Overview
This lecture (Day 4 of the 7-day NCLEX training) covers the last NCLEX categories: Health Promotion and Maintenance, and Psychosocial Integrity, with practice questions and strategies for patient education and therapeutic communication.
Health Promotion and Maintenance
- This category focuses on providing nursing care using knowledge of growth, development, prevention, early detection, and strategies for optimal health.
- Patient education is central; aim to deliver information in simple, understandable terms, considering health literacy and language needs.
- Assess the patient’s readiness and ability to learn before teaching.
- Set priorities by addressing client needs (e.g., treat pain before education) and use appropriate timing for teaching.
- Organize teaching material from simple to complex, validating understanding at each step.
- Nurses must evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching and provide direct feedback; do not delegate this responsibility.
- Practice questions focus on evaluating teaching, prevention, and correct nurse actions.
Psychosocial Integrity
- Involves providing care that supports clients' emotional, mental, and social well-being during stress and illness.
- Topics include abuse/neglect assessment, coping support, violence risk, end-of-life care, and care for psychosocial health issues.
- Therapeutic communication is emphasized: choose responses that promote patient safety, validate feelings, restate, and summarize.
- Non-therapeutic techniques include using "why" questions, giving opinions, focusing on the nurse, giving advice, judging, and threats.
- In safety-compromising situations (e.g., psychiatric settings), an authoritarian response may be appropriate.
Practice Question Strategies
- Analyze if the question focuses on content, prioritization, or teaching.
- For patient education: praise correct actions, provide feedback on errors, and never delegate evaluation.
- For prevention questions, focus on actions that prevent the problem (e.g., teaching parents about common choking hazards, not just symptoms or risks).
- For psychosocial scenarios, decide between therapeutic and non-therapeutic responses using keywords (safety, feelings, restatement, summarizing).
- Prioritize written outcomes that are measurable, time-framed, and prioritize safety.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Health Literacy — The patient’s ability to understand health information.
- Therapeutic Communication — Techniques that foster open, supportive interaction, focusing on patient safety, feelings, and validation.
- Primary Prevention — Actions taken to prevent a condition before it occurs.
- Restating — Repeating or paraphrasing the patient’s words to show understanding.
- Authoritarian Response — Directive communication style, potentially appropriate in safety situations.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review and study lecture notes and re-watch videos to reinforce critical thinking strategies.
- Join the NCLEX Crusade International Telegram group for additional resources.
- Prepare for Day 5: focus on prioritization and critical thinking questions.
- Do not purchase courses unless officially announced; beware of scams.
- For Spanish-speaking students, refer to the original NCLEX Crusade channel for resources.