Advanced Practitioner Nurses (APNs) working in psychiatric mental health offer care to people suffering from various mental health challenges. They have advanced skills that guide them in offering care and helping their clients manage their mental health challenges. To provide optimal care, APNs use some learning theories/principles, which are applied when understanding their client’s illnesses and how to apply the most suitable intervention. After analyzing the different learning principles, cognitive learning theory is the most useful to APNs in providing high-quality health care to clients. This theory guides APNs in understanding their clients’ thoughts, perceptions, and roles in shaping behavior.
The goal of learning theories and principles for APNs in psychiatry is to help them understand, describe, and predict how people learn and the factors that motivate people to change their behavior. The cognitive theory of learning acknowledges that for an individual to learn and change behavior, the cognitive processes of thought, perception, memory, and information processing are involved (Ryle & Kerr, 2020). According to this theory, cognitive learning occurs when a person perceives information and utilizes stored information to interpret it (Varcarolis & Fosbre, 2020). Further, the individual organizes this information, providing new understanding and knowledge. The learner’s goals and expectations trigger in them the tension or a motivator to act. Also, the learning process is determined by past occurrences, perceptions, expectations, and environmental influences.
With the elements of cognition, memory, and thought proposed by this theory, this information is critical in guiding APNs to understand the cognitive processes of their patients as they influence behavior. APNs understand the cognitive status of their patients and easily understand any distorted thought patterns that influence observed behavior (Ryle & Kerr, 2020). This knowledge will guide APNs when providing care and devising interventions to manage these distorted thoughts.
This learning theory guides some interventions, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT urges APNs to educate patients on the relationship between cognition and behavior. As such, the APN can use a behavioral intervention to change the clients’ negative thoughts (Varcarolis & Fosbre, 2020). The client will be guided on strategies to change distorted thoughts, identify triggers, and avoid them through mechanisms such as reframing intrusive thoughts or interpreting events positively (Varcarolis & Fosbre, 2020). Also, to manage mental illnesses, this theory underscores the need for interventions that equip patients with problem-solving skills. As such, through interventions such as reframing intrusive thoughts, the patient can analyze available options, pick the most appropriate alternative decision, and use it (Varcarolis & Fosbre, 2020). This process equips the patient with unique problem-solving skills essential in helping them manage their mental health challenges.
With the behavioral interventions given, the APN can guide their patients to experiment with available behavioral interventions. This process is described by Varcarolis and Fosbre (2020) as utilizing behavioral experiments, allowing the patient to put their intrinsic ideas to the test by applying them to everyday life and observing the outcome. This process allows the patients to pick the most suitable approach or coping mechanism (Varcarolis & Fosbre, 2020). As a result, the client will become more empowered, understand their triggers, and utilize positive coping methods better. Through these processes, the clients understand they can overcome their intrusive thoughts and take control of their behaviors as a way of managing their mental health challenges.
Conclusion
Among the various learning theories and principles for Advanced Practitioner Nurses working in psychiatry, cognitive learning theory is one of the best guides for APNs when providing care to clients. The theory helps APNs understand how the client’s thoughts, perceptions, and memory lead to behavior changes. As such, the APN will model the intervention to manage intrusive or distorted thoughts. Also, the theory guides the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a model that equips clients with coping mechanisms to reframe distorted thoughts and equip the client with problem-solving skills to manage their illness.
References
Ryle, A., & Kerr, I. B. (2020). Introducing cognitive analytic therapy: Principles and practice of
A relational approach to mental health. John Wiley & Sons.
Varcarolis, E. M., & Fosbre, C. D. (2020). Essentials of psychiatric mental health nursing-E-
Book: A communication approach to evidence-based care. Elsevier Health Sciences.
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