serving. Can you put yourself in their place, imagining what they are feeling and fearing? Are you able to see them as more than just a "patient" but as someone who is vitally important to the world and for whom you should give your very best?
If you can answer yes to these questions, then perhaps you should consider pursuing the training to become a registered nurse.
To ALL my nurses (LPN) or aspiring nurses; ECPI of Charlotte has finally got a RN Program (16-18 months)It's... http://t.co/H2cRL1Gi
— Comedian NikitaB (@iamNikitaB) January 15, 2013
Looking Toward the Future
Consider what it takes to be a great nurse in today's world, what you can learn from classes like lifespan development psychology, and how you can move forward in a field that is rewarding on so many levels. Are you interested in joining an elite group of care providers?
Choosing training that will make you the kind of nurse that will compassionately and passionately influence the care of each of your patients is a great place to start. If you are ready to take the steps toward earning your Associate of Applied Science in Nursing degree, ECPI University can help you. Contact us today for more information! It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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