Benefits and Barriers to the Effective Education of Parents with Psychotic Patients - Essay Example

Running Header: Customer-Centred Education Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date Introduction Customer-centered mental care is a demanding task that requires specialized skills and techniques. The rationale for this essay is to discuss various demands that parents of psychotic children aged 18-26 years face and the relevance of education to this selected group. The essay discusses in detail the benefits of education, potential barriers to effective education, the skills required by nurses delivering consumer education and the relevance of the findings to own nursing and practice development. A customer centered focus approach in this essay is delivering educational services to caregivers (in this case parent) of psychotic children. Nurses are responsible for knowledge transfer to the intended caregiver. The knowledge gained is expected to improve the quality of care given to these psychiatric patients outside the health facility. Benefits of education to parents with18-26 year old patients of psychosis Psychosis is a sign of psychiatric disorder; its symptoms normally include disorganized speech that switches from topic to topic erratically, suicidal thoughts, delusions, anxiety and generally loss or reality. It is challenging for nurses and doctors to deal with these patients because of their unpredictability. Education is beneficial to parents of these patients in a number of ways. Firstly, they will be able to offer the needed help to these patients. Education provides fundamental skills of dealing with psychiatric disorders. Most people will tend to avoid these people because they do not know how to deal with them. Education offers a holistic approach of dealing with these people psychologically, physically, socially and emotionally. Secondly, parents of these patients readily accept the situation of their children if they are well educated on how to deal with this situation. According to Macdonald (2007, p.87) some caregivers or parents neglect the needs of their psychotic children or dependencies. The rationale for this is mainly because of the lacking ability to accept the situation of these patients. Thirdly, education of parents and caregivers is a preparation for a path to recovery or a lasting management of the disorder. While there are medical treatments for psychiatric conditions, a well trained care giver offers more through therapeutic interaction with the patient. Communication and interpersonal skills are indispensible in dealing with psychotic patients (Theodoridou 2008, p.234). These skills can only be gained through education by skilled group of nurses. In the event that the situation of the patient is unlikely to change or keeps recurring, these skills also offer knowledge on managing these unpredictable behaviors of a psychotic person. There are different stages of psychotic disorders, the first episode of psychosis such as distorted speech and hallucinations can be handled by a trained person through non-intrusive counseling session. If parents are well trained to provide necessary counseling session at a home setting, it works better as compared to a hospital setting. The patient will be more relaxed because the environment is familiar to them (Forsyth et al 2009, p.24). They will also not feel the criticality of their situation as compared to when they are in a health care facility. In summary, education to caregivers is a fundamental step towards recovery; it provides skills necessary to tackle the situation in a professional manner. It also makes it possible for the patient to get the best possible non-medical treatment in form of therapy which is by far more effective. Potential barriers to effective education of parents with psychotic patients Firstly, dealing with psychotic patients is a challenging task; they are unpredictable and will behave differently from situation to situation. This presents a barrier to effective education of parents and caregivers. Since patients differ in general behavior, there is no tailored education for each specific patient. The caregiver or the parent in this case must be able to learn through experience and react effectively in a manner that supports the patient. Secondly, the parent or the caregiver must be willing and ready to learn. This becomes a challenge when the parent or the caregiver is reluctant to the learning process (Gaudiano & Herbert 2006, p.415). Besides learning, application of the gained knowledge can be affected by attitude and personality of the caregiver. If the parent or the caregiver is generally too emotional, dealing with a psychotic patient will be difficult. The parent or the caregiver must be in the right set of mind and attitude in order to learn and apply the gained knowledge for the benefit of the patient. Thirdly, the success of the learning process depends on the instructor, most nurses face challenges when dealing with psychotic patients. In fact, research is ongoing on best practices of dealing with psychotic patients especially acute psychiatric conditions (Grandison et al 2009 p.138; Healthcare Commission 2008). The existing body of knowledge in best practices is not sufficient to give a tailored plan for discharging caregiver’s responsibilities. This presents a major barrier to the instructor and thus making the parent’s learning process an added challenge. Nurses are professionally caregivers and major in patient handling and other related tasks; training caregivers can a time present a challenge because they are limited when it comes to delivering education. Whilst training is part of the nursing fraternity, their education is mainly tailored towards non-mental disorders (Bowers, et al 2009, p.316). Mental disorders present a major challenge and a potential barrier for the education process. The education level of the parents may also be a great barrier towards the success of the training process. Semi-literate and illiterate parents or caregivers may not successfully appreciate the importance and the relevance of the training process. The basic ability to write and read is the foundation of a training process. If the recipients of the training process are not able to write or read, then the process is likely to fail. Skills required by nurses in delivering consumer education Teaching is a profession; teachers are able to sequentially deliver their curricula in a manner that the student gains. This is a fundamental skill that a nurse requires in delivering this consumer oriented education. If this skill is lacking, then the entire process may not be successful. The other basic skills that nurses should poses in order to commence education is developed communication skills and interpersonal skills. Communication skills are integral part of education delivery process. Nurses should have good listening and talking skills, they should know when to listen and talk (Hargie 2006, p.23). Teaching is an interactive process where questions are raised and answers given. Nurses need to keenly listen in order to give answers to areas that have not been understood by the parent or the caregiver. Interpersonal skills mainly centers on the general behavior of the instructor, the attitude demonstrated towards the process as well as the professionalism shown. According to Hargie (2006, p.34) interpersonal skills are normally taught to nurses based on social psychology research communication and social skills which are merged to counseling psychology and psychotherapies. These set of skills are not specific to mental illness or psychotic disorder but they are useful when integrated with generic listening skills. Generic listening skills include body orientation, eye contact, attention, prompts, reflection, use of open questions, probing, and demonstration of empathy. Parents and caregivers are readily motivated to listen to an instructor with good communication and interpersonal skills (Hargie 2006, p.23). De-escalation is also another imperative skill that nurses have gained since 1990s (Hargie 2006, p.23). This skill is focused on preventing and managing potential violence and aggression (Van Werde 2010, p.158; Winship et al 2009, p.505). De-escalation skills include calmness, quiet tone of voice, non-threatening postures, mirroring, open questions and cautious use of interpersonal space. Notably, these skills overlap and they all find useful applications on psychotic patients. Nurses as primary caregivers should also be well equipped with fundamental techniques of dealing with psychotic cases. Some of these important techniques include pre-therapy, supportive psychotherapy, and psychosocial interventions solution-focused therapy. As stated by Lakeman (2006, p.12) all these therapies harmonize well with fundamental attitudes and values of Roger’s person-centered therapy in ensuring maximum support of psychotic patients. All these set of skills are useful in dealing with psychotic patients as well as delivering a teaching program to caregiver and parents of these patients (Winship et al 2009, p.505). Nurses need to be well acquainted with these specialized skills in order to professionally deliver them to psychotic caregivers or parents. Parents and caregivers alike are most likely to be assisted by these specialized skills but experience using them will be invaluable (Calton et al 2008, p.181; Winship et al 2009, p.505). Relevance of findings for own nursing practice development The findings in this study are useful for my own progress as a practicing and registered nurse in a health care setting. The rationale for this is because of the challenges presented by mental disorders. Mentally ill patients are difficult to handle. They are unpredictable and a time risky because of their potential violent behaviors (Star Wards 2009, p.34). Communication and interpersonal skills are useful in nursing career because nurses constantly interact with patients facing different challenges. Developed communications skills are essential in personal interaction with patients. Developing relationship with patients greatly enhances their condition and sets them in the right path to recovery. According to Clarke & Wilson (2009, p.14)in some cases, centralized audits and policies demands at least 15 minutes one to one nurse patient interaction. This helps in offering supportive psychotherapy which is imperative in patient with mental disorders. Interpersonal skills help in the development of important behavior when dealing with patients and caregivers or parents alike. Mentally ill patients are demanding in the sense that they call for calmness, understanding, positive body language and sign of care in order to prevent their affected normalcy turning violent or escalating (Star Wards 2009, p.34). These findings have been relevant in two perspectives, firstly the existing set of skills and techniques that need to be mastered and practiced as well as the existing unresolved challenges within the nursing fraternity. Nurses are also responsible for transferring gained knowledge to caregivers of the patients. During this study, the challenges and the necessary nursing skills required by nurses has provided a great insight not only into the challenges faced by the nursing fraternity but also the demanding specialized skill required in order to deal with these challenges (Star Wards 2009, p.34). The process of knowledge transfer is difficult if one is not well versed with skills and has not experienced demanding situations that require practical application of the gained knowledge. As a nurse, the vast researches into the skill required as well as useful technique have been an eye opener into realities of real environment practices (Bowers, Jones, & Simpson 2007, p.884). The potential barriers to education delivery have also shade light into the challenges faced by parents of mentally ill children as well as the nurses responsible for training these caregivers in order to deal with such abnormalities. As a practicing nurse, I look forward to contributing immensely to the existing body of knowledge through my personal research and experiences. Considering that the best practices when dealing with psychotic disorders and other related illnesses have not been fully addressed by the existing literature, I look forward to be joining the field and making my contributions towards this achievement. Conclusion As discussed, there are many benefits of education to parents with psychotic children aged 18-26. Education improves parent’s skills and understanding needed to accord quality care to these patients. Education also helps parents to accept their children with this condition in order to offer better care. It also improves their interpersonal and communications skills necessary in dealing with these unpredictable psychotic patients. Barriers to effective education are also identified as the level of parent’s education, willingness and attitude towards the learning process. Other barriers include insufficient tailored plan for discharging these responsibilities. Skill required by nurses in order to deliver this tailored consumer education includes developed communicational skills, interpersonal skills and de-escalation skills. These skills are indispensible in managing psychosis and other psychiatric related disorders. The findings of this work are relevant in the sense that they improve skills and enhance readiness to face real world challenges as a practicing nurse. References Bowers, L, Chaplin, R, Quirk, A & Lelliot, P 2009, "A conceptual model of the aims and functions of acute inpatient psychiatry", Journal of mental Health, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 316-325. Bowers, L, Jones, J, & Simpson, A 2007, "The demography of nurses and patients on acute psychiatric wards in England", Journal of Clinical Nursing 18:884-892. 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