Download Mental Health Clinical Activities - Trinity Valley Community College

Trinity Valley Community College Associate Degree Nursing Program
Mental Health Rotation
Clinical Activities Level IV
Over a three week period, the student will attend 3 ten hour clinical days at Terrell State
Hospital (THS). The instructor will assign the student to one unit. Each week a different patient
will be assigned for the student to interview and provide care. Each day the student will attend
and participate in pre-conference and post- conference. Assignments include a weekly
psychiatric clinical evaluation, a psychiatric patient analysis, and a cinema case study analysis
for presentation in a clinical conference.
In addition, each week please bring your psychiatric mental health nursing textbook, and drug book.
Week #1:
1. Meet your instructor at the administrative building inside the waiting room down the
hallway to the left just before arriving at the elevator.
2. Introduction to TSH, tour of the grounds and commonly accessed buildings, review of
clinical objectives and safety issues, etc.
3. Student will be paired with another student and assigned a mental health movie to be
analyzed, presented to your clinical group, and discussed during post conference week
(See weekly clinical evaluation for 3rd week)
4. With the assistance of the unit charge nurse, select a patient willing to be Interviewed
by a student nurse, conduct the interview (utilizing therapeutic communication
techniques), review the patient’s chart, collect data from various available members of
the psychiatric health care team, and perform the MMSE and AIMs Tests as appropriate.
Utilize this data to complete your psychiatric analysis paper.
During In post conference:
 Discuss the role of the psychiatric registered nurse, compare and contrast the
similarities and differences from the role of the medical/surgical registered nurse.
 Discuss the roles of these members of the psychiatric setting: Social Worker,
Psychologist, Psychiatrist, LVN, UAP, Case Manager, and Patient Advocate.
 Discuss your patient’s diagnosis, symptoms, interventions and medications.
 Analyze and discuss your own feelings regarding care of persons who are diagnosed
with a mental illness.
 Compare your feelings and concerns about caring for patients in a psychiatric setting
before the day began with your feelings and concerns at the end of the clinical day.
Assignments due:
 Forty eight hours (48) from the end of your clinical day, the student will complete and
submit on blackboard the Clinical Evaluation Form Week 1.
 Prior to the second clinical day, the student will complete and submit on Blackboard the
assigned Psychiatric Patient Analysis paper with the evaluation form, Professional Paper
Check Sheet, MMSE and AIMS Score Forms attached. See the Rubric for Analysis of a
Patient with a Psychiatric Disorder for this paper.
TSH Daily Activities page 1
Week #2:
1. Observe and interact with patients on the assigned unit.
2. Attend or observe an adjunctive therapy and/or a treatment team meeting; describe
and discuss their purpose in post conference.
3. Watch and discuss the electroconvulsive therapy video and possibly observe an
electroconvulsive treatment (ECT). Prior to attending, review your psychiatric textbook
on ECT, bring questions to ask and discuss with the psychiatrists who perform the
procedure.
During post conference:
 Discuss your patient’s diagnosis, symptoms, interventions and medications.
 Discuss therapeutic communication techniques utilized while interacting with patients.
 Describe the goals of a therapeutic environment (milieu).
 Describe and discuss defense mechanisms exhibited by patients on the unit.
 Discuss legal and ethical factors that affect the care of the mentally ill patient.
Assignments due:
 Forty eight hours (48) from the end of your clinical day, the student will complete and
submit on blackboard the weekly clinical evaluation for week 2.
 Student groups will work independently on the cinema activity to be presented and
discussed on week 3.
Week #3:
1. Observe and interact with patients on the assigned unit.
2. Terminate your relationships with your patients and with the staff.
3. Visit the Wildwood Cemetery, the Family Center, and the Heritage Museum.
During post conference:
 Share something you did as a patient advocate or one experience you had during the
clinical rotation which made a difference.
 Student pairs will discuss Cinema Case Study relevant to reflective items in the Weekly
Evaluation for the 3rd week.
Assignments due:
 Forty eight hours (48) from the end of your clinical day, the student will complete and
submit on blackboard the weekly clinical evaluation for the 3rd week.
 The Student Clinical Experience Survey is due forty eight hours (48) from the end of your
clinical day.
TSH Daily Activities page 2