Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether an introduction course in psychiatric nursing for beginning students would increase their awareness of the covert nursing needs of the hospitalized patient.

Literature was reviewed to find out what had been written concerning covert needs, how one could discern them and to determine the need of the patient as an individual.

Using the problem solving method, a tool was prepared to test the ability to identify covert nursing problems. A situational test was developed from experiences of seven hospitalized patients. A pilot study was conducted to perfect the tool.

The sample was a group of sophomore students with comparable grade point averages and intelligent quotients who had not received any instruction in psychiatric nursing prior to the pre-testing. The same test was administered before and after an introductory course in Psychiatric Nursing.

Open ended questions followed each situation. The student was asked to list the nursing problems perceived in each situation, to relate why the problem was chosen and to explain how the problem could be solved. A worksheet was developed which divided the responses according to their questions on the test. The responses were classified according to the overt and covert need of the patient, then analyzed according to responses by individual situations, total responses and each student's responses.

Analysis of the individual situations revealed an increase in the detection of covert needs. Analysis of the total responses showed that there was a significant increase in the number of covert needs detected. There were 112 covert needs discerned in the pre-test and 202 in the post-test.

Analysis based upon each student's response was calculated. When comparing the students before the course in Psychiatric Nursing and after the course, the average student (according to the t value which was significant beyond the .001 level) observed that the terminology used in the post-test gave evidence of the new discipline learned while studying psychiatric nursing.

It was concluded that students of nursing of similar educational background who were attending the same school of nursing demonstrated a greater awareness of the patient's covert nursing needs following a course in psychiatric nursing.

It was recommended that the study be conducted again using a larger sample and allowing a longer time period for the writing of the test. It would be the value to determine whether the longer time period would allow the student more time to contemplate the overt responses on the post-test.

It is further suggested that an introductory course in Psychiatric Nursing continue to be placed in the curriculum of the sophomore year of education.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate Studies

First Advisor

R. Maureen Maxwell

Second Advisor

Willis King

Third Advisor

Arthur Blake

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1964

Date (Title Page)

6-1964

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Students, Nursing; Nurse-Patient Relations

Type

Thesis

Page Count

viii; 104

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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