Review of Applied psychology for nurses

Abstract

Reviews the book, Applied psychology for nurses by Donald A. Laird (1923). In this little volume the author has "selected from the vast literature of psychology those facts of most immediate aid to nurses in understanding the patient, themselves, and their fellow-men," as announced on the paper cover. Written in popular, newspaper English, the book should commend itself to those with the amount of preliminary training that the ordinary nurse has, as well as beginning students of psychology generally. The book is biological and behavioristic in viewpoint. It is divided into four parts. Part I attempts to orient the student with respect to the origin, scope, and applications of psychology, with particular reference to medicine and nursing. In Part II, the most technical part of the book, the author treats the biological aspects and foundations of behavior. Part III, entitled "Applications," is the piece de resistance: learning endocrinology, temperaments, instincts, psychoanalysis, suggestion--these, although not all called by their first names, indicate the rubrics under which the discussion may be classified. Part IV is given over to somewhat more general, sociological applications of psychology and psychiatry, with particular regard to the subject of mental hygiene. There is sufficient warrant and need for a book of this sort to make it a valuable adjunct in the training of nurses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)