Week Six

Termination is near for you and your client. Blog about this experience...What did you learn about yourself? Were there any surprises? Discuss how you have made an impact into the lives of the psychiatric consumers of your designated Psych units.

Week Five

Blog about your support group experience as a participant-observer.

Week Four

Its been three weeks since your arrival to designated Psych units, what are some of your thoughts and feelings about the environment, the patients, the staff and you?

Week Three

Blog about the pros and cons of using Movies to assist students with understanding psychiatric disorders.

Week Two

In keeping with technology, this course will begin exploration of psychiatric nursing among blogs on the World Wide Web. I need feedback from the class on your current usage of Blogs. Check out blogs on the net to see what others think about psychiatric-mental health nursing. Cite the web address and comment on the blog. Who is the sponsor(s)? Is the site inviting?

Week One

Students are usually apprehensive about going into a psychiatric facility for the first time. My own experiences were actually pretty tame. I walked into Dix Building at Spring Grove Hospital Center (SGHC) standing exceptionally close to my fellow classmates. Not terrified but respectfully anxious. The unit was brightly light, furniture was made of light wood,and the patients were all facing the tv at the end of the dayroom. My instructor gave us a tour of the unit and instructed us to find a patient to talk with. I looked around and sought out someone who looked "normal" to me. He was wearing a plaid shirt and dark pants and a black Orioles baseball cap. I sat down next to him and introduced myself at a Coppin nursing student and attempted to contract verbally with him to be his nursing student during my 7 week clinical rotation. He seemed pleasant enought. To my surprise, he jumped up to his feet and said loudly, "Let's play ball!" Now his body language was that of a batter. He clasped his hands together as to strike at a baseball... That was 26 years ago...he is still a resident at SGHC...older, quieter...but he still remembers my name whenever I run into him at the Grove...and guess what...he still wears his Oriole baseball cap....As you begin blogging...
1. What prior experience, if any do you have with the mentally ill?
2. What assumptions do you have regarding the particular mental health setting to which you will be assigned for the next 7 weeks?
3. What are your expectations from this clinical?
4. What, if any, are your concerns regarding this clinical experience?
5. Discuss (1) personal goal for this clinical experience.