Greetings and welcome to our Class Blog. I look forward to reading your reflections about Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing. The weekly blog entries should be posted by the due dates listed on Blackboard. I will post the weekly assignment. To post individual responses, students should click on the word, "comments" then write in the comment window to the weekly assignment. Blogging is not Discussion Board. Students are expected to reflect on the weekly posting each week. Students are encouraged to read other students' comments. You do not have to respond by commenting to classmates. These are your thoughts. This is a closed blog thus only students enrolled in NURS 432 will have access to this Blog by email invitation. Our confidentiality rule applies to all class bloggers. Please be mindful that scholarly writing is expected. You may refer to our class Blackboard for more detail about this Clinical Activity under Assignment. NOTE: Instructions on how to proceed are located in the Welcome to the May Graduating Class of 2015 message on the lower right side under Blog Archives October 2014. You will not be able to post a comment here. I initiated this Class Blog in 2011 with (6) discussion questions. You will be instructed to respond to my discussion questions ONLY. DO NOT START YOUR OWN POSTINGS. I look forward to your comments. Happy blogging!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
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.
The main thing that I learned about myself is that if I am thrown in a situation in which I am uncomfortable that I am still able to act as if I am in control. I thought that I would be uncomfortable dealing with the psych patients but after the first one, I had to realize that they are people too. So that made my experience alot easier to deal with because these people were willing to share their stories and thoughts with me. This was definitely a surprise for me. I feel like the biggest difference I have made on my assigned psych unit is just treating the patients like people and taking the time to listen to them. The staff is often busy and cannot sit there for a long time listening to the patients, so I was able to do that for several people and they just wanted to be heard.
This rotation turned out to be very interesting to me. The things that I learned about myself is that I am a great actively listener. I enjoy sitting talking to patients and gaining incite about what goes on in their world. During a normal clinical rotation such as med surg, and also working in the hospital as a patient care tech or student nurse; you find that most of your time is used doing patient care that you have little time to actual get to sit and talk with your patients. I did not experience many surprises; I have a previous background in mental health so I kind of knew what to expect. On thing that I did find different at my clinical site was that they did not have a strict policy on contraband. The patients were allowed to have many objects and article of clothing that I'm used to being prohibited on an impatient unit. At the impatient facility our group was giving the opportunity to facilitate many group meetings. I felt that this made a huge positive impact on the patients and made their stay at an impatient facility more pleasant.
This clinical experience has been very interesting to me. The one thing I learned about myself that I enjoy listening and making people feel better about themselves. I was surprised to see that a lot of the clients are very intelligent. I was also surprised at how comfortable I had become with the clients. I can truly see how they become a family. The one thing I didn't like was the lack of motivation from the clients and staff to be active. I have since then learned that its apart of the illness, but I would like to see the staff be more proactive about it. I think our group presentations will impact the clients in the future. We had some really good presentations and the clients participated and enjoyed them. We also made poster boards that the staff hung in the day room and I think this will help the clients in the future. I must say I will never forget my experience at Spring Grove and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I am not convinced that I want to be a psych nurse.
Hello everyone, Today is our last day of clinical at VA Medical Center. For the few weeks that I have been at VA was amazing because there was no incidence of crisis. The environment at this clinical is pleasant for me to give the client the full care that they deserve from me, and I did just that. The staffs and nurses were helpful to me at times when I needed help. The clients were nice to me and always wanted us the students to stay in the day room and engage in activities like games, playing cards and most of all “discussion”. The clients love us because we always have time for presentation each week. The presentations are always interactive because the clients are involved. Prizes are awarded at the end of the presentations to clients that answer the questions correctly, and even to those who did not get the answer right. To, I did a presentation on oral, hand and skin care. At the end of the learning and teaching presentation, the clients were so happy with us for the good information that we are providing to them each week. I learned to engage in a therapeutic communication with the client, which is essential to my nurse client relationship. I felt comfortable discussing with the client in the day room and even on a one to one basis. There were no surprises at all. Everything went as I expected and I am very grateful for that. The impact that I made on the lives of some of the client at VA is the teaching and learning sessions that we had each week. The clients are now knowledgeable about the management of the side effects of the medications that they are taking; including hand hygiene, oral and skin care. My overall experience at VA is excellent and our instructor Prof. K. Barnes made it happened.
My termination experience was kind of sad. I really enjoyed the Spring Grove clinical experience and to my surprise, I am not ready to leave. Walking out of there felt like I was leaving my family (clinical instructor, clinical group and patients). As time goes by, you get to know the patients and they look forward to seeing you. You never know how a smiling face can brighten someone’s day. What I learned about myself is how I have learned to have a non-biased, non-judgmental attitude in regards to some of the reasons why patients were admitted. In the beginning, clinical seemed a little scary to know that I would be interacting with people who committed crimes like murder, pedophilia and rape on a regular basis. After working with them, I realized that some of them are “everyday people” that we see all of the time. Some have more severe mental illnesses, but the fact that we are there to help them gives me great satisfaction. This was the best clinical rotation for me thus far. Becoming a Psych Nurse is something that I am now considering.
My clinical experience at VA was great; I learned a lot while there during this seven weeks. At the beginning of the clinical, I was kind of scare because I did not know what to expect; more so, it was my first time dealing with Psychiatric patients. However, after day one of the clinical, I started developing self-confidence and therapeutic relationship skill with the clients. When I had conversation with a Client, Mr. W, for my IPR assignment, he told me he was involuntary committed to VA for attempted suicide. He was much opened and at the termination phase he told me whenever he will be discharged from VA, he will make sure he joins a support group. I will say 90% of the clients at VA, effectively and actively participated in all the activities we engaged them. For instance, when we had teaching with them about some of the antipsychotic medications and their side effects, everyone that was in the dayroom listen actively to our presentations. Their participation was a 100% because they all asked questions or provide additional information about the side effects of some of the medications they are taken. Each one of them was positively rewarded for participation with cookies, or candy. For the diabetic client, we had sugar free candy available for them. One our last day of clinical, three group presentations were done. In my group, we presented teaching on “personal hygiene” our focus was on hand washing, oral care, body odor control, and skin care. The clients were all involved in this presentation; one of them expresses concerns on how food is being served in McDonald. He says he does not like the fact that people serve food without washing their hands and most of the times without putting on gloves; however he says this is not the case with Subways. We responded to his concerns and our clinical instructor came in and explained how this situation can be handled by the customer. To sum it all it was a nice experience for me working in the psych unit with these clients; all the nurses were very cooperative, they provided us with all the necessary information with needed for the clinical and above all, our clinical instructor kept us all on our feet with all the assignments needed for the course.
Psych nursing is exciting and filled with new challenges every day. You never know what type of clients you are going to be involved with. I enjoyed the groups and conversations that we had with the patients. Most were interesting and getting to know their history was sometimes the best part. It always warmed my heart when after one of our group sessions, a client would come up to us and say how we made their day a little bit better. I still believe that psych nursing is not for me, but I will always remember my rotation through here.
My psych rotatation was at Sinai hospital, and I commend Sinai for having a very bright and welcoming place for mentally ill people and for students to come and learn. I have learned to welcome all experiences because you never know what you can learn from them. This experience has been one of the best clinical experiences that I have ever had; who knew! Psych is not what most people initially assume. Everyone is not walking around acting insane in the membrane. It is not always what you see on t.v. A majority of the people that I encountered in my psych experience were just like me; except they had a few mental issues that they were unable to control on their own without help of counseling or medication therapy. I found that they enjoyed having people come in and have group sessions with them. I enjoyed getting to know them and how they deal with what they are experiencing. I learned that I am a very good listener. Some of the clients I encountered shared so much of what they were going through the minute we established a therapeutic relationship. So many of them are very willing to have some one that they can talk to. I believe I made an impact on them as well by using my knowledge and skills of therapeutic communication to help them move toward a better understanding of their illness and how to cope. I tell you, I might have to consider partaking in some of this psych world as a nurse. Whatch out there know!!!!!
Can't believe it is the end. Next week we will be having our good-bye Christmas party for the patients. I have to say Psych was not as bad as I thought it would be. Spring Grove was a very inviting place. The staff and patients were very polite and open to use. My patient was very cooperative and answered the questions I had and came to all of the teaching sessions like he told me he would. I think the only thing I really don't understand with my experience was why the patients were not stimulated more then what I saw. All of the hrs we were there all the patients did was watch TV and the staff didn’t do any activities with them during the time we were there.I think with us being there it has shown the patients that we care especially with patients like mine who have no family visiting him at all.
My experience with my patient was an overall good one. It started out very slow (being that he initially did not want to talk with me)but my client toward the end took a likely in our brief one on one talks. I was surprised initially when he said that he did not want to talk ( I thought to myself "what did I do to offend you?")but i continued to speak and at times even walked the hallways with him in silence. I have learned that you have to have patience with the mentally ill if you want to gain their trust. The staffing on the unit I thought were wonderful and helpful. This clinical rotation was quick but I did reach my initial goal, which was to establish truth and work on using therapeutic communication with my client.
I enjoyed my psych clinical at Spring Grove. It ended too fast. I learned about myself that I can be aroud the patients without feeling uncomfortable and that psych nursing is something I am definitely willing to consider in the future. I learned about myself that I am able to communicate therapeutically more than I thought I could. The only suprise for me was that my client, who does not usually attend groups I was told and lacks certain social skills, came to one of the presentations we had. I encouraged him to come to group and his answer was like "yeh, maybe," and he attended and even participated in discussion. I feel that the weeks of meeting with him might have had an impact on him. From the first time we met till the end, my client has allowed more time each time to discuss. Seeing her every week and having him say, "Hi, we are meeting today right? 9:30?" made me feel like he must've feeling that he was benefitting from our meetings. As far as the other patients, some of them were constantly sleeping and watching tv but some of them would join us in the activity room and do some coloring, listen to music, talk and play pool. I feel like having students on the unit was good the patients since it allowed them to interact with people and do activities.
I can truly say that I have enjoyed myself with my client and other patients at spring grove. As I terminated my services with my client she appeared to be sad, but at the same time she understood we had to move to other classes. I have learned alot from my client and about my client's illness. My client was very interactive with the other students and staff. She was not antisocial. I have learned to be more aware of my surroundings and to be more conscious of my answers in response to question, basically being therapeutic. I believe i had an impact on my client. She was so happy to know that a young black single mother was on her way of becoming a nurse. She felt there was hope for her as a single parent. I gave her a word of encouragement and I said my goodbyes. Spring Grove rock!
Wow...., i can't believe its seven weeks already, how fast time flies. I started this psych rotation with mixed feelings of not knowing what to expect but after my first encounter with the staff and patients of the BCRI center, i knew i was going to be okay. Termination day was very sad for me as i ended my contract with my client, she was really receptive of me the whole time and even felt sad that i was leaving. We went over her goals and how she was going to achieve those goals and other support groups were referred to her aswel. We hugged for a while and i left. i haved really learnt a lot from this class by doing away with all stigmatizations associated with psych patients, also, i am very assertive of mine and the behaviors of others, again how to meaningfully care for the mentally challenged people. And it was all thanks to my Professor Natalie Hart who was so nice and patient with my group and Professore Black, who also did all in her power to get us to where we are now.
Blog #6 Termination This rotation has been the shortest and the most interesting one. I am able to practice therapeutic communication and relationship as we have been taught in the class. I loved the way the patients were so calmed and were well behaved throughout the rotation and I was happy that no code was called throughout this experience. I was also happy for the turn-up of patients when we did the individual’s student’s group with them and loved their response. There are no surprises at all. We touched the lives of these individuals when we did presentations on topics like, hygiene, exercise, nutrition, feeling good, side effects of the medication, and using humor to decrease-stress and anxiety. Though, I am comfortable working with psychiatric patient before this rotation, but I can still say that I cherished my safety and I still watch my back all the time because of unpredictable changes in the moods of some of the patients. I think I impact their lives during my individual group presentation about “feeling good about oneself”. This topic helps increase their self esteem and teaches them to be satisfied and be comfortable with the way they look.
Sadly, clinical ended today. Learned alot about myself during this rotation. I learned that I too have gone through the same things that the patients have gone through, therefore I learned how to become more compassionate. I also learned that I more understanding of people, their actions and the reasoning behind them. I also learned that I have a soft spot for adolescence dealing with various mental illnesses, never thought I would feel this way because in the beginning I was so nervous about working with teenagers because I had a low tolerance for teenagers, but this experience has changed my perceptions. There were surprises along the way such as witnessing how something as simple as going home for a holiday visit can trigger something in them to make them want to go AWOL once they are returned. I guess I take being able to go about my business without restrictions for granted unlike those kids that are constantly under surveillance, being able to go home means a lot to them. I feel that I made a huge impact on my patient because she went from not really talking to me, to finally conversating with me by the 2nd visit, and on this last day of clinical, she actually was looking for me amongst the crowd..very touching because I really was not sure if me talking to her was impacting her. On the last day, I had to tell her that it was my last day with them and honestly both of us almost cried. I believed she was becoming attached to me and knowing that I was not coming back made her feel like the visits were too short. I almost cried because I was starting to feel like maybe I was showing her a positive influence to maybe help her change her life around and I was not sure how things would go for her in the near future. But I did speak with her, reminding her what we've discussed in terms of controlling anger and positive thinking and she said that she would continue to try to do those methods that we discussed. I actually feel good, knowing that I wholeheartedly tried to help someone...
Our clinical ended yesterday and we actually went to a community center instead of our usual clinical site. We went to the Zeta Center for Healthy Living and it was a great experience. It was a wonderful ending to this clinical experience. We participated in blood pressure and depression screenings with the members of the center. I have learned that many of the people in our community have mental illnesses and we may not be aware of it when we interact with them. I have learned that I have the ability to help improve peoples' moods and put a smile on their faces just by talking to them and encouraging them to accomplish their goals. I have also learned that it gives people hope when we (nursing students) come in to a clinical site with positive attitudes. They trust us to give them excellent care.
WOW! This was not a bad experience at all. Of course I do not want to be a Mental Health Nurse, but I am more open to the idea. At first I was terrified, but eventually I became more relaxed with the patients, holding conversations and just talking in general other than saying good morning, and running to lock myself in the rec room. My experience with my client was good. He was quiet gentlemen with not much to say. Spring Grove is an interesting place, we learned about the history and facility as it stands today. Professor Day-Black is an awesome person and lecturer. We were afforded years of psychiatric training being in her clinical group. Thank you for a great experience
My clinical experience at spring grove was a very different one. It was very laid back and comfortable. Most of the patients were very calm a cooperative and very inviting. I wish I had more time to get to know the patients more and my client. It feels like I am leaving unfinished buisness behind. Its sad. I really had alot of empathy for my patient and his situation and I wish I had more time to have a break through with him. I learned that I really have a soft spot for people who need help and I want to just save everyone. The patients at Spring Grove really enjoyed us being there because when we came they knew they were getting special treats. They would ask "Are we having group today"? and they would be lined up to come in. I think that it was awesome that they participated and were very cooperative.
This clinical experience was great, way better than I thought it was going to be. There were no codes, the patients were all very respectful saying “thank you mam” and please, they were excited to come to groups hosted by the students, they participating in the discussions and were good listener. I learned that I am an attentive listener. I enjoyed working with my patient. I finally realize as termination came closer that the media portrays people with mental illness as all crazy and nuts, but I got the chance to see, that these people are humans just like us, they enjoy doing things that we enjoyed doing.
I can’t believe the seven week is over, this was a good and interesting experience for me, at first I thought this rotating will be difficult dealing with mental illness patient to my surprise it all turn out great. I learn to listen to my patient about what is going on in his life, and I was able to use therapeutic communication to build nurse-client relationship. There was no any surprise, I make impact in their life lives, especially during the group teaching, and we went to Zeta Center for Healty Active agent where we conduct depression screening and blood pressure screening. I was able to give some valuable information about blood pressure and how to control their blood pressure and also diet to consider during the processing of lowing blood pressure. We were all welcome to the center and the members appreciate the fact that we choose the profession not because of the pay but for the passion we have when we all stated our goals.
Interesting as I will say about this whole six weeks exposure to psyche nursing. I walked into Baltimore Crisis Response Center with a little knowledge about mental health patients, but am proud to say am leaving with knowledge which can not be taken from me. I thank my psychiatric professors especially professor Natalie Hart for her dedication and consistent encouragement to her student and also her willingness to answer any questions even the ones that we did not notice on the unit. Psych nursing is very interesting, and this rotation has given me the opportunity to erase the stigma I have about psych patients. I had the privilege to meet and interact with different client’s who have different mental issues and also had the opportunity to use therapeutic communication to obtain information from my patient and help them set a realistic goals which are attainable when they leave. I was really sad on my last day on the unit because, the patient and staff were very nice to us.
Wow! I can not believe this rotation is over. It went so quickly. I learned that I could be a very good listener to others in their time of need. I learned that I am not judgmental and actually posses some therapeutic communications skills that allow the clients to open up to me. I was surprised how quickly some most of the clients opened up to me and wanted to have deep conversations about their life. I was also surprised that I really enjoyed my experience. I thought that this was going to be the worst rotation ever, but it was actually good and enlightening. I enjoyed it. I feel like I was a big help to the clients. I was there for them to express their emotions and feelings because they don't get to talk to the staff for hours about anything they want. I gave them all of my attention and I knew they loved it. Most of the clients just wanted people to talk to. I think I made their day better because I showed that I cared by playing games, exercising, singing, and laughing with them. In the end, I hope I left them with a sense of hope and will.
I have to admit that my perceptions about the mentally ill before these rotations were wrong and misguided. I thought that the psychiatric unit was a dangerous place with patients having the capability of attacking the staff at any time. After this experience, I can gladly say I am considering psychiatric nursing as a specialty. I was not only comfortable navigating the unit but could carry one conversation with the patients. I also learned that the worst psychiatric cases are not the ones we meet in the hospital, they are the ones who deny their illness or roam the streets without anyone else knowing. The patients at my clinical site seemed to enjoy the student’s company every time and participated in the group activities. They enjoyed talking to the students and even spoke out about their worries during a stress relief group. I felt like I made an impact in someone's life and will cherish this experience.
As termination nears I am prepared to terminate with my client. I believe that although my client let me know on our first encounter that he did not trust me, that he now does. I also know that he respects me because he actually approached me and asked if i was offended by him saying he does not trust me. During this experience I learned how to be more empathetic as opposed to sympathetic. I tried my best not to worry at night thinking about how terrible I would feel if I were there and thought about the fact that they needed treatment. I feel that I have made an impact on the patients because I took the time to listen and I care. We had conversations about general things just like I would casually talk with any person. I dont know if I wil become a psyche nurse but I am greatful for the experience and the chance to be rid of any stigmas that I had.
My experience at Sinai was very enjoyable. I learned a lot and I could really see myself as a pschy nurse. Once I got passed initiating a conversation and getting the client comfortable with talking to me I realized that conducting therapeutic conversation is not has hard as I thought it was. I learned that it is not that hard to communicate with the mentally ill client most of them just what someone to listen to them and I am a very good listener. I think just being on the unit spending time and doing groups with the clients made a great impact into the lives of the psychiatric clients on the unit. The clients seemed to enjoy having the students on the units because a lot of them longed to have visitors.
This experience has been an enlighten one for me. I have learned that working with patient’s with mental illness is the same any other patient. I now have a different outlook on mental illness; I have more of compassion now. There is so much education that be taught in this area. I learned that I can do therapeutic communication without thinking about what should I say, what shouldn’t I say. I just went in there with the attitude I am going to be myself. It worked. The clients were willing to open up and talk. I was surprised to hear from one client that at first she was wondering what and why do I want to talk with her, but after awhile she felt comfortable with me to talk. This same client had an enjoyable time with the group activity, it made her feel better. She openly acknowledges her feeling. This made me feel good inside to know just sitting and watching TV with her made a difference. Our clinical group and instructor received acknowledgment from the charge nurse, we were the best clinical group so far that has been on the unit, we just came and took charge. Also she said the group activities we presented were full of substance for the clients. That is a great feeling to be recognized both by the staff and the clients.
My termination with my client was bittersweet. I wanted to have a therapeutic termination with him and I was relieved for our interaction to be complete, however I felt some kind of way about his reaction to the termionation. He seemed to be interested only in receiving a gift from me at the end. He didnt seem touched or helped by our interaction. I felt a little taken advantage of and used. However, the whole psych unit experience was an eye opener for me. I saw a lot of new things in me and I was able to accomplish some of my goals for this rotation. I feel that my therapeutic response and communication skills have improved greatly.
The termination with my client went well it seemed like it couldn't come soon enough. I am glad that it is finally over. On the last day my client and I said our goodbyes and I reeducated him about the importance of taking his medicine. I learned that I can be a good listener and understanding to someone else problems. I was surprised that the client asked for a way to maintain contact even though our clinical and time together was over. I made an impact on the patients by spending time with them when they felt lonely and showing that the staff and I cared about them and their well being.
I have to admit that this clinical way exceeded my expectation in the sense that I didn’t think it would be so fruitful. I entered clinical with the assumption that I just want to go through it and finish it. When I go to my client, a 12 year old abused adolescence, he charmed and drew me to him. I felt compelled to “protect” him and we did develop a great friendship. I could not wait to go back to clinical and see how my patient was progressing. Now I can see myself working in this environment, particularly, with children around his age. I learned a lot of things and the most interesting one of them is using therapeutic communication in Psychiatric-Mental Health clinical setting. The staff was very courteous and helpful towards us and was always getting our clients ready for us to interact with. The last day of clinical I had a double dose of sadness because my client, after telling that I would not be coming back to the facility, he told me that it was also very sad for him. His adopted father was on his way to pick him up for his aunt’s funeral and that he would be staying over the next day for the funeral services. I told him that I trust he would continue to progress so that he get out in February to go home and I will be praying for him. I was really touched and I learned that dealing with psych kids can be a rewarding challenging and that more student nurses should give a thought to working with such helpless children.
Blog #6 This clinical rotation experience was a good eye-opener. At the beginning of the course I was filled with a lot of skepticism. I thought I might not be able to work in a hospital with mentally ill and will not feel comfortable or confident. Though the setting where I had the clinical experience may not be a typical setting for the mentally ill, it has at least given me a heads up on what I am likely to expect in dealing with this kind of patients. A nurse in this kind of setting assumes a totally different responsibility than a nurse in a regular hospital. The mode of communication is a little bit different though under the same umbrella of therapeutic communication. Safety is a major concern here. One must be observant enough in detecting early a resident who is exhibiting cues of aggression and therefore quickly device a strategy of counteracting such a behavior. Though a work setting where you have to be on guard most of the times may not be as desirable, but it is not as bad as I felt initially.
Week 6 Woop woop it’s finally over, I am so glad class is over cause I am so burnt out. I really enjoyed the psyh rotation this was so different because nursing clinical school has always been on a mer-surg setting and this was a change not just for me but for most of my classmates. I enjoyed this rotation because the patients looked up to me to be their listener especially when they talked about the side effects their medication gave them. And when they talked about the things that happened to them in the past, that lead to them having psychotic breakdowns. This was quite emotionally for me but as a nurse we have to keep the poker face and just listen and be there for the clients. We had some really good presentations and the clients participated and enjoyed them. I enjoyed each and everyone’s presentation. This gave the patients to have an opportunity to do something different from their everyday support groups.
Termination is definitely near for me and my client…and it makes me sad. Over the past few weeks, I’ve become very attached to my client, and I care about him a lot. Out of many of the patients, he is consistent week to week. He is always kind; he knows he has some issues, and he really works toward meeting his goals to fix them. He is also compliant with his treatment regimen. My overall experience during my psych clinical rotation thus far has been absolutely incredible. It started off rough, but I love it now. I could actually see myself dabbing in psych nursing in the future. I do have to learn to read people better because I’ve learned that I am very gullible. Some of the patients that I thought were the sweetest have flipped the script in a matter of seconds, and that is always surprising to me. Coming on the unit in the morning and seeing it destroyed is very surprising to me but very interesting at the same time…very juicy!!! I definitely believe I have made an impact on my client’s life. He was very quiet when I first met him, but we have built a great relationship. Every week, even if only for a few minutes, I get him to open up, I get him to smile and laugh, and I get him to engage and interact with others. Psych nursing rocks my socks!!!
Clinical is coming to an end and I will say I enjoyed myself way more than I expected. This has been a learning experience. One of my main goals was to be more comfortable on the unit without being scared of everything. I think I accomplished this. I have a new found respect for psych nurses. You have to always be on alert because things can change at any minute. Tools that we use in psych can be used in every specialty. I feel I made an impact on my client, he gets excited when he sees me and always ask are we going to have our talks and can he attend group. He always been open about some things but now I feel he is even more open with communication.
The end is near and it is bitter sweet. I didn't get the opportunity to have one client throughout my entire clinical experience due to BCRI being a limited stay facility. However, the clients that I was able to sit and talk with was very rewarding. Some opened up to me and some refused to talk. I was able to put my therapeutic communication skills to work in both situations. There were many surprises for me from the appearance of the facility to the clients we worked with. I wasn't expecting such an old facility to be where we did clinical. I felt that the clients at BCRI were more substance abuse clients than mental health clients. Yes they all had mental health issues, however, in my opinion BCRI is more focused on the substance abuse then the mental issues. I could be wrong, that's just my thoughts. I would've like to experienced a more diverse client population (i.e. schizophrenic, bipolar, and personality disorder). Most of the clients at BCRI were diagnosed with some form of depressive disorder. I've learned that I would not like to be a psych nurse, I don't feel I posses all the qualities of being a psych nurse. I fairly enjoyed my experience thus far and look forward to finishing clinical with a BANG!!!!
Week 6 The termination phase is finally here which means the semester is almost over. Whoop Whoop. This has been a long road but it was defiantly an adventure. I really did enjoy the psych rotation it is really a different world from medsurg. I really wish we were able to pass meds though. The patients were very interesting some were too friendly and some never said a word to me but that was all good. My patient was very cool I couldn’t have picked a better one he was very polite and didn’t have problems with sharing information with me. I am use to working with psych patients being on locked units but I did not care for the cottages too well I felt like anything dangerous could happen at any time and help was so far away. I was never afraid of any of the patients I knew who to stay away from and who I could actually hold a descent conversation with. I really feel sad for my patient because he wants to get home to his daughter so bad. I hope everything works out for him. I encouraged him to continue taking his meds and try to stay out of trouble. I really enjoyed my clinical group and my instructor we really got along so well. After doing this clinical rotation I may be thinking about becoming a psych nurse when I graduate. We shall see.
Termination with my client presents a sadness that I did not think would be there at this time. When I started this clinical rotation, I was more concerned about my safety, but now after getting to know my client and the other clients on the unit, I realize that the interaction was mutually helpful. I feel that I have made an impact on the clients on the unit through my interactions with them and the group activities we have been having with them. The clients always tell express their gratitude for what we the student nurses do and the time and attention we give them. During this rotation, I have acquired the emphatic skills of patients and caring attentiveness to patients with mental illness, while putting away my fears and feelings.
The mental health clinical rotation has been great; revealing some of the great potentials in me which I did not know I had. I learned a lot about myself such as possessing a leadership quality. I did it being a charge-nurse. This experience has taught me how to assign roles and prioritize activities and the needs of the individual patient. I also learned how to effectively use therapeutic communication in communicating with patients. Though I did not have a particular patient the whole time but every week I had the opportunity to meet a brand new patient at BCRI. I learned that establishing a nurse-client relationship is the most important aspect of caring for any patient and that gaining trust from the patient is essential in helping the client. This is a recommendation I would give to the future psych students and any student who may find it difficult to have a mental assessment with their patient, to first of all build trust and freely offer self to help and listen to the patient. Yes, there were surprises. I was so shocked to see how knowledgeable the patients were about psych meds. We had group sessions, and talked about psych medications, and I was really impressed at the way they answered the questions so confidently and accurately. I was also surprised as to how open patients can be when they gain your trust. The patients were very appreciative and willing to cooperate in every activity they were asked to engage in. To me, mental illness is just as any other medical condition and I believe if we handle patients well, they will also respond well. Ways I made impact to the psychiatric consumers at BCRI include having nurse-client relationship which allowed communication to flow. I led a group session and gave information on depression and hygiene. Some patients opened up to say how they often do not care about how they look considering what they are presently going through. Also I did medication teaching; an important aspect to help in recovery.
Week Six The time has come when I will be saying good byes to my client and other consumers at the Spring Grove Facility. If someone had predicted to me that I would be interacting and communicating one on one with mental ill patients for six weeks, I will have said never in my wildest dreams. It has been a great pleasure to have this wonderful experience, and it will be difficult to say goodbye to them. I will miss doing the activities with them, and seeing the joy, kind words and appreciations, they have for us. My client surprised me this week, by presenting me with one of the activity decoration we had made as my Christmas gift, which was huge for me. Other consumer who was apprehensive in the beginning, were also interacting in the activities and smiling with us; it was very mind blowing for us as students. One statement my Professor mentioned to us in one of our post conference is that, “no one is insane for 24 hours.” It was a revelation for me, it made me realized that, these consumers are human beings; all they need sometimes is for someone or in our case a group of novice students to spend some time with them.
Week six What I have learned about this experience, is to not have fear. Not fear of a mental patient, but fear of communication with them. I was very concerned about saying or doing something that would cause the patient to either be offended or angry. It was so much easier than I had thought. I just talked to my patient like a normal human being. Sat and listened to him and shared his excitement when he got excited, and laughed with him. The truth is, they are easier to talk to than some nurses, doctors, or any other patient. Just treating them like a person and letting them know that you thought about them enough to bring them a bag of chips is almost the greatest thing in the world to them. It was surprising to see how much the patients look forward to the students visiting and when we have our groups. As we were setting up, there was a line outside the doors where the patients stuck their heads on the glass to see what we were doing. It was fun. I really enjoyed every minute of it. Then to listen to the stories of these individuals and some of the hard lives they have had was sad and made me want to at least acknowledge that they were there. It really opened my eyes to wanting to be a psychiatric nurse.
For me, termination comes with a feeling of nostalgia. I have learnt a lot through this experience and I know that there are people out there that need referral services. I have learnt that I am able to care and not be afraid of any psychiatric consumer. I have learnt to use the act of effective communication. The adolescents I worked with were very welcoming and you can see in their faces their excitement in seeing me and my colleagues. One of the teenagers was so excited that she was jumping, smiling and saying “she is for me, she is here for me” while pointing to her chest. At that moment it was clear that my presence meant a lot to her.
There has been informative and interactive group teaching sessions such as medication and female hygiene teachings. The response received was prove of the impact the teachings had on the girls. It was a surprise how much the girls knew of their medications, the side effects and reason for the medication. The interactions I had with my client helped me to have an understanding of her diagnoses and I realized that just by sitting there and listening was probably what she needed. Reflectively, I will say that initially I was scared but after these experience in which I surprised myself, I am coming out a better person knowing that I can do a lot in other people’s lives just by being there. Nothing much is needed, just be there and listen.
I have realized that my suspicion is true; EVERYBODY has a little "crazy" in them!! LOL I do believe that some people are just better able to cope with it than others. My clinical experience was nice and the past week talking to my client she shared with me that she felt better with the students than what she did with the staff. She did not fully tell me why but I believe she was insinuating that the students may be a bit more nicer and caring than what the staff conveys; but I also understand that there may be some compassion fatigue with some of the staff. Anywho, I hope that I will always in my client's eyes be seen as the nice, empathetic, caring, new, "student" nurse and never like a nurse who has been there, done that and that when I do experience any compassion fatigue, I will recognize and correct it. Being on the unit has been amazing, the client's has opened up and been so receptive to us and we to them. During the past weeks, I have seen so many different attitudes in some clients, some disheartening but mostly good when the students came on the unit. Just last week my client told me that I was scary and boring and she didn't really like me too much; well this Tuesday before I could even walk in the day room to speak to her she had jumped out of her chair and yelled I am so happy to see you and gave me a big hug!!! It was pretty surprising and a nice way to start off that clinical day definitely. Another surprise was that the week of thanksgiving, one of the calmer and nicer client's that is around my age had a very bad moment and lashed out on the unit breaking all the windows out and tearing things off the wall. After that I noticed that he walked around and was not as talkative and I was not sure if it was because he felt bad or not, so I made it my business to talk to him and speak to him to possibly bring him out of his state of depression if that is what it was. The following week when I came in one of the first things he said to me beside the normal "hello" was "how are you feeling? Are you okay?" I thought that was really nice and thoughtful considering the fact that I did not think we were on the unit enough time to have made an impact already. I believe that we helped brighten each others days and that really helped the clinical experience go by faster and more enjoyable. Both the client's and nurses can learn from each other and I LOVE THAT!
This experience wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I learned that I need to try new things that are outside of my comfort zone so I can get new experiences and prove to myself that I can do new things. The biggest surprise of my clinical experience was when Michael destroyed the unit out of anger. I must admit that I underestimated him. I remember on the first day when I met and decided that I wanted him to be my patient, I wanted him because I thought he would be calm and wouldn’t be too much trouble to write my paper about him. I never expected him to be so violent. He was and still is pleasant around me but now I understand that anger does something to some of these patients and that you can never underestimate them or become too comfortable. I would like to think that I, as well as my clinical group, have made an impact on the patients. I hope that they feel like we treated them well, like human beings, and maybe they might even remember some of the groups we had. They have definitely changed my perspective and I hope that they enjoyed our presence as much as I enjoyed being there.
SIXTH BLOG ENTRY 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. I was at BCRI during this clinical rotation. I discovered a lot about myself during these past few weeks. I felt that Psych lecture and clinical were probably the most challenging and intense experiences that I’ve had during my entire time in nursing school. The clinical packet and workload initially felt overwhelming and I really didn’t know how I would be able to accomplish it all. Looking back I am very happy to see what I was able to achieve. I took a one day at a time approach; one exam at a time, one assignment at a time, one clinical day at a time. I found that this approach was also effective for many of the clients at BCRI. Many times when dealing with mental illness you may not see the light at the tunnel but if you can manage to just do one thing or complete one goal it gives you the confidence to know you can make it through. I enjoyed talking with many of the residents at BCRI and learning about their different services. I don’t think that I would want to work at a facility like BCRI or a mental institution however, I can see myself out in the community doing mobile treatment, or case management, or mental health screenings for the community.
I have had a wonderful experience at Spring Grove hospital, and I am very happy that psych clinical is not as frightening as I thought it would be. It is actually a lot of fun. I really like the patient; I feel empathetic towards them, but I do not let my feelings get in the way of doing what I am required to do. The client I have had to work with is unique and I will really miss her. I can’t even imagine how the goodbye will be for both of us. From this clinical experience, I have learned a lot about myself. One of the thing I learned is that I can do whatever I want to do if I put my mind into it. I initially thought I can’t do psych, I will be horrible at it, and that I might fail. However, after confronting my fears, I realize that I am not bad at it at all, and I could make a good psych nurse someday. I had lots of surprises. In fact, the whole experience is a surprise. I thought the unit will be so loud and out of control, but it isn’t for the most part. The milieu was quiet for the most part the entire time I was there. I was also surprise to see that the patients are not as different as I had expected. They are fun to be around, and I had good conversation with the ones I had contact with. I would say I have had a positive impact on the patients I had the opportunity to work with. For example, I meet one of my client’s needs by offering self and she seems to be very happy and grateful about it. Overall, I have had a good experience, and I wish I wasn't coming to the termination phase so soon.
As termination approaches next week, I have learned a great deal about myself and how I very mental illness and person who have mental illness. Before clinical I believe that it is safe to say, that I would have all the right things that one should say in regards to how one should view and treat a person with a mental illness. I saw that I had a little prejudgment about this topic. I saw that I was taken back and felt like it was mostly the fault of the patient. I felt that all they had to do was take their meds. Now I feel so different. I feel as if we “john Q public” have, are and will do this group a disservice. I will never again assume that “they” just don’t want to help themselves. I see now that we have to give more and treat them better. Yes we are the caregivers but they are not “children” They are adults with mental illness and many who are about their wits, many of which don’t take their meds because of how it makes them feel as well as because they know they have nowhere to go so they manipulate the system to protect themselves. I may not want to become a mental health nurse but I have a new found respect for the position. I am surprised at the living conditions and I am surprised how little the state can provide. I am surprised to know that I have made a positive impact on my patient’s life in such a short amount of time. This past week I noticed that they were mad at me because I had not brought coffee in for them in two weeks. I told him that I had forgotten and that we were not there the week before. He replied with such clarity that he was grateful for my honesty and for not blowing him off like he was crazy. He stated that he knew his condition and that he knew what people thought of him and that I was the first person in a long time to treat him like he was treated before he came in. I got a bit choked up. Over all I have enjoyed my time at Spring Grove.
As termination of my clinical rotation is near, I feel like I have learned and grown in numerous ways. First and foremost, I have learned that I am able to use the knowledge and skills I have learned in lecture to care for my patients. I have also learned that as nervous as I was, I was able to connect and communicate therapeutically with my patient and others in the clinical facility. One thing that surprised me the most was the fact that some of my perceptions of psychiatric nursing came into reality such as patients acting out and being destructive. Seeing the aftermath of a destructive patient on the floor was a real eye-opener of what you can expect on a psychiatric floor. Another important factor I learned on the unit was the fact that many patients consider us their friends and family and look forward to us visiting, as they may not have any other contact to the outside world. I consider this a huge impact to the patients and hope that this has benefited them in a positive way. I also believe that we had a impact on the fellow staff at the hospital as we somewhat relieved them from some of their duties as we held groups and interacted with the clients. Despite my initial intentions and the experience I had during clinical, I was surprised to think that psychiatric nursing may be apart of my future as I am interested in the field and believe I am capable of caring for such clients.
I actually can’t believe our clinical experience has now come to an end. My clinical experience I felt was somewhat different since I was at BCRI and we weren’t assigned a client because it was not a long- term care facility. Most of the patients were there maybe 3-5 days or less. Each clinical we met different patients who were usually gone the following week, so we were unable to form a relationship. In this experience I learned that I really had no clue the real duties of a mental health nurse and what they were expected to do. I learned how unaware I really was. For the clients on our psychiatric unit I think we made a positive impact on them. The patient were always happy to see us and talk to us and were very encouraged to even hear that we were nursing students and would be graduating in May.
It's hard to believe that this is the end of clinical. Termination is Thursday and I am not sure how my my patient will react. He always wants me to call him and I always have to set boundaries. I know I will be a little sad to leave and pray that he uses his coping skills and and takes his medications so he can have the best life possible. I hope I don't cry, if I do I will make sure it is not in front of him. I am not just terminating with just my client but all of them. I pray that they all live the best life possible. I learned that I like psych more than I thought I would. I take the patients home with me and I need to stop. I have helped someone life whether it was big or small. I am stronger than I think. I learned that it takes a lot of work keeping an eye on all the patients. They should be treated just like everyone else. I enjoyed my psych clinical.
WOWWWWWWWW IS ALL I CAN SAY I ACTUALLY MADE IT THROUGH THIS EXPERIENCE. IT'S KIND OF HARD TO LEAVE NOW BECAUSE MY CLIENT AND I HAVE BUILT A RELATIONSHIP. EVERY WEEK I WENT TO CLINICAL SHE WOULD BE WAITING BY THE DOOR FOR ME. THAT MADE ME FEEL GOOD BECAUSE THAT MEANS I MADE SOME TYPE OF POSITIVE IMPACT ON HER. I KNOW SHE WILL BE UPSET THAT I HAVE TO GO BUT SHE UNDERSTANDS THAT I WAS ONLY THERE TEMPORARILY. THROUGH MY CLINICAL EXPERIENCE, I HAVE CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT WHICH PROFESSION I WOULD LIKE TO GO INTO AFTER GRADUATING. I BELIEVE I CAN BE A MENTAL HEALTH NURSE BECAUSE I ENJOYED LISTENING TO THEIR PROBLEMS AND I UNDERSTAND THEM. I HAVE A WHOLE NEW OUTLOOK ON MENTAL HEALTH CLIENTS THEN PRIOR TO GOING TO CLINICAL. I ACTUALLY WAS AFRAID OF THEM. OVERALL I REALLY ENJOYED THE EXPERIENCE.
My clinical is termed as community mental health group meaning that we spent most part of our clinical in the community. However, we have been going to Spring Groove Hospital for the past two weeks and we will still go to the hospital for the last day. For that reason, I did not have a single client to myself; apparently, I worked with the entire client. My going to Spring Groove for my mental health clinical exposed most of the information I had before but could not really understand it. I noticed that the client like student because is like when little children have a visitor they will be so happy and want to share everything with the visitor especially if the visitor is a close relative. Anytime we are entering into the hospital, I observed the client and the smiles on their faces. They will asked questions like did you guys bring juice, did you bring snack because they knew that one or two student must teach and they will all have snack. Last week on 12/4/2014 after our group teaching because we had a lot of juice, snack , yourgout, chips, fruit etc, two of the residents came close to us and asked us which day is your last day and we said next week. They shouted with an exclamation and some sad expression on their faces. “ I do not want you guys to stop coming”. I told the resident that we are meant to be here for a short time. Talking about termination phase, is never easy when the nurse played the role by giving appropriate care and creating good professional relationship with the client.
I completed my clinical rotation at Spring Grove Hospital Center. Initially, I was anxious about completing clinical there being that Spring Grove is a state hospital and therefore, some patients would be criminals. However, I developed the mindset that I walk the streets filled with criminals on a daily basis and yet I never step foot outside my house in fear. In addition, you pass many on the street who either blatantly display symptoms of mental illness or carry it with them quietly. This mindset reminded me that all people, including patients are still individuals just like the rest of us. They’re just unique in ways others may not be. This clinical rotation emphasized to me my ability to look past factors that some people cannot in order to care for my patient adequately and address them like I would any other person. This was further emphasized when my patient stated to me that though he usually keeps to himself, he likes talking to me because I “made [him] feel like a person”. Every so often, people treat those with mental illness as if they are not individuals with rights and feelings just like any other person on this earth. I feel that my merely treating my patient like an individual, like someone with an identity, as opposed to an ID number like in prison or a “crazy patient” benefitted him very much and facilitated a therapeutic relationship. It was a surprise to see how the patients interact with each other and to observe how protective my patient can be when someone is in danger. He even intervenes when another patient gets confrontational with medical faculty at the hospital. As a whole, I believe myself and my clinical group has made an impact on patients’ lives because we created a new environment for them, and they experienced a change from the norm in regards to different activities we hosted and how we treated them. Also, they got a chance to see some new faces and have temporary guests, as a lot of patients don’t receive many visitors or any at all for that matter. I truly enjoyed my rotation at Spring Grove Hospital Center, and it has greatly influenced my consideration of doing psychiatric nursing in the future.
I am glad that clinical, as well as this semester, has come to an end. I did not make too much progress with my client because I believe that his mental illness is chronic to the point that he is pretty much maintaining and not improving. However, this clinical has taught me a lot about myself. I went in very anxious and apprehensive. I knew for sure that psych nursing was something that I would NEVER do. I was surprisingly patient with my client and was also surprised that he was very cooperative. I think that when you are warned about how aggressive and noncompliant patients can be, you automatically assume that your client will be like that, which was not the case here. While I am still not interested in pursuing psych nursing as a career, I do not have many of the misinformation that I did before and as clinical continued, the more comfortable I was around all of the patients, not just the one that was assigned to me. I feel that my classmates and I have made a great impact on the lives of the patients on our unit because we spent a lot of time getting to know them. A lot of times, we just talked to them, not always asking questions as a part of assessment, but just to get to know them as people and what their life was like before they came to the institution. I could tell that they appreciated our presence.
The termination phase is kind of bitter sweet for me. It has been a long exhausting semester so far and I am obviously looking forward to the end of the semester. However, I am a little sad leaving the patients behind. I naturally don’t like saying goodbyes. Today was my last day at Baltimore Crisis Response Center. We had to say our good byes to both patients and staff members and I got the feeling like “oh wow” psych clinical is really over. I did not really get the opportunity to form a long working relationship with a client because they only stay at the facility for seven days and two weeks at most. So, I had to form a relationship with a new patient every week. This made termination for me very easy but I still got a little knot knowing that I will not be seeing any of the patients again. In fact, this might be my only opportunity to work with mental health patients week after week as a nurse. I learnt a lot about myself. I have always wondered how therapists and psychologists just sit all day and listen to patients. But I have actually learnt that it can be very rewarding to get someone to open up and express their feelings. It can be rewarding to make someone feel better. I have also learnt that my communication skill is better than I thought. I had thought that am not much of a speaker and prefer to listen instead. But I learnt through this clinical rotation that perhaps am more of a talker than a listener. I was initially surprised on the first day of clinical. I thought that Baltimore Crisis Response Center was an outpatient center where patients visited during the day and then leaves in the evening. But I was surprised that they offered residential services and I was stunned at how nicely put together the place was. I have made an impact on the patients by offering myself. Some of the patients just needed a listening ear and I made myself available. I also served as an educator by giving the clients educational information on how to improve their quality of life.
I embarked on this clinical activity with apprehension and concerns that emanated from my prior experience (the experience had not been a palatable one for that matter!) with individuals who had mental illness problems. Little did I now that this experience would unconsciously shape my perceptions about individuals with mental illness. Fortunately for me, this clinical experience has been extremely helpful in changing my perceptions and belief system about mentally ill persons. If I had my way I would love to continue the clinical activity; in actual fact, working as a psych nurse has now become a very strong possibility for me. My interaction with the individual that was assigned to me was intriguing and eventful. I was opportune to observe him hallucinate, he was equally tangential during the interview sessions I had with him, and a display of these signs further reinforced what I had learned in class. In all, it was equally interesting to see my client display a sense of humor such as insisting that he knew my name and was not going to forget it in a hurry (he did say my name without me reminding him). Termination can sometimes be difficult, my experience at the clinical site has proved this and I would not say I am not going to miss going my time at the clinical facility.
An attitude is an important thing. It can shape the way the individual sees an experience and how observers see the individual. An attitude can entirely make or break an experience. This is as true in clinical experiences as it is in life. My experience in my mental health clinical was without a doubt unique but I feel its uniqueness was in what I made of it, something every nursing student can do for themselves. If there is one lesson to gain from reading about my experiences it should be that the success of a clinical, whether a preceptorship or group experience, is entirely what the student makes of it. I really enjoyed my Mental Health rotation. I sat in on a role-playing session which was awesome and sat in on several group sessions. We were encouraged to contribute. There was no one, even in lock down that we couldn't interact with. I read all the charts I could get my hands on. We were assigned to one patient, we wrote a care plan on our choice of all the patients in that unit. We rotated through all the different units, both opened and closed. The thing I learn from the clinical in Mental Health is that there are very few medication to give. You can't give these clients a pill and fix their problem. It takes a lot of therapy and teaching to help these clients. I watched pro Mental Health teams work together and was in awe. I used this time to learn as much as I could. These people know their stuff and how to use it. I’m in shock to say this, I like Mental Health I can see myself as a future Psych nurse.
Termination for me and my client was a mixed feeling for me because I was happy that this clinical rotation is over but I was not happy that we will not be meeting to discussing as we have been since we started this rotation. Yesterday was my last day in Spring Grove Red Brick #4 and I had a good client. The question that my client asked me when I told him that that was my last day was whether I will be visiting him or at last calling to know he is doing. The answer I gave him was no but that I will be praying for him. It was very hard to say goodbye but I was glad that my patient was so grateful and happy with the moments we shared during the interview phase. I learned that I am a compassionate and professional person that can work with any kind of person. I was able to get enough information from my patient and he enjoyed answering my questions. I set limits when necessary and used non-judgmental attitude to make him feel like a human being. Overall, he was so happy. The only surprise was that i bought him a Christmas present that made him to be very happy and grateful. He said that he will always remember my kind gesture. We made a positive impact in the lives of the consumers at Spring Grove through the presentation we had on “conflict management strategies”. A good number of the clients express that the can now manage their relationship with others but avoiding conflicts and disagreements. They also agreed to go to the nurse to report any conflict or walk away to avoid getting into a fight with another patient. Overall, I feel so happy and enriched by this clinical rotation especially my instructor (Prof. Jones) and Prof. Day-Black taught us practical skills for identifying classifications of psyche medications and administration. I am so grateful to my group members too for giving me an opportunity to work with them. We all had real fun.
!2/10 14 BLOG #6 Nursing is a profession that came across the process of admission of a client, working with the client, and finally when the client reaches his/or her optimum function then termination of client. Starting the nursing process at the Spring Field hospital was a little scary for me, because my expectation was different. As I started to know them and build trust relationship then I started to understand and visualize the mental illness and its effect very well. Empathy! Empathy!! To all mental health clients. I found out it is going to be easy to work with a client if one build the trust ship relationship with the client. So I was accepted as a nursing student by my client and other clients too. When we call (Nursing student) for activity we found out the participant number increases as we go along. My surprise was, the clients will wait for us in the hallway some standing near the entrance door to say hi to us and then they will ask, “Do you have activity for us?” I did not expect them to think about us for a week and respond with these loving attitudes. Yea it has to come to an end. We had a talent show program, where the clients were participated with high interest and of course us too and it was wonderful. My client was not able to attend due to medical appt. but he came to the activity room and said,” thanks.” Other clients were gave us a beautiful complements to us. One female client stated, she thanks Coppin State University to send such a loving nursing students to them.
My clinical experience was much different than I first expected it to be. It was unlike all other clinical I have experienced so far. Throughout this clinical I learned more about patience. I knew at the beginning we would have to have more patience with our patients than we people without psychiatric conditions, but I didn’t realize how much more. My client wasn’t as trying as some of the clients on the unit. It’s sometimes hard when patients speak over you and invade your personal space but taking a moment to realize they don’t always know what they are doing or how they are affecting you. (Although sometimes they do) I thought it was interesting to see patients that you wouldn’t suspect as trouble makers be the ones who could be the most destructive if they were upset and felt unheard by the doctors and nurses. I think I made an impact on my patient but treating him like a human and giving him someone new to talk to other than the nurses and other patients. He seemed to open up to me and we worked on different coping methods and ways for him to get through his inpatient time without getting frustrated with the other patients. I also didn’t realize how appreciated we would be. My client stated that his favorite thing to eat was chocolate cake during one of our interview sessions. When it was time to present our teaching groups I made sure to bring chocolate cupcakes, which brought a huge smile to my patients face. Later he couldn’t stop talking about how I remembered they were his favorite and how good they were, in fact, he ate 3. Over all mental health clinical opened my eyes to mental health disorders and how patient you have to be as a mental health nurse. When it came time for termination I had mixed feelings, which I didn’t think was going to happen. I’ve built a relationship with my patient throughout the past couple weeks and I can only hope he continues to do well and incorporate his coping mechanisms we have worked on these past weeks.
Blog 6 After 7 weeks of attending clinical at Spring Grove, I feel like I’ve learned a lot. I was frightened about the thought of even going to a mental facility. Now, I can’t even wait to get there and see how my patient’s week has been. This was a clinical rotation that was more about building repor, which I enjoy. Unlike med surge which focused on the medical side of the patient, mental health was focused on how the client was mentally feeling, what was going through their mind etc. I enjoyed it. When giving our teaching session everyone on the unit attended our class, all 39 patients and staff. How rewarding! Patients participated and even gave us a round of applause at the end. They appreciated our time, and that was eye opening. As a nurse, even though I have been through several clinical rotations, at that moment I felt like I actually helped and maybe changed something. As our last clinical day is tomorrow, I am sad to say bye to all the great people I met at the facility. All the laughs, all the fascinating stories, and all the craziness I might not ever see again. Mental health was a great experience, and now I am more aware of what actually goes on with a mentally ill patient. Maybe… psych is in my nursing future :).
Next Thursday marks the end of my clinical rotation at Spring Grove Hospital Center and I cannot say that I am disheartened in any way. Unlike many of my peers, my excitement to come to this facility every week quickly diminished. On my first day on the unit I was thrilled to observe and talk to the patients on the unit; that did not last long though. This lack of interest is mainly due to my failure to establish a therapeutic relationship with my client due to her acute mania. However, it was interesting to see psychotic symptoms first hand. My patient had an influx of grandiose delusions and magical thinking, pressured speech, she had a labile affect and displayed agitation and irritability. She referred to me as a “demon” and an “alien”. It was incredibly frustrating attempting to talk to her; we just did not connect. Other patients, however, were easier to communicate with and welcoming to nursing students. They appreciated our presence because many of them just want an open ear and it was gratifying knowing that I could be that for at least one of them. I learned from this experience how to gather information from the patients by engaging them in a casual conversation. And I also learned that mental health nursing is a road that will go untraveled by me. I cannot see myself as a psychiatric nurse.
I really enjoyed this clinical rotation. During this rotation I have learned that if I just relax and fit into the situation, I will be just fine. I was little scared at first but that was unknown anxiety that i never knew I had. Working on a Psych ward is not as bad as I initialy thought. Working with the clients every week, there has not been a dull moment. I was suprised at how intelligent some of the patients were and that was what made our group meetings so interesting. Just sitting with the patients talking and hearing their stories made me appreciate my life so much more, especially my mental health. Some of these patients were so young and instead of being out enjoying life they were at Spring Grove Hospital. I know I have made an impact in the lives of my clients. Just sitting with them and discussing their futures and and how they would accomplish the things they wanted to accomplish and how to better cope with their issues. I think that my most memorable client will be the patient was was overly excited to see the nursing students. He wanted to participate in every group and was very engaging and nice to the students. When we had our party the last day, he got up and spoke very highly of the student nurses and how they have we made an impact on his life/ condition.
This Psychiatric clinical experience has been far different from the other clinical rotations. The setting was accommodating for learning. The first day of clinical, I was anxious and kind of scared knowing that I was going to face clients that had mental illnesses. I am leaving with a better understanding on how to care for and deal with deal with mental health clients. I am now prepared to work as a mental health nurse. I enjoyed working with my client. I think I accomplish my goal of better understating these diseases. I cannot thank the staff at spring grove enough for allowing me have this tremendous experience at this facility. The clients were very grateful of all the things the students did with them. This was a fun experience and I came out on the last day feeling proud of myself.
At BCRI we was never assigned the same client because patients stayed only for a short amount of time. The experience of hearing the different stories and struggles faced by each patients has strengthen my understanding in mental health. I was surprised on how much I enjoy Mental Health as a Psychiatric nurse. I believe I made an impact into the lives of the psychiatric consumers by offering self, listening to their stories or complaints, and letting them know that I am here to help them reach their goals. I hope I had made an impact into the lives of the psychiatric consumers because this experience has shaped my perspective on individuals with mental illness.
This clinical experience is different than I thought. I was very excited to see mentally ill patient before I went to the clinical site but when I get there and saw them, they do not look different from us. They look just like us very normal. Even though some has a criminal history and some are pedophile, they look very innocent and well behave. One patient was there with the nasty criminal background and very violent due to which he is transferred to another unit which is usually consider as jail for the violent patient with extra security. Before staff member transferred him to another unit, they called him to say good bye. I was really scared to even look at him. But guess what when he came into the room he looked very innocent and normal and he apologize with all the staff members for his behavior. Aww!! I felt sorry for him and my heart melt. At that time I realize it’s not him who commit crime but his mental illness made him do all the crimes. Honestly I feel very sorry for the entire patient in the unit, the way they get excited when they see us, the way they run behind us for the snacks we carry. I was thinking about the society who will always treat them as a crazy people and will never accept them like normal people. The only people who can treat them well and understand them and spend most of the time with them are the psychiatric nurses. I respect all the psychiatric nurses who choose this t field to take care of mentally ill people. I have never ever thought that I will even think of being a psychiatric nurse but when I will be choosing my special area of nursing I will definitely consider psychiatric nurse as an option. Now I don’t have any different feelings for mentally ill patient, i have a respect for them like any other regular patient.
My experience at Spring Grove Hospital was both very beneficial and fun. My client was cooperative and enjoyed talking with me every week. He was close to my age, so it was not difficult to establish a rapport with him. The other patients on the unit were also cool and they got excited every time we came. During my experience I learned a lot, but really nothing new about myself. I was surprised about how calm and quiet the environment on a mental health unit can be at times. I think my clinical group as a whole made a huge imapct on the patients in our unit. The patients enjoyed themselves at each of our group therapies and always expressed how much they enjoyed it. In the hallways, we are constantly interacting with them. I believe we made such a huge impact on them because of the way we treated them. Instead of treating them as just another crazy patient, we treated them as a normal people. I always made an effort to speak and see how they are doing, and I believe they appreciated that.
Week 6 blog Psych clinical rotation at BCRI was very interesting and challenging for me. I love the fact that it brought out the best in me. I enjoyed caring and listening to patients, being the charge nurse, facilitating the group and medication presentation etc. The community services we did at Zeta center (doing depression screening and taking blood pressure) also added color to the whole clinical experience. All of it helped me to learn how to develop a therapeutic relationship with the different patients I meet and interact with every weekly. I also learnt how to write an annotated bibliography, IPR, making a brochure for my group presentation, conducting a mental status examination to mention but a few. Our last clinical day was yesterday and surprisingly, I felt like our time should be extended because we are beginning to master the role of a psych nurse and getting very comfortable with working together with the patients and the team of professionals at BCRI. I must say that this clinical rotation was my best.
I must say I was very hesitant about going to Spring Grove for my mental Health clinical rotation. I had prior experience working with mentally ill individuals within the community, but I assumed it would be different at Spring Grove. I formed my biases on the assumption that individuals living in the community are stable and the people in the hospital are not, especially the ones on a forensic unit. I assumed the individuals would be aggressive in nature and I needed to watch my back at all times. This caused me to be very guarded during my first two visits to the unit. The clients on the unit definitely warmed me up. They were very receptive and excited to have us around, and to be honest, some of them seemed just as nervous to engage as I was. Once the fear was gone, it made for a great experience. I learned that when interacting with mentally ill individuals make no assumptions about their behavior even the ones I have previously worked with. Their mood and affect can vary and their behaviors are unpredictable. I should always keep an open mind but don’t assume that you “know” them. I believe that I impacted the clients on red brick four by offering of self and willingness to engage in conversation. I have definitely gained more from this experience than what I imaged.
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.
Tomorrow is the last day at of my clinical experience at RICA. I have enjoyed working with my client, as well as the other clients and staff in the milieu. I have learned so much this semester about psych nursing as well as about myself. I was put in very challenging positions during this clinical rotation, and the way that I handled them showed enormous growth. Usually, I would be afraid to speak in front of a crowd especially a group of teenage boys. However, I assumed the role of educator twice during this clinical rotation and I was not nervous at all. I will miss the children at RICA, especially their card tricks and friendly personalities. I went in to RICA with an open mind and was willing to lend an ear not only to my client, but to whomever needed it. I hope that during my time at the facility that I have made an impact to the clients in the cottage that I was working in. I hope I have modeled acceptable behavior for them, and I genuinely wish them the best in the future. I am truly thankful for this experience.
My mental health clinical practice just ended last Tuesday. That day was graced with other new learning experiences. Few minutes after our arrival to the facility, our clinical Professors engaged us with medication identification, their indications, side effects, contraindications... and practicing of how to give injections. It was really enjoyable and educative as our professor went further into teaching us again. At the end this drill, we had a small entertainment with snacks together. Then we proceed with the discussion of our project paper about our clients after which I left to see my client and members of staff. I spent a lot of time with them and let them know my clinical orientation is terminating that night. We all share warm greetings and wishes as good friends parting away for some distance journey. My mental clinical practice was a very good leaning experience as I witnessed most of the things we discuss in class about mental illness, difference disorders and their symptoms, different interventions done to maintain this group’s quality of like. The clinical also increased my emotions for the mentally ill. I intend to volunteer in mental health institutions to help maintaining the improvement of their quality of life which hopefully may enhance their rehabilitation. My clinical orientation somehow move some of the clients into happy mood as I keep them company and organize some entertaining activities for them.
Psychiatric mental health clinical was a new era in my nursing career. It was quite a new experience for me in the nursing field. During the first two weeks, I find it challenging to interact with a mentally ill patient but as the weeks goes by, I became familiar with my surrounding how to interact with my clients. I find it interesting how interactive and engaging most of them are. In fact it is quite amazing how intelligent and out spoken most of this mentally ill patient are. They are very respectful and friendly. Every morning before going to the floor I have the opportunity to listen to the concerns of the client in Spring Grove at the RBC building. My experience during this clinical rotation is, I have learn that even some one is mentally ill there is a feeling of belonging, feeling to be love, compassion and friendship. I have made a great impact during my clinical rotation because I was able to assist someone and shear my ideas with a mentally ill person. I was able to teach a group on how to manage with their difficult emotions and self-management tools. This clinical rotation was not bad than I thought I really enjoy it because I belong to the best clinical group and the best clinical instructor professor Day Black.
Honestly, termination, so soon. BCRI is an experience in its own but from first day I was excite to attend clinical but no textbook or level excitement could have prepare me for psych/mental health clinical. First thing, THANKS very much to the nursing staff and all other collaborative team member at BCRI. They were very helpful and welcoming from day one. I learned that I am so much more patient then I thought. I learned not to judge I book by its cover, a perfect example of this was the first time we run group, I was so surprise how much patients know about their medications as well as other everyday subjects. I learned in mental health nurses have to stay sharp, because you have to be able to use multiple skills at a time in order to be effective. I learned I have to make each and every encounter with a patient educational, therapeutic, and a complete process of exchange of knowledge between the patient and student. Because BCRI is a transitional facility, students may have no more than a single session with patients; understandably this is why psych nurse must remain sharp at all time. Our third week at clinical some of the client were attempting to disrupt the group, I thing because student we trying to be nice we acted as if we didn’t mind their behavior, but one of the patient loudly said I’M TRYIN TO HEAR THIS S*@#t these student didn’t have to do this. After group was over I quietly said to him man thanks for taking our side he smile and said no I wasn’t, an hour later as I was making rounds Abou!!! He runs down to me and says are you really a nurse? Yes, I am then he replies that’s cool man I really can talk to you. We talked that whole afternoon; I learn that there is a whole population our there I can help, basis of he thinks we have in common.
Through this clinical experience I have learned I can overcome my own anxiety as it relates to public speaking in front of individuals I do not know. For example, when I led one of the therapeutic groups. I was surprised the staff were so welcoming. In my past experiences in clinical rotations, sometimes the staff are not very welcoming to students. I believe I provided education regarding medication and its side effects. My group was a therapeutic group focusing on medications and their side effects. The patients participated in a discussion about their personal experiences with medication management. I also believe I provided another ear for the clients to vent and express their feelings and concerns.
At the beginning of this clinical experience I was very nervous was not sure how my client would react to me. I found out that through communication and having an open and genuine attitude my client would respond to me in a positive way. The client really became comfortable with me and very open. He started o join in group activities and really communicated in our sessions. In the midst of developing a professional relationship with my client I became acquainted with other patients in the facility. I affectionately gave them nick names as I became familiar with there personalities. I was really proud of the progress my client made interact ting with his peers and participating in group activities.
Week Six: This is my last blog which I’m happy and sad about. My time at spring grove has been a very pleasant experience for me. I truly enjoyed my patient he was the sweetest person I have met; it’s really hard to believe he has a mental problem. I know after tomorrow I’m going to always think about my patient, because I want the best for him. I wish that I could help him outside of spring groove. But outside of me leaving I feel like my time at spring groove I have made a good impact on the patients. My group and I was very interactive with the patient they express how happy that made them. We recognize them as regular people and they could feel that. I truly love mental health patients and I would love to work with them In the future
This experience has been suprisingly well. I learned that my ability to access and recognize symptoms were great and once you obtain knowledge predispositions on mental illness can be eradicated. I have a new found respect for psych nurses. Although I don't see the benefit in my client I definitely have establish entrusting relationships with other residents of RICA.
This experience at RICA during my clinical for mental health has been profound. First, to realize how wonderful my life is absent the challenges that the residents at RICA experience. Furthermore they are children and adolescents and their life experiences are not as enhanced to manage some of the emotional and physical symptoms. That is truly heartbreaking, but I am truly thankful that I dont have these challenges.
It should also be noted that I think that everyone has bits and pieces of mental health issues. Individuals may not always meet the threshold of diagnosis, but we often have snippets of a little something.
My client was selectively mute. As much as i enjoy a challenge, this one threw me for a loop. I did not know if i could be helpful or therapeutic to help the client meet his goals and promote some development.
One the last day when my client and i said goodbye, he smiled. If paychecks were in the form of emotions, i would have been a millionaire. I know that the interaction made a positive impact on him in some way. I truly believe that finding his interest, and being supported by one of his favorite staff members fostered a great introduction. I was very surprised ay his hope. I cant say i would be able to maintain such hope with the circumstances that surround his story.
He taught me to judge no one. He also taught me that life is not able to always offer you the best things, but you can make the best out of things. This lesson was very important and humbling. I thank him and Professor Opranozie for allowing me this opportunity..
I learned that it is possible for me to get accustomed to being around the mentally ill without feeling uncomfortable. I was able to sit and play games with patients and actually enjoy myself. I learned that once I am around them long enough it is easier for me to be therapeutic. I don't have to second guess so much if I am saying the wrong thing that could potentially be harmful. In the beginning I was overwhelmed with being nervous about saying something to tic my patient off. But like I said I learned that I am more than capable of holding therpeutic conversations without sounding too textbook. I know that I have impacted the patients at Spring Grove in a positive way. I'm sure they will never forget my workout routine that I did for their group. They were so overjoyed when we gave them a holiday pizza and chicken party. (Of course we gave them fruit as a healthy snack). One of their favorites was when some of my classmates and Prof. Boles played them in Spades.
It was bittersweet saying goodbye to all of the patients at my facility. A lot of the patients let us know that they enjoyed our being there and I enjoyed making them happy. One thing I learned about my self, is that I need to control my initial responses to patients. A patient that made me uncomfortable since the beginning of my experience said he wanted to put his fingers in my hair. My response was curt and straight to the point, letting him know that he can't do it. The surprise for me was that I enjoyed it. I did not expect to enjoy my clinical as much as I did. I believe my group and the others brought a little cheer to the seemingly monotonous situation. Doing simple things like talking to everyone, smiling, hosting group activities, playing pool, playing the wii and providing snacks seemed to make everyone happier. I believe we left a positive impact with just our positive interactive presence. This might have been especially helpful for the holidays.
This clinical experience really altered my outlook on psychiatric consumers, psychiatric facilities, and the nurses that care for them. I must admit that I harbored a lot of preconceived notions about what my clinical at RICA would be like but I came to realize that I couldn't have been more wrong. My patient was a joy to work with, the facility was state of the art and the staff was amazing and really supportive. The complete opposite of what I was thinking. My patient was a little distant at first but over the course of this clinical we established a good rapport and I believe that my presence had a tremendous impact on my patient and his treatment. My patient expressed that he was happy to get a student nurse and has enjoyed our interactions. I never thought I'd say this prior to this this clinical but I may become a psych nurse.
I find that I am anxious about terminating my relationship with my assigned client as well as with the other residents at the facility. I have grown to respect them and their environment. I also feel that there is a lot more that I could learn that would broaden my understanding of not only psych/mental, but that of human thinking in general.
I’ve learnt that I am more understanding of others than I give myself credit for. My nature has always been to perceive of other non-judgmentally. On the other hand, while I may have patience, I certainly do not have tolerance. I try to understand where one is coming from and if they are knowingly or ignorantly taking advantage of the situation, then my patience runs out.
I was very much surprised at the level of sanity of the mentally ill. The terms ‘mental patient’ have been of such stereotype in my mind. I’ve come to appreciate the people who suffer from mental illness because that’s all it is. It’s unfortunate but it’s the reality of our existence. We’re all sane but only to an extent. Some of us have physical hardships while some of us have cognitive deprivation.
All in all, the residents made more of an impact to my life. I was able to relate with them and reflect myself in their eyes. I truly felt a sense of connection with some of them, and some reflected the same sentiment about me. Overall I’ve had a wonderful time at redbrick 4 with all the residents and staff. The nurses were of such inspiration, ever ready to discuss issues with us, broadening our knowledge base.
Throughout the last six weeks I have learned a lot from my psych rotation. My client is a teenager that suffers from bipolar disorder and by hearing some of the trouble and difficult times that he's had while coping with the disease, it not only makes me look at people that suffer from a mental health condition differently but it also clarifies the clinical picture that it gives in the textbook. This clinical has also taught me not to judge because usually there's a whole other side thats not known to the people on the outside. Prior to coming to RICA, I honestly just thought that the kids were troublemakers and just misbehaved and that's how they got there. However, by talking to them and getting to know them I soon realized that many if not all of them have some kind of mental health condition and most were abused, neglected, and/or mistreated by some adult in their lives. Most often people judge and do not fully know the complete story only pieces of it and its usually the not-so-flattering aspect of it and I was guilty of prejudging them prior to this clinical.I think out of all of the things that I learned through this class and clinical that was the most important.
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. Include empathic skills you have acquired during this rotation.
The Psych Mental Health clinical rotation has been an experience filled with learning and discovery for me. As a member of the Community Mental Health clinical group, I learned SO much about the history of homelessness and mental illness in America, and how our society is affected by these issues in multiple ways. But the most beautiful thing that I learned from my research is that there are some very, very good programs in the City of Baltimore that are affectively responding to the needs of the homeless and mentally ill community. The research and discovery of resources in the city was very exciting for me! What I learned about myself was that there is a great compassion within me for the homeless, and a great desire to see them receive the resources they need so that they can stand. I did not know that such a level of compassion for these vulnerable populations existed in Baltimore. The clinical rotation at Spring Grove was also full of discovery for me in the sense that by the end of my first full clinical day on the unit, I had a greater appreciation for the work that psych mental health nurses do. I began my experience with compassion for the mentally ill patient, but with no real desire to work on the psych mental health unit. However, as I observed my clinical instructor’s expert method of engaging with the clients and showing a sincere level of care for them, I was touched at the difference she made in their affect and present condition in only a few moments. I realized that it definitely takes a certain level of skill and compassion to be a psych mental health nurse. One of the greatest surprises for me was to see how very different each client’s case is from another. Some clients were further along Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and were beginning to focus on fulfilling the need for love and belonging, while others were still in the lower dimensions. The clients who were further along on Maslow’s pyramid are people who in many regards seemed “normal” and could perhaps thrive in society if they remain compliant with their medications and treatments. It was nice to meet some of these clients and to hear their stories. Hearing their stories helped me to develop empathetic skills such as listening and offering of myself. I am scheduled to teach in my last day of clinicals and I believe that the teaching I will do will make a difference in the lives of the clients. The information is practical and critical for well-being. I look forward to engaging with the group and hearing their feedback on how the information can be applied to their lives. Overall, its been experience that has been filled with surprising encounters. I am glad my group has had the opportunity to experience the psych mental health unit at Spring Grove.
My time at Spring Grove was more than what I could have asked for, but my termination experience was kind of sad. Even though I was only there for six weeks, in those six weeks I have bonded with majority, if not all, the patients, the nurses, doctors, social workers, direct care personnel, my clinical group and my instructor. I have already been with the people in my group for some time at Coppin, as we have been on this journey called Helene Fuld School of Nursing, for some time now. But now that our time at Coppin is coming to an end, we have grown to become a family with each other and everyone on our unit at Spring Grove. It’s sad to know that as we leave Spring Grove, we’re closer to the end of our journey together at Coppin. To my surprise, the saddest part for me though, was the look on my patient’s face when I told him that this would be my last week. I’m pretty sure my heart cracked a little bit, considering the fact that every time I have seen my patient he was ALWAYS smiling. It got to a point where the patients look forward to seeing you, and they ask for you, and their faces light up when they see you because they get a piece of normalcy again ( and get to remember what it was like before they ended up where they are). When it comes to what I have learned about myself, I have discovered what it truly means to not be judgmental towards someone who may be different. Everyone has a story, and once I read into some of my patients’ stories, I realized that people don’t need you to be biased, they need care and support. Clinical was a little nerve racking in the beginning because of knowing that I would be surrounded by rapists, pedophiles, and murderers. But after interacting with these patients, I learned that they are also ex-boxers, ex-nurses, mothers, fathers, previous professors. There is always more to a person then what the eye sees. It was nice to actually be able to sit and actually talk with my patient to find out how they were doing, or what their concerns were, because in a hospital on a unit you very rarely realistically get to do that. It was great getting their feedback on the groups/presentations we held, which I think will definitely be a constant reminder and help to them. I loved every minute at Spring Grove, wouldn’t change a thing. My time their not only had an impact on the patients, but on myself as well. I definitely have a different, more positive outlook on psychiatric nursing, but my heart is set on shock trauma (blood and guts baby). I will most certainly never forget my experience at Spring Grove.
I wouldn’t really call this a termination for me. With the exception of one man that I saw 2 weeks in a row, we usually only see our clients for one day then we never see them again. The average length of stay for BCRI clients is 8 days. I have yet to build any relationships with any patients because when we come back the next week they are gone. What did I learn about myself? I learned that I used to judge books by their cover and after my rotations at BCRI that has changed. When I first got to the facility I didn’t like it. Everyone looked like homeless drug addicts that you would see on the street. I was very uncomfortable and did not want to be in the room with them, I know that sounds horrible but I’m just being honest. After actually talking with some of them I’ve learned that they are not much different than me. For a lot of them all it took was one bad choice and they ended up in the situation that they are in. Some of them are very educated and are very well spoken. Although some of them look “scary”, they are more scared than I was. They were very friendly and seemed genuinely happy to have us there. The impact that I have made for most of the people I spoke with was just listening. I didn’t realize how much that means to some people. One of my clients was a Vietnam vet and had PTSD. All he wanted was someone to listen to him talk about how scary the war was for him. He said his wife never wanted to talk about it and other people in his life just thought he needed to “be a man” and deal with it. He seemed so happy to have me just sit and listen to him so he could release all of the feelings he had bottled up inside. And to be able to do that for that one client made my entire clinical rotation worth it.
I could not believe that this clinical rotation is over. It was now that I realized the old Shakespearian saying that “parting is such a sweet-sorrow”. While I was happy that the hassle associated with the clinical is over, I was somewhat nostalgic, it was hard to watch my client go. Termination is imminent but I realized I was not really prepared for it. But we must say goodbye and wish other well. When he asked when I was graduating, I was taken aback, I had a feeling that he cared after all. We never talked about me all these while, so that question was somehow personal to me. Them we got busy putting finishing touches on our humongous clinical manual. Then the grand finale was the medication lecture by our dear Prof. Black. I learned more medications that day than I learned in the entire lecture. We played a very interesting game of matching medications according their classes. It was very interesting. Even though we left later than we originally planned it was worth the time because I have learnt all the psyche meds I need for my ATI and finales. Hurray!
During our clinical rotation I learned so much, at first I was afraid to work with mentally ill patient. In few week I learned that I do not have to be afraid of the mentally ill but was still very cautious of what may happen if my patient gets upset. I learned I have to gain knowledge about a disorder before I pass judgement on that person. However, after interacting with clients as well as learning about the different neurotransmitters in the brain I have more understanding to the mentally ill. I was able to establish a great relationship with my client. I was able to listen to his concerns and delusions in a non-judgemental way. He constantly expressed his preference to stay by himself and not to be involved with people. Nevertheless, deep down inside one can observe his unconsious desire for someone to listen to him without telling him what to do. Just by making myself available to listen to him and talk about the things that he wants to talk about, I hope, I helped him to realize that not everyone is trying to work against him but that there are many good still in people.
wow, overall, this clinical rotation was a great experiences. i must say, i learned a lot about myself. at the beginning of clinical, i said i cant be a psych nurse, i was ignorant of the role of a psych nurse and the tremendous impact they had on their patients. at this point, i am actually considering being a psych nurse; and all this is because of the great clinical experience i had. throughout this rotation i realized i was calm and able to work with people who were mentally challenged. i witnessed myself taking on the role of a nurse and i must, i was proud of that. it made me feel ready for the task ahead. oh there were a lot of surprises but with time, everything was normal; nothing that happened on the unit surprised me since i got used to how things worked in the mental health unit. it was great having things read in the textbooks witnessed. i interacted with patients with different disorders and i was able to assess certain behavior that were expected. it made everything i learned make sense. my termination experience was REALLY sad because i couldn't talk to my patient :( . after the medication lesson i went to the day room and he had left for this activity in a different block. i am really thankful of the knowledge i got to gain through this experience and mostly, the impact i made on my patient. i offered my self, listened and explored his feelings. we had the privilege to talk about different coping mechanisms that would help him address issues better. i had the opportunity to also interact with other patients. overall, i am really glad i had this experience and i must say, you are an amazing instructor Prof. Day-Black :) thank you for your patient, time and willingness to help...it meant a lot. have a great Christmas holiday and stay blessed.
I enjoyed every minute of every second at Red Brick 4, at Spring grove Mental Health Institution. I had the pleasure of working with SB who was really a good kid. I was able to teach him coping skills which help with getting his green status (outdoor privileges). He also used it for not getting into other problems with other clients at the facility. He smiled when I asked him if he used the coping skills that I had taught him. He smiled and said that he had. That gave me a really good feeling that I was able to do some good in someone's life. The overall feeling for Spring Grove, Red Brick 4 was very positive. My clinical instructor Prof. Jones gave us the highest honor possible and that he really enjoyed our learning project. My overall experience for all the clients at Red Brick 4 is very exciting. They enjoyed us as we did them. We played cards with them and they looked forward to us every Thursday. I cannot remember a bad moment that I have had there. I was not expecting the experience that I actually got. I was kind of sad that it was ending. My client was closed off to staffing at the facility. I was able to get him to open up to me. He shared stuff with me that the staff was not able to get from him. I will remember this experience for the rest of my life and this vulnerable group of people need caring nurses like us. this experience actually having me to think twice about mental health nursing as a career.
I learned quite a bit about myself this clinical rotation. I learned that I can handle the pressure. Even though I started out nervous, I was able to interact with my client and attempt to work with that client towards their goals. I am not sure of how much my speaking with them helped them, because I was able to talk to most of my clients once, but most seemed open and appreciative of the time spent. I also learned that most of the nervousness “went down once the lights went up”. I also learned that I enjoy teaching! I noticed it a bit during my community clinical, but I also notice that my favorite clinical day at BCRI was the day I facilitated the Group Education Session. One surprise I found was that most of the clients were really open and free with their personal information. I didn’t really expect that. I expected that we would have to build up to that openness. I am pretty sure I made some impact into my client’s lives. As their student nurse, I listened intently, educated them on some of their medications and coping techniques and told them to speak to their doctors about their concerns that I wasn’t able to help them with.
Week Six I could not believe that six weeks have rolled by until the time we have to say good bye to the pleasant and accommodating staff of Baltimore Crisis Response Inc. (BCRI) and their clients. My experience in this clinical rotation was informative. Though, I work with mentally challenged individuals at my job, but the knowledge and experience I gained in this clinical rotation exposed me to why things are done the ways they are done at my job. Due to the short periods of stays of clients at BCRI, I could not establish a relationship with a particular patient. However, there was a client I met one day whose story really touched my heart. He was educated, had a good job and good family until he made a wrong choice. In fact he wrote on my Mini Mental State Examination Form “ I don’t know how to love myself.” This shows the intensity of remorse he has for making a wrong choice. I however encouraged him to comply with all his therapies and taught him how to recognize and prevent relapse. I was privileged to meet individuals or clients who have different mental illness from what we have at my job. With my knowledge and short clinical experience of mental illness, I can confidently challenge and redirect my colleague at work who is not being therapeutic in his or her approach to mentally challenged individuals. Thanks to Professor ( soon- to- be Doctor) Day-Black.+
First and foremost I can't believe six weeks already went past, it seems like just the other day I was walking into RICA nervous and excited all at the same time. I learned a few things about myself during this clinical roatation but the most important thing I learned is how much patience I have. This was the first time in real life that I was able to experience adolescents blatantly disrespect adults. There were times when we had to present and the clients would talk right over us, laugh and carry on as if it was okay, these moments clarified that I was more patient that I once suspected. I made an impact on my client because I was consistent in coming every week and making sure I met with him to discuss new events or problems that were going on in his life. I know I made an impact on his life because on the last day my client told me that him seeing all of us college students made him wonder what it would be like to "have it all together". I reassured my client that he can be all that he wanted to be and that being at RICA and learning the appropriate behaviors they're teaching him is the first step. Being at RICA was one I will never forget.
The mental health clinical experience was a different one for me and I really learnt new things because the facility is completely different from other facilities I have visited like Med. Surg. Unit, Maternity and Pediatrics. Initially, I did not like standing in front of people to talk, but because I have to do my teaching, I had to do it. I discover that I was able to do the teaching without any nervousness. I was not really surprised by anything on the unit because my professor did a good for being detailed about what to expect in a mental health hospital. I was not also surprised because I have been working with individuals with developmental and mental disabilities for the past 5 years so I have little experience. I believe that I have made impact in the lives of the individuals through my teaching. I thought them how to manage their stress using meditation. I also made impact in their lives my talking with them with respect which made them feel like human being.
My experience at Rica was full of self-awarness both personal and professional. Personalty, I realized I have a passion working with people with mental illness. I leant I am patient, kind and empathetic. I also learnt in order for care of clients in a mental facility to be successful, the client should participate in their care. Professionally, thanks to my clinical instructor at Rica I was ready for the challenges that where coming my way. Through my teachings on the unit, I got my client and the rest of the girls to participate in a group disscussion and asking open ended questions. By the end of my clinical rotation, I believe I made an impact in my client mood and helped her develop stress reduction techniques. A good example of this technique is keeping journal to write her thoughts and her feelings. I was a little surprised by some of the conversations I over heard between the girls because when I was their age, I cannot remember using such hateful language. Thankfully, I was able to intervene in a few situations and I hope the girls will change their feeling towards each other.
My clinical rotation is at BCRI. My experience at BCRI was different from my other clinical site I have visited like pediatric unit, Med. Surge unit, and Maternity. I wouldn’t really call this termination for me because we only see our client once a week. The average length of stay of patient at BCRI is 8 days and by the time we get there the following week, our previous patient are gone. I have learnt a lot from BCRI. I am able to use therapeutic communication to build and maintain relationship with my clients. With therapeutic communication and able to elicit and attend to client thoughts, feelings, concerns, and family’s issues. I have improved in making eye contact, showing empathy, displaying caring attitude and nonjudgmental attitude. Furthermore, I will say am more confident to talk in front of others. I did two presentations on mental hygiene and crisis management and it felt like I was just talking to a friend. I have also learnt the role of nurses in the mental health settings. The nurses at BCRI explain to our group their roles at BCRI and other mental health settings. The weekly medication presentation also helped me to know more about psychiatric medications. Throughout my stay at BCRI there is no surprises. No abnormal behavior or crisis. The patients are very friendly and welcoming. I realized that some of the clients were educated they know more than I think. I believed I have made an impact through my group presentation. The patients showed an interest during the presentation and asked questions. I also made an impact in my patient live by talking to them in a respectful manner and offering self whenever needed.
Florence Amaikwu Week six Blog It is unbelievable that this clinical rotation is almost over. I have learnt so much from this clinical experience unlike the other clinical rotation that I have been to. I will really miss my interaction with my clients at BCRI. My interaction with my clients has really helped me with therapeutic communication. I now understand what therapeutic communication entails and how to listen and hold conversation unlike before. I was also able to learn a lot from the therapeutic group. I was surprised to know that these clients know so much especially with their medication and other group topics. Psychiatric nursing is interesting when it comes with the interaction with the clients because you never know what kind of client you will come across until when you start your interpersonal communication. I have made great impact in the lives of my client by using unique therapeutic intervention to address each client’s diagnosis. The staff of BCRI were welcoming and supportive to us making it possible for me to learn each day of my clinical experience. I am so happy to have been placed in BCRI for this clinical rotation.
As the termination is near for me and my client, l have learned a lot of wonderful experiences at RICA hospital and l am very happy the l was able to establish nurse-client relationship with my client. It is actually a lot of fun, when these kids start acting out in the collage, and especially when they saw us around. I really like the patient that l was assigned because he was quiet and feels very comfortable talking to me. I also feel empathy towards him, but I do not let my feelings get in the way of doing what I supposed to do. The client that I work with is unique and I will really miss him. I can’t even imagine how the goodbye will be for both of us. From this clinical experience, I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned that I can do whatever I want to do if I put my mind to do it. Initially, l thought I can’t do psych, It is horrible and that they may hurt me. However, after my clinical experience, I realize that I am not bad at all, and that l will make a good psych nurse someday. I had lots of surprises in my clinical experiences. In fact, the whole clinical experience is a surprise and unpredictable. Somedays, the unit will be so loud and out of control, but for the most part the nurses and their aids work together as a team to keep it under control. I was also surprise to see that the patients are not as difficult as I expected. They are fun to be around, and I had good conversation with most of them that will curse the nurses out. I had a positive impact on the patients that l was assigned to work with as well as his peers. For example, l offered self to the clients whenever they needed help, educated him on anger management and their medications. They clients and their nurses also enjoy the fact that we shared some snacks, after each teaching and they were all grateful about it. Finally, I have had a good experience, and I wish that l will not come to the termination phase so soon.
When I first started this clinical rotation I really thought I wasn't going to like it, but I was totally wrong. I've looked forward to clinical every week. I established good relationships with the patients and I learned a lot. I figured that I would learn a lot but had no idea i would love it. This clinical has taught me so much about therapeutic communication, and how important it is to use it. It actually works! I learned that when you utilize your communication skills and your heart is in it, you can make a difference in the lives of the patients. We have talked to the patients about termination and they all accept it but wish we could stay longer. As for me I'm looking forward to moving on because I am ready to graduate, but those patients hold a special place with me. They made my clinical experience great. I can't wait for the party!
As the clinical experience is coming near the end, I learned so much about myself. I learned that, I had the wrong perception about the mentally ill. Stigma is real and I realized that I was adding to the stigma about mental illness. I learned to self-assess in an effort to reduce my own feelings about certain mental illness. I learned to look pass the diagnosis of the client and to accept the client but not the diagnosis. I loved my clinical rotation specially my client, who last week told me how much he enjoys our meetings and groups. He said that he looks forward to see me every week because to him I am his only visitor. He appreciate all the snacks and the simple Hello! and smiles from the student nurses. I love that I was able to make an impact in someone's life with just my presence. I learned about therapeutic communication and how to utilize it. Another thing that I learned is how to set clear limits and boundaries, I usually have a hard time saying no when asked for something, specially food, but during my clinical experience I had to learned to say no, over and over again. I really enjoyed this clinical experience.
I could not believe that the clinical rotation is over. I learned a lot about myself during the clinical rotation. I learned that I could work effectively in a chaotic environment and be able to control the atmosphere with the help of others to make it a peaceful one. I was able to interact with my client and work with him towards his goals. I started off very scared and nervous, but the constant interactions with my client helped me overcome the fear. After the day we had a group presentation on anger management at RICA, I was rest assure that, at least I have not only making an impact on my client live, but to the rest of the children in the cottage. I also conducted medication teaching and I got a lot of positive feedbacks and question from the client. I cannot remember a bad moment that I have at RICA. I was not expecting the experience that I actually got. I was kind of sad that it was ending.
My experience at RICA for the six weeks was full of self-awareness both personal and professional. Personally, I realized that the adolescents have experience so many difficulties in their young age, such as abuse, neglect or mistreated and the post traumatic effect can sometimes contribute to them misbehave with their mental illness. Its very important not to judge quickly and treat others as important as self. I have always love working with individual with mental illness. Professionally, I learned that with therapeutic communication, and calm approach brings a safe environment in mental health facility. Health care worker needs to be patient, kind and empathy when in mental facility. They need to be involve in their plan of care and treated with dignity and respect. Overall, I had a unique experience that made me realize that, there are people out there who are really struggling living everyday life. I feel empathy for them. I encourage my client to attend group therapy and the important of taking his medication. I believe I made an impact in my client mood and helped him develop anger/conflict reduction techniques. A good example of this technique is keeping journal to write his thoughts and feelings. Since he was looking forward to going home, I told him to abide by the cottage regulations and resolve any issues in a calm approach, to avoid losing his points. I believe that the 6 weeks is too short to make a great impact and I was just getting to know my client and was time for termination.
My mental health rotation has been too short in terms of time spent at clinical. I have truly enjoyed my time spent at the site, in my group, with the clients and staff, and with my instructor. However, I think the clients get very attached to us, very excited to see us, and I am guessing that both they and we are sad to part ways at the end. I feel I am already fairly self-aware, and I cannot say with absolute certainty that this level of self-awareness has increased greatly in this short experience. I think I would have learned more about myself had I been able to spend 6 months to a year in the clinical setting rather than two months. I suppose I learned that I need to listen very carefully to clients with speech that was difficult to understand due to medication side effects, and I was given ample opportunities to practice my listening skills and improve them. I think the best impact the clients have gotten from me and my group is through our ability to play cards. I think many of the clients grew to trust us and enjoy our company through this game. I think they also benefited simply from activities such as exploring their artwork with them, listening intently as they describe it in great detail. We sang hymns together, played a game that was sort of like charades, recited scriptures, and other activities that unified nursing students and clients together. This unification benefited them greatly as many clients are not close with family or rarely see them. I think they can feel isolated in the facility, so they were comforted by our presence and shared activities.
Termination is near and I will miss my mental health rotation. Surprisingly enough, I really had a great time working on the mental health unit. I learned the patients are facing a disease,which is mental, and not are just criminally insane. There are just like normal people with an illness, and need assistance just as any other patient. I feel I have made an impact on the patients in the psych unit. They are always excited to see us and look forward to our visits. In addition, we have build the trust of the unit, therefore, patients are receptive to our help and are readily available to join our groups and different activities to facilitate on the unit.
During this experience I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned that when I interview patients I should slow down when I ask the questions. I know as I get more comfortable with the scenario I will be more relaxed with this process and it will take more time but I can accomplished this. As far as surprises go, it is hard to stay on track with the interview questions sometimes because the patients have so much they want to say and it is such a short time we get to interact with them. Leading group was always a fun activity as well, especially on the last day as the activity planned was creative and the patients really enjoyed it. As far as making an impact on anyone, I’ll never know. I would like to think that I did but because this was a short term unit I never got to see any of my patients again. One gentleman told me the best conversation he ever had with a health care professional was with me but I am not sure if he was saying that to boost my ego (haha) or if he truly felt that way. I hope he truly felt that way, as I would like to think I have made a positive impact for someone. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the unit to learn and I think this rotation was more about getting our feet wet and helping us to understand what the role of a mental health nurse is like, as with all of our rotations. As I already work on a mental health unit I get a lot of experience there which is beneficial as far as knowing safety and how to interact with patients in a therapeutic manner and distract them from their illnesses by encouraging games and group activities.
Going into this rotation was really a challenge for myself because I was not sure if I was going be able to deal with people with multiple mental health disorders. I was eager and afraid for my safety at the same time. I did gain knowledge from this experience. I learned that they are regular people who just suffer from mental health issues and if I want to become a nurse, I have to come in contact with different people. I interacted well with the clients and they really opened up to me. The best part about my experience was performing group. The patients were really involved in group and they kept interest. Even if we as the students went into the group nervous, we ended with confidence. Each of our groups were a success and we able to establish a trusting relationship with the clients. There was one surprise when we came in and the clients were all upset with the workers. They were upset that one client had to go and they did not understand why. It was a surprise to me because I realized that most of them had attachment issues and they did not like to see others leave. I may have impacted their lives because some individuals stated to me that they just don't have anyone to talk too. So just being a listener and holding conversations with these clients, helped them relieve some issues they had inside. Overall, this was a great experience.
I really enjoyed my experience at BCRI. What I've learned about myself is that I am able to effectively communicate with mental health clients. In the beginning I thought the interaction was going to be weird because of lack of conversation, but it wasn't that at all. As the weeks progressed I became more comfortable with speaking to these clients. I also learned that I am able to facilitate a group on my own. As a shy person I surprised myself because I was so afraid of holding a group on my own, but I overcame that. The clients were very involved with the discussion and because I was very familiar with the topic the group ran smoothly. Also, I've seen first hand how a client can monopolize a group discussion. Their weren't any surprises, but the clients really helped me learn about psych drugs because they know them so well. I believe that I've made an impact on these clients by being available to speak to them one on one. I've notice that they really appreciate having students at the facility and they like talking with us.
I don’t really know how to feel about the termination part of mental health. I wouldn’t say I walked into psych with a negative expectation, but I sure was confused and scared in what will await for me in my rotations. Days replaced weeks, and weeks into months and now I can finally say “I LIKE PSYCH”. I had to read that a few times to confirm my feelings lol. But it is true, I have come to appreciate mental health nursing. I might not be able to recall when exactly I had a change of heart about this class experience. Maybe it was the fun classes or the inspiring patients, either way this class has helped me to grow as a nurse and more importantly as a person. The skills I learned from my clinical rotations will help me to be successful in future clinical rotations. I appreciate my professors and my fellow classmates for helping me get through this experience.
My time at BCRI seemed to go rather quickly. It seems like we just stepped foot on the unit for orientation and now it is time to terminate. I learned that I am able to listen to patients tell their stories without being judgmental. I was able to separate the patients I spoke to from the mental illness and see them as people. I was surprised to learn that many of the patients who were at BCRI are very knowledgeable on various topics. We had great discussions with patients when we did group and I felt the experiences were good learning experiences for both the patients and the nursing students. Since there are new patients every week, it is sometimes difficult to determine if you have made an impact. One patient I did speak with told me at the end of our session that I have made him look at things differently and he really wanted to try to learn other coping skills. That interaction made me feel good. Overall, the experience at BCRI has been a good one.
My experience at RICA Baltimore has be surprisingly pleasant. I learn that I have more in common with these adolescent girls than i thought. Many of them are very nice and just want someone to talk to and actually listen to them. I learned that i am able to listen to others problems and relate to them. A lot of these females have family issues and at home problems that trigger their mental state. I was quiet surprised at how quick things escalate on the Cottage. A code green crisis would occur at almost an instance. My client and I would always talk about what was happening at the cottage and how the females rarely got along. Over all, I enjoyed my experience at RICA.
My experience at this point with my client has been good. I had some assumptions in the beginning based on his diagnosis but after introducing myself, I found my perceptions to be wrong. I was surprised about how talkative he became. He seemed to be very up front about his past experiences and his history at Spring Grove and other psychiatric institutions that he was committed to. During this rotation I learned a lot about myself. I realized that I allowed stereotypes to shape my opinion but after becoming comfortable and talking to some of the patients. I found that some of my initial perceptions were wrong and that not every disorder is going to present the same in every patient. I enjoyed the patients and how welcoming they were. I feel that we definitely made a difference in their day, as they were sad to see us leave and wondering if we would return.
Termination day was a bitter sweet for me, i was happy that it was finally over but i was concern for some of the clients there whom i got to spend time with. A few of them gave us a hug and my patient actually told me he would give me a thousand dollars if i stay and keep coming which was surprising to even the nurse and staff members because he speaks very little to anyone according to what they say. We had a teaching done on hygiene, mouth care, hand washing, bathing and clothing. It was surprising to see how interesting and involved they were by answering and asking questions. At the end of the teaching we gave them snacks, pizza and drinks which they enjoyed very much, i quest they were looking forward for that from day one. Talking about day one, i was so afraid and nervous about working with mental health patients especially in Spring grove where i heard have the worse case of patients with mental illness. But i didn't see that being the case because the patients that i saw and talked to were far more better than the worse case scenario. Some of these patients have nobody to call family so they looked forward to see and talk to the students each week. It was a pleasure to experience working with mental health patients. What i learned about myself was to be mindful of the environment and the people around me, to be a good listener and treat everyone with respect whether sick or not. Because i learned that most of these patients are sick but they are not stupid; some are retired engineers, doctors, lawyers and more. Overall, i think our present made a difference in their lives as they did to ours.
I originally did not expect this experience to be as impactful as what it turned out to be. I was able to develop a therapeutic relationship with my client which I did not expect to happen in the beginning because she did not really open up to me. However, the best part about the experience was definitely getting to know the other clients in the facility and learning about each of their own individual personalities. I had some of my best experiences playing games and watching movies in the day room and just simply standing in the hallway and talking to the patients. Spring Grove is definitely an interesting place and I would have liked to stay just a little while longer. Although I don't plan to go into psych nursing I am sure that this is an experience that will stick with me for the rest of my career.
First off I am still in shock how the semester went by so fast. My clinical experience at BCRI was educational, interesting and nice. After we did the self-defense training on the campus, I was scared and nervous about my safety to go to mental health institution. Also, prior to this class, I never had experience or been to any mental health facility. Yet, my overall experience at the clinical site was not by any means threatening. I was shocked to find out all of the patients at the facility were there voluntarily and every week I have new patient with different diagnosis. Also, every work in the facility was paper based. I had a chance to go to the substance detox center to see how nurses work. The nurse in that section told me that whenever they receive their patients they write their name, vital signs and discharged date on the white board. Once the patient is discharged, they will erase their name and information from the board. I was surprised to observe the differences that exist between hospitals that I went to and mental health facility. Throughout clinical rotation, I had a chance to do education group with the patient. At first, I was nervous because I did not know how to hold a group for a half an hour. But, with one of my classmate, we were able to guide the patients to participate on the topic that we chose and keep their attention throughout the group session. I also acquired ways to use therapeutic communication when talking with patients. In general, the patients were happy to see us and talk to us the students and I believe our presence in the facility helped the patients see things in another perspective. I know they made me to think about mental health with different viewpoint.
This clinical rotation has gone by fast. I felt like I did not have enough time to do and see all that I wanted. Despite this, I still enjoyed my time in Red Brick Cottage 2 at Spring Grove Hospital. Each day I went to my facility I grew more and more comfortable. The residents became more familiar and I grew to learn a little about each one. Although I did try to enter this clinical rotation with no preconceived notions, I still couldn’t help thinking a certain way. A little part of me thought maybe these patients would be difficult to talk with or connect with. Maybe they would be violent or maybe they’ll stare at you blankly. That same little part would think, “It’ll be easy to tell who’s a patient.” What really surprised me was to find out that some patients really didn’t seem like they were patients, especially if you first talk with them. Each patient had a story and it was great to learn their story. On our last day of clinical, we had a party to thank everyone for giving us an opportunity to learn from them. At the end of the day, the patients gave a thank you to us, which was so touching and made me really glad to have been a part of their lives for just a little bit.
How time flies! My experience at Spring grove hospital center was awesome. My client was very cooperative and enjoyed talking with me every week this made very easy to develop a rapport with her. The other patients were very nice and always willing to have a conversation with us in the hallway. I learnt alot but really nothing new about myself.I actually thought the mental health unit was going to be noisy, chaotic, and disorganized but I was really impressed by the kind of orderliness I saw. The unit was calm and quiet most times and I was really amazed. We educated the patients on hygiene, they were ready to learn and they also got engaged in the discussion. We threw a big party after the educational session, there was a lot to eat and drink. It was really a bitter-sweet experience. Bitter because I already bonded with my client and I may not have opportunity to see her again for life, and sweet because the hassle of going to SGHC is over!!!!
I had an amazing experience with my psych rotation. It was interacting, I saw some of the manifestations of the different disease processes in real life, and the true definition of how therapeutic milieu environment can impact the patients. I was able to form and end a nurse-client relationship smoothly with the client benefiting from my interactions with him. At our farewell party, the clients were excited and appreciated our time there. I realize that offering one-self meant a lot to the clients. It was a wonderful experience.
Bringing this semester's clinical rotation to an end hold mixed feelings for me. I feel like the time has gone by so fast that I can still remember the first day of clinical like it just happened. The perception I had about psychiatric nursing have changed drastically. In the beginning I thought that psych would be similar to the TV shows and movies I have seen but, it is nothing like that. The people that I have met have made an everlasting impression on me. Although my clinical experience may have been a little different from others considering the fact that I was at a voluntary institution, I do feel as though most of the patients I've met were unique in their own way. One thing that I learned is that the stigma placed on the mentally ill is very inaccurate. They are very intelligent and down-to-earth and don't just walk around talking to themselves as most people try to make it seem. The one thing that really touched me about my unit was that they felt as though we were very genuine and looked forward to seeing us every week. We were also a reminder to them that there are good people in the world and that we should always remain focused on our dreams and goals because it will take us very far.
As the termination of my clinical approached I learned that there is always a reason why people act, react, and live their lives the way they do. After conversing with my client on the unit I have learned that a persons history especially childhood and adolescence years play a major role in the adulthood of peoples lives. The environment they are raised in has an importance on the risk that that person may develop a psychiatric disorder or substance abuse. With my client we set goals and came up with coping skills to deal with his unresolved pain which meant a lot to me to be apart of.
The main thing that I learned about myself is that if I am thrown in a situation in which I am uncomfortable that I am still able to act as if I am in control. I thought that I would be uncomfortable dealing with the psych patients but after the first one, I had to realize that they are people too. So that made my experience alot easier to deal with because these people were willing to share their stories and thoughts with me. This was definitely a surprise for me. I feel like the biggest difference I have made on my assigned psych unit is just treating the patients like people and taking the time to listen to them. The staff is often busy and cannot sit there for a long time listening to the patients, so I was able to do that for several people and they just wanted to be heard.
ReplyDeleteThis rotation turned out to be very interesting to me. The things that I learned about myself is that I am a great actively listener. I enjoy sitting talking to patients and gaining incite about what goes on in their world. During a normal clinical rotation such as med surg, and also working in the hospital as a patient care tech or student nurse; you find that most of your time is used doing patient care that you have little time to actual get to sit and talk with your patients. I did not experience many surprises; I have a previous background in mental health so I kind of knew what to expect. On thing that I did find different at my clinical site was that they did not have a strict policy on contraband. The patients were allowed to have many objects and article of clothing that I'm used to being prohibited on an impatient unit. At the impatient facility our group was giving the opportunity to facilitate many group meetings. I felt that this made a huge positive impact on the patients and made their stay at an impatient facility more pleasant.
ReplyDeleteThis clinical experience has been very interesting to me. The one thing I learned about myself that I enjoy listening and making people feel better about themselves. I was surprised to see that a lot of the clients are very intelligent. I was also surprised at how comfortable I had become with the clients. I can truly see how they become a family. The one thing I didn't like was the lack of motivation from the clients and staff to be active. I have since then learned that its apart of the illness, but I would like to see the staff be more proactive about it. I think our group presentations will impact the clients in the future. We had some really good presentations and the clients participated and enjoyed them. We also made poster boards that the staff hung in the day room and I think this will help the clients in the future. I must say I will never forget my experience at Spring Grove and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I am not convinced that I want to be a psych nurse.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone,
ReplyDeleteToday is our last day of clinical at VA Medical Center. For the few weeks that I have been at VA was amazing because there was no incidence of crisis. The environment at this clinical is pleasant for me to give the client the full care that they deserve from me, and I did just that. The staffs and nurses were helpful to me at times when I needed help.
The clients were nice to me and always wanted us the students to stay in the day room and engage in activities like games, playing cards and most of all “discussion”. The clients love us because we always have time for presentation each week. The presentations are always interactive because the clients are involved. Prizes are awarded at the end of the presentations to clients that answer the questions correctly, and even to those who did not get the answer right.
To, I did a presentation on oral, hand and skin care. At the end of the learning and teaching presentation, the clients were so happy with us for the good information that we are providing to them each week.
I learned to engage in a therapeutic communication with the client, which is essential to my nurse client relationship. I felt comfortable discussing with the client in the day room and even on a one to one basis.
There were no surprises at all. Everything went as I expected and I am very grateful for that.
The impact that I made on the lives of some of the client at VA is the teaching and learning sessions that we had each week. The clients are now knowledgeable about the management of the side effects of the medications that they are taking; including hand hygiene, oral and skin care.
My overall experience at VA is excellent and our instructor Prof. K. Barnes made it happened.
My termination experience was kind of sad. I really enjoyed the Spring Grove clinical experience and to my surprise, I am not ready to leave. Walking out of there felt like I was leaving my family (clinical instructor, clinical group and patients). As time goes by, you get to know the patients and they look forward to seeing you. You never know how a smiling face can brighten someone’s day. What I learned about myself is how I have learned to have a non-biased, non-judgmental attitude in regards to some of the reasons why patients were admitted. In the beginning, clinical seemed a little scary to know that I would be interacting with people who committed crimes like murder, pedophilia and rape on a regular basis. After working with them, I realized that some of them are “everyday people” that we see all of the time. Some have more severe mental illnesses, but the fact that we are there to help them gives me great satisfaction. This was the best clinical rotation for me thus far. Becoming a Psych Nurse is something that I am now considering.
ReplyDeleteMy clinical experience at VA was great; I learned a lot while there during this seven weeks. At the beginning of the clinical, I was kind of scare because I did not know what to expect; more so, it was my first time dealing with Psychiatric patients. However, after day one of the clinical, I started developing self-confidence and therapeutic relationship skill with the clients. When I had conversation with a Client, Mr. W, for my IPR assignment, he told me he was involuntary committed to VA for attempted suicide. He was much opened and at the termination phase he told me whenever he will be discharged from VA, he will make sure he joins a support group.
ReplyDeleteI will say 90% of the clients at VA, effectively and actively participated in all the activities we engaged them. For instance, when we had teaching with them about some of the antipsychotic medications and their side effects, everyone that was in the dayroom listen actively to our presentations. Their participation was a 100% because they all asked questions or provide additional information about the side effects of some of the medications they are taken. Each one of them was positively rewarded for participation with cookies, or candy. For the diabetic client, we had sugar free candy available for them.
One our last day of clinical, three group presentations were done. In my group, we presented teaching on “personal hygiene” our focus was on hand washing, oral care, body odor control, and skin care. The clients were all involved in this presentation; one of them expresses concerns on how food is being served in McDonald. He says he does not like the fact that people serve food without washing their hands and most of the times without putting on gloves; however he says this is not the case with Subways. We responded to his concerns and our clinical instructor came in and explained how this situation can be handled by the customer. To sum it all it was a nice experience for me working in the psych unit with these clients; all the nurses were very cooperative, they provided us with all the necessary information with needed for the clinical and above all, our clinical instructor kept us all on our feet with all the assignments needed for the course.
Psych nursing is exciting and filled with new challenges every day. You never know what type of clients you are going to be involved with. I enjoyed the groups and conversations that we had with the patients. Most were interesting and getting to know their history was sometimes the best part. It always warmed my heart when after one of our group sessions, a client would come up to us and say how we made their day a little bit better. I still believe that psych nursing is not for me, but I will always remember my rotation through here.
ReplyDeleteMy psych rotatation was at Sinai hospital, and I commend Sinai for having a very bright and welcoming place for mentally ill people and for students to come and learn. I have learned to welcome all experiences because you never know what you can learn from them. This experience has been one of the best clinical experiences that I have ever had; who knew! Psych is not what most people initially assume. Everyone is not walking around acting insane in the membrane. It is not always what you see on t.v. A majority of the people that I encountered in my psych experience were just like me; except they had a few mental issues that they were unable to control on their own without help of counseling or medication therapy. I found that they enjoyed having people come in and have group sessions with them. I enjoyed getting to know them and how they deal with what they are experiencing. I learned that I am a very good listener. Some of the clients I encountered shared so much of what they were going through the minute we established a therapeutic relationship. So many of them are very willing to have some one that they can talk to. I believe I made an impact on them as well by using my knowledge and skills of therapeutic communication to help them move toward a better understanding of their illness and how to cope. I tell you, I might have to consider partaking in some of this psych world as a nurse. Whatch out there know!!!!!
ReplyDeleteCan't believe it is the end. Next week we will be having our good-bye Christmas party for the patients. I have to say Psych was not as bad as I thought it would be. Spring Grove was a very inviting place. The staff and patients were very polite and open to use. My patient was very cooperative and answered the questions I had and came to all of the teaching sessions like he told me he would. I think the only thing I really don't understand with my experience was why the patients were not stimulated more then what I saw. All of the hrs we were there all the patients did was watch TV and the staff didn’t do any activities with them during the time we were there.I think with us being there it has shown the patients that we care especially with patients like mine who have no family visiting him at all.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with my patient was an overall good one. It started out very slow (being that he initially did not want to talk with me)but my client toward the end took a likely in our brief one on one talks. I was surprised initially when he said that he did not want to talk ( I thought to myself "what did I do to offend you?")but i continued to speak and at times even walked the hallways with him in silence. I have learned that you have to have patience with the mentally ill if you want to gain their trust. The staffing on the unit I thought were wonderful and helpful. This clinical rotation was quick but I did reach my initial goal, which was to establish truth and work on using therapeutic communication with my client.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed my psych clinical at Spring Grove. It ended too fast. I learned about myself that I can be aroud the patients without feeling uncomfortable and that psych nursing is something I am definitely willing to consider in the future. I learned about myself that I am able to communicate therapeutically more than I thought I could. The only suprise for me was that my client, who does not usually attend groups I was told and lacks certain social skills, came to one of the presentations we had. I encouraged him to come to group and his answer was like "yeh, maybe," and he attended and even participated in discussion. I feel that the weeks of meeting with him might have had an impact on him. From the first time we met till the end, my client has allowed more time each time to discuss. Seeing her every week and having him say, "Hi, we are meeting today right? 9:30?" made me feel like he must've feeling that he was benefitting from our meetings. As far as the other patients, some of them were constantly sleeping and watching tv but some of them would join us in the activity room and do some coloring, listen to music, talk and play pool. I feel like having students on the unit was good the patients since it allowed them to interact with people and do activities.
ReplyDeleteI can truly say that I have enjoyed myself with my client and other patients at spring grove. As I terminated my services with my client she appeared to be sad, but at the same time she understood we had to move to other classes. I have learned alot from my client and about my client's illness. My client was very interactive with the other students and staff. She was not antisocial. I have learned to be more aware of my surroundings and to be more conscious of my answers in response to question, basically being therapeutic. I believe i had an impact on my client. She was so happy to know that a young black single mother was on her way of becoming a nurse. She felt there was hope for her as a single parent. I gave her a word of encouragement and I said my goodbyes. Spring Grove rock!
ReplyDeleteWow...., i can't believe its seven weeks already, how fast time flies. I started this psych rotation with mixed feelings of not knowing what to expect but after my first encounter with the staff and patients of the BCRI center, i knew i was going to be okay. Termination day was very sad for me as i ended my contract with my client, she was really receptive of me the whole time and even felt sad that i was leaving. We went over her goals and how she was going to achieve those goals and other support groups were referred to her aswel. We hugged for a while and i left. i haved really learnt a lot from this class by doing away with all stigmatizations associated with psych patients, also, i am very assertive of mine and the behaviors of others, again how to meaningfully care for the mentally challenged people. And it was all thanks to my Professor Natalie Hart who was so nice and patient with my group and Professore Black, who also did all in her power to get us to where we are now.
ReplyDeleteBlog #6
ReplyDeleteTermination
This rotation has been the shortest and the most interesting one. I am able to practice therapeutic communication and relationship as we have been taught in the class. I loved the way the patients were so calmed and were well behaved throughout the rotation and I was happy that no code was called throughout this experience. I was also happy for the turn-up of patients when we did the individual’s student’s group with them and loved their response. There are no surprises at all. We touched the lives of these individuals when we did presentations on topics like, hygiene, exercise, nutrition, feeling good, side effects of the medication, and using humor to decrease-stress and anxiety. Though, I am comfortable working with psychiatric patient before this rotation, but I can still say that I cherished my safety and I still watch my back all the time because of unpredictable changes in the moods of some of the patients. I think I impact their lives during my individual group presentation about “feeling good about oneself”. This topic helps increase their self esteem and teaches them to be satisfied and be comfortable with the way they look.
Sadly, clinical ended today. Learned alot about myself during this rotation. I learned that I too have gone through the same things that the patients have gone through, therefore I learned how to become more compassionate. I also learned that I more understanding of people, their actions and the reasoning behind them. I also learned that I have a soft spot for adolescence dealing with various mental illnesses, never thought I would feel this way because in the beginning I was so nervous about working with teenagers because I had a low tolerance for teenagers, but this experience has changed my perceptions. There were surprises along the way such as witnessing how something as simple as going home for a holiday visit can trigger something in them to make them want to go AWOL once they are returned. I guess I take being able to go about my business without restrictions for granted unlike those kids that are constantly under surveillance, being able to go home means a lot to them. I feel that I made a huge impact on my patient because she went from not really talking to me, to finally conversating with me by the 2nd visit, and on this last day of clinical, she actually was looking for me amongst the crowd..very touching because I really was not sure if me talking to her was impacting her. On the last day, I had to tell her that it was my last day with them and honestly both of us almost cried. I believed she was becoming attached to me and knowing that I was not coming back made her feel like the visits were too short. I almost cried because I was starting to feel like maybe I was showing her a positive influence to maybe help her change her life around and I was not sure how things would go for her in the near future. But I did speak with her, reminding her what we've discussed in terms of controlling anger and positive thinking and she said that she would continue to try to do those methods that we discussed. I actually feel good, knowing that I wholeheartedly tried to help someone...
ReplyDeleteOur clinical ended yesterday and we actually went to a community center instead of our usual clinical site. We went to the Zeta Center for Healthy Living and it was a great experience. It was a wonderful ending to this clinical experience. We participated in blood pressure and depression screenings with the members of the center. I have learned that many of the people in our community have mental illnesses and we may not be aware of it when we interact with them. I have learned that I have the ability to help improve peoples' moods and put a smile on their faces just by talking to them and encouraging them to accomplish their goals. I have also learned that it gives people hope when we (nursing students) come in to a clinical site with positive attitudes. They trust us to give them excellent care.
ReplyDeleteWOW! This was not a bad experience at all. Of course I do not want to be a Mental Health Nurse, but I am more open to the idea. At first I was terrified, but eventually I became more relaxed with the patients, holding conversations and just talking in general other than saying good morning, and running to lock myself in the rec room. My experience with my client was good. He was quiet gentlemen with not much to say. Spring Grove is an interesting place, we learned about the history and facility as it stands today. Professor Day-Black is an awesome person and lecturer. We were afforded years of psychiatric training being in her clinical group. Thank you for a great experience
ReplyDeleteMy clinical experience at spring grove was a very different one. It was very laid back and comfortable. Most of the patients were very calm a cooperative and very inviting. I wish I had more time to get to know the patients more and my client. It feels like I am leaving unfinished buisness behind. Its sad. I really had alot of empathy for my patient and his situation and I wish I had more time to have a break through with him. I learned that I really have a soft spot for people who need help and I want to just save everyone. The patients at Spring Grove really enjoyed us being there because when we came they knew they were getting special treats. They would ask "Are we having group today"? and they would be lined up to come in. I think that it was awesome that they participated and were very cooperative.
ReplyDeleteThis clinical experience was great, way better than I thought it was going to be. There were no codes, the patients were all very respectful saying “thank you mam” and please, they were excited to come to groups hosted by the students, they participating in the discussions and were good listener. I learned that I am an attentive listener. I enjoyed working with my patient. I finally realize as termination came closer that the media portrays people with mental illness as all crazy and nuts, but I got the chance to see, that these people are humans just like us, they enjoy doing things that we enjoyed doing.
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe the seven week is over, this was a good and interesting experience for me, at first I thought this rotating will be difficult dealing with mental illness patient to my surprise it all turn out great. I learn to listen to my patient about what is going on in his life, and I was able to use therapeutic communication to build nurse-client relationship. There was no any surprise, I make impact in their life lives, especially during the group teaching, and we went to Zeta Center for Healty Active agent where we conduct depression screening and blood pressure screening. I was able to give some valuable information about blood pressure and how to control their blood pressure and also diet to consider during the processing of lowing blood pressure. We were all welcome to the center and the members appreciate the fact that we choose the profession not because of the pay but for the passion we have when we all stated our goals.
ReplyDeleteInteresting as I will say about this whole six weeks exposure to psyche nursing. I walked into Baltimore Crisis Response Center with a little knowledge about mental health patients, but am proud to say am leaving with knowledge which can not be taken from me. I thank my psychiatric professors especially professor Natalie Hart for her dedication and consistent encouragement to her student and also her willingness to answer any questions even the ones that we did not notice on the unit. Psych nursing is very interesting, and this rotation has given me the opportunity to erase the stigma I have about psych patients. I had the privilege to meet and interact with different client’s who have different mental issues and also had the opportunity to use therapeutic communication to obtain information from my patient and help them set a realistic goals which are attainable when they leave. I was really sad on my last day on the unit because, the patient and staff were very nice to us.
ReplyDeleteWow! I can not believe this rotation is over. It went so quickly. I learned that I could be a very good listener to others in their time of need. I learned that I am not judgmental and actually posses some therapeutic communications skills that allow the clients to open up to me. I was surprised how quickly some most of the clients opened up to me and wanted to have deep conversations about their life. I was also surprised that I really enjoyed my experience. I thought that this was going to be the worst rotation ever, but it was actually good and enlightening. I enjoyed it. I feel like I was a big help to the clients. I was there for them to express their emotions and feelings because they don't get to talk to the staff for hours about anything they want. I gave them all of my attention and I knew they loved it. Most of the clients just wanted people to talk to. I think I made their day better because I showed that I cared by playing games, exercising, singing, and laughing with them. In the end, I hope I left them with a sense of hope and will.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that my perceptions about the mentally ill before these rotations were wrong and misguided. I thought that the psychiatric unit was a dangerous place with patients having the capability of attacking the staff at any time. After this experience, I can gladly say I am considering psychiatric nursing as a specialty. I was not only comfortable navigating the unit but could carry one conversation with the patients. I also learned that the worst psychiatric cases are not the ones we meet in the hospital, they are the ones who deny their illness or roam the streets without anyone else knowing. The patients at my clinical site seemed to enjoy the student’s company every time and participated in the group activities. They enjoyed talking to the students and even spoke out about their worries during a stress relief group. I felt like I made an impact in someone's life and will cherish this experience.
ReplyDeleteAs termination nears I am prepared to terminate with my client. I believe that although my client let me know on our first encounter that he did not trust me, that he now does. I also know that he respects me because he actually approached me and asked if i was offended by him saying he does not trust me. During this experience I learned how to be more empathetic as opposed to sympathetic. I tried my best not to worry at night thinking about how terrible I would feel if I were there and thought about the fact that they needed treatment. I feel that I have made an impact on the patients because I took the time to listen and I care. We had conversations about general things just like I would casually talk with any person. I dont know if I wil become a psyche nurse but I am greatful for the experience and the chance to be rid of any stigmas that I had.
ReplyDeleteMy experience at Sinai was very enjoyable. I learned a lot and I could really see myself as a pschy nurse. Once I got passed initiating a conversation and getting the client comfortable with talking to me I realized that conducting therapeutic conversation is not has hard as I thought it was. I learned that it is not that hard to communicate with the mentally ill client most of them just what someone to listen to them and I am a very good listener. I think just being on the unit spending time and doing groups with the clients made a great impact into the lives of the psychiatric clients on the unit. The clients seemed to enjoy having the students on the units because a lot of them longed to have visitors.
ReplyDeleteThis experience has been an enlighten one for me. I have learned that working with patient’s with mental illness is the same any other patient. I now have a different outlook on mental illness; I have more of compassion now. There is so much education that be taught in this area. I learned that I can do therapeutic communication without thinking about what should I say, what shouldn’t I say. I just went in there with the attitude I am going to be myself. It worked. The clients were willing to open up and talk. I was surprised to hear from one client that at first she was wondering what and why do I want to talk with her, but after awhile she felt comfortable with me to talk. This same client had an enjoyable time with the group activity, it made her feel better. She openly acknowledges her feeling. This made me feel good inside to know just sitting and watching TV with her made a difference. Our clinical group and instructor received acknowledgment from the charge nurse, we were the best clinical group so far that has been on the unit, we just came and took charge. Also she said the group activities we presented were full of substance for the clients. That is a great feeling to be recognized both by the staff and the clients.
ReplyDeleteMy termination with my client was bittersweet. I wanted to have a therapeutic termination with him and I was relieved for our interaction to be complete, however I felt some kind of way about his reaction to the termionation. He seemed to be interested only in receiving a gift from me at the end. He didnt seem touched or helped by our interaction. I felt a little taken advantage of and used. However, the whole psych unit experience was an eye opener for me. I saw a lot of new things in me and I was able to accomplish some of my goals for this rotation. I feel that my therapeutic response and communication skills have improved greatly.
ReplyDeleteThe termination with my client went well it seemed like it couldn't come soon enough. I am glad that it is finally over. On the last day my client and I said our goodbyes and I reeducated him about the importance of taking his medicine. I learned that I can be a good listener and understanding to someone else problems. I was surprised that the client asked for a way to maintain contact even though our clinical and time together was over. I made an impact on the patients by spending time with them when they felt lonely and showing that the staff and I cared about them and their well being.
ReplyDeletePhillip Williams Assignment # 6 Termination
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that this clinical way exceeded my expectation in the sense that I didn’t think it would be so fruitful. I entered clinical with the assumption that I just want to go through it and finish it. When I go to my client, a 12 year old abused adolescence, he charmed and drew me to him. I felt compelled to “protect” him and we did develop a great friendship. I could not wait to go back to clinical and see how my patient was progressing. Now I can see myself working in this environment, particularly, with children around his age. I learned a lot of things and the most interesting one of them is using therapeutic communication in Psychiatric-Mental Health clinical setting.
The staff was very courteous and helpful towards us and was always getting our clients ready for us to interact with. The last day of clinical I had a double dose of sadness because my client, after telling that I would not be coming back to the facility, he told me that it was also very sad for him. His adopted father was on his way to pick him up for his aunt’s funeral and that he would be staying over the next day for the funeral services. I told him that I trust he would continue to progress so that he get out in February to go home and I will be praying for him. I was really touched and I learned that dealing with psych kids can be a rewarding challenging and that more student nurses should give a thought to working with such helpless children.
Blog #6
ReplyDeleteThis clinical rotation experience was a good eye-opener. At the beginning of the course I was filled with a lot of skepticism. I thought I might not be able to work in a hospital with mentally ill and will not feel comfortable or confident. Though the setting where I had the clinical experience may not be a typical setting for the mentally ill, it has at least given me a heads up on what I am likely to expect in dealing with this kind of patients. A nurse in this kind of setting assumes a totally different responsibility than a nurse in a regular hospital. The mode of communication is a little bit different though under the same umbrella of therapeutic communication. Safety is a major concern here. One must be observant enough in detecting early a resident who is exhibiting cues of aggression and therefore quickly device a strategy of counteracting such a behavior. Though a work setting where you have to be on guard most of the times may not be as desirable, but it is not as bad as I felt initially.
Week 6
ReplyDeleteWoop woop it’s finally over, I am so glad class is over cause I am so burnt out. I really enjoyed the psyh rotation this was so different because nursing clinical school has always been on a mer-surg setting and this was a change not just for me but for most of my classmates. I enjoyed this rotation because the patients looked up to me to be their listener especially when they talked about the side effects their medication gave them. And when they talked about the things that happened to them in the past, that lead to them having psychotic breakdowns. This was quite emotionally for me but as a nurse we have to keep the poker face and just listen and be there for the clients. We had some really good presentations and the clients participated and enjoyed them. I enjoyed each and everyone’s presentation. This gave the patients to have an opportunity to do something different from their everyday support groups.
Termination is definitely near for me and my client…and it makes me sad. Over the past few weeks, I’ve become very attached to my client, and I care about him a lot. Out of many of the patients, he is consistent week to week. He is always kind; he knows he has some issues, and he really works toward meeting his goals to fix them. He is also compliant with his treatment regimen. My overall experience during my psych clinical rotation thus far has been absolutely incredible. It started off rough, but I love it now. I could actually see myself dabbing in psych nursing in the future. I do have to learn to read people better because I’ve learned that I am very gullible. Some of the patients that I thought were the sweetest have flipped the script in a matter of seconds, and that is always surprising to me. Coming on the unit in the morning and seeing it destroyed is very surprising to me but very interesting at the same time…very juicy!!! I definitely believe I have made an impact on my client’s life. He was very quiet when I first met him, but we have built a great relationship. Every week, even if only for a few minutes, I get him to open up, I get him to smile and laugh, and I get him to engage and interact with others. Psych nursing rocks my socks!!!
ReplyDeleteBlog Six
ReplyDeleteClinical is coming to an end and I will say I enjoyed myself way more than I expected. This has been a learning experience. One of my main goals was to be more comfortable on the unit without being scared of everything. I think I accomplished this. I have a new found respect for psych nurses. You have to always be on alert because things can change at any minute. Tools that we use in psych can be used in every specialty. I feel I made an impact on my client, he gets excited when he sees me and always ask are we going to have our talks and can he attend group. He always been open about some things but now I feel he is even more open with communication.
The end is near and it is bitter sweet. I didn't get the opportunity to have one client throughout my entire clinical experience due to BCRI being a limited stay facility. However, the clients that I was able to sit and talk with was very rewarding. Some opened up to me and some refused to talk. I was able to put my therapeutic communication skills to work in both situations. There were many surprises for me from the appearance of the facility to the clients we worked with. I wasn't expecting such an old facility to be where we did clinical. I felt that the clients at BCRI were more substance abuse clients than mental health clients. Yes they all had mental health issues, however, in my opinion BCRI is more focused on the substance abuse then the mental issues. I could be wrong, that's just my thoughts. I would've like to experienced a more diverse client population (i.e. schizophrenic, bipolar, and personality disorder). Most of the clients at BCRI were diagnosed with some form of depressive disorder. I've learned that I would not like to be a psych nurse, I don't feel I posses all the qualities of being a psych nurse. I fairly enjoyed my experience thus far and look forward to finishing clinical with a BANG!!!!
ReplyDeleteWeek 6
ReplyDeleteThe termination phase is finally here which means the semester is almost over. Whoop Whoop. This has been a long road but it was defiantly an adventure. I really did enjoy the psych rotation it is really a different world from medsurg. I really wish we were able to pass meds though. The patients were very interesting some were too friendly and some never said a word to me but that was all good. My patient was very cool I couldn’t have picked a better one he was very polite and didn’t have problems with sharing information with me. I am use to working with psych patients being on locked units but I did not care for the cottages too well I felt like anything dangerous could happen at any time and help was so far away. I was never afraid of any of the patients I knew who to stay away from and who I could actually hold a descent conversation with. I really feel sad for my patient because he wants to get home to his daughter so bad. I hope everything works out for him. I encouraged him to continue taking his meds and try to stay out of trouble. I really enjoyed my clinical group and my instructor we really got along so well. After doing this clinical rotation I may be thinking about becoming a psych nurse when I graduate. We shall see.
Week 6
ReplyDeleteTermination with my client presents a sadness that I did not think would be there at this time. When I started this clinical rotation, I was more concerned about my safety, but now after getting to know my client and the other clients on the unit, I realize that the interaction was mutually helpful. I feel that I have made an impact on the clients on the unit through my interactions with them and the group activities we have been having with them. The clients always tell express their gratitude for what we the student nurses do and the time and attention we give them. During this rotation, I have acquired the emphatic skills of patients and caring attentiveness to patients with mental illness, while putting away my fears and feelings.
The mental health clinical rotation has been great; revealing some of the great potentials in me which I did not know I had. I learned a lot about myself such as possessing a leadership quality. I did it being a charge-nurse. This experience has taught me how to assign roles and prioritize activities and the needs of the individual patient. I also learned how to effectively use therapeutic communication in communicating with patients. Though I did not have a particular patient the whole time but every week I had the opportunity to meet a brand new patient at BCRI. I learned that establishing a nurse-client relationship is the most important aspect of caring for any patient and that gaining trust from the patient is essential in helping the client. This is a recommendation I would give to the future psych students and any student who may find it difficult to have a mental assessment with their patient, to first of all build trust and freely offer self to help and listen to the patient.
ReplyDeleteYes, there were surprises. I was so shocked to see how knowledgeable the patients were about psych meds. We had group sessions, and talked about psych medications, and I was really impressed at the way they answered the questions so confidently and accurately. I was also surprised as to how open patients can be when they gain your trust. The patients were very appreciative and willing to cooperate in every activity they were asked to engage in. To me, mental illness is just as any other medical condition and I believe if we handle patients well, they will also respond well.
Ways I made impact to the psychiatric consumers at BCRI include having nurse-client relationship which allowed communication to flow. I led a group session and gave information on depression and hygiene. Some patients opened up to say how they often do not care about how they look considering what they are presently going through. Also I did medication teaching; an important aspect to help in recovery.
Week Six
ReplyDeleteThe time has come when I will be saying good byes to my client and other consumers at the Spring Grove Facility. If someone had predicted to me that I would be interacting and communicating one on one with mental ill patients for six weeks, I will have said never in my wildest dreams. It has been a great pleasure to have this wonderful experience, and it will be difficult to say goodbye to them. I will miss doing the activities with them, and seeing the joy, kind words and appreciations, they have for us. My client surprised me this week, by presenting me with one of the activity decoration we had made as my Christmas gift, which was huge for me. Other consumer who was apprehensive in the beginning, were also interacting in the activities and smiling with us; it was very mind blowing for us as students. One statement my Professor mentioned to us in one of our post conference is that, “no one is insane for 24 hours.” It was a revelation for me, it made me realized that, these consumers are human beings; all they need sometimes is for someone or in our case a group of novice students to spend some time with them.
Week six
ReplyDeleteWhat I have learned about this experience, is to not have fear. Not fear of a mental patient, but fear of communication with them. I was very concerned about saying or doing something that would cause the patient to either be offended or angry. It was so much easier than I had thought. I just talked to my patient like a normal human being. Sat and listened to him and shared his excitement when he got excited, and laughed with him. The truth is, they are easier to talk to than some nurses, doctors, or any other patient. Just treating them like a person and letting them know that you thought about them enough to bring them a bag of chips is almost the greatest thing in the world to them.
It was surprising to see how much the patients look forward to the students visiting and when we have our groups. As we were setting up, there was a line outside the doors where the patients stuck their heads on the glass to see what we were doing. It was fun. I really enjoyed every minute of it. Then to listen to the stories of these individuals and some of the hard lives they have had was sad and made me want to at least acknowledge that they were there. It really opened my eyes to wanting to be a psychiatric nurse.
yes susie they were outside ready we said group was at 11 they were lined up at 10:50 lol it was definatly fun. i had a great time with you guys
DeleteWeek #6 blog
ReplyDelete12/4/14
For me, termination comes with a feeling of nostalgia. I have learnt a lot through this experience and I know that there are people out there that need referral services. I have learnt that I am able to care and not be afraid of any psychiatric consumer. I have learnt to use the act of effective communication. The adolescents I worked with were very welcoming and you can see in their faces their excitement in seeing me and my colleagues. One of the teenagers was so excited that she was jumping, smiling and saying “she is for me, she is here for me” while pointing to her chest. At that moment it was clear that my presence meant a lot to her.
There has been informative and interactive group teaching sessions such as medication and female hygiene teachings. The response received was prove of the impact the teachings had on the girls. It was a surprise how much the girls knew of their medications, the side effects and reason for the medication. The interactions I had with my client helped me to have an understanding of her diagnoses and I realized that just by sitting there and listening was probably what she needed. Reflectively, I will say that initially I was scared but after these experience in which I surprised myself, I am coming out a better person knowing that I can do a lot in other people’s lives just by being there. Nothing much is needed, just be there and listen.
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ReplyDeleteI have realized that my suspicion is true; EVERYBODY has a little "crazy" in them!! LOL I do believe that some people are just better able to cope with it than others. My clinical experience was nice and the past week talking to my client she shared with me that she felt better with the students than what she did with the staff. She did not fully tell me why but I believe she was insinuating that the students may be a bit more nicer and caring than what the staff conveys; but I also understand that there may be some compassion fatigue with some of the staff. Anywho, I hope that I will always in my client's eyes be seen as the nice, empathetic, caring, new, "student" nurse and never like a nurse who has been there, done that and that when I do experience any compassion fatigue, I will recognize and correct it. Being on the unit has been amazing, the client's has opened up and been so receptive to us and we to them. During the past weeks, I have seen so many different attitudes in some clients, some disheartening but mostly good when the students came on the unit. Just last week my client told me that I was scary and boring and she didn't really like me too much; well this Tuesday before I could even walk in the day room to speak to her she had jumped out of her chair and yelled I am so happy to see you and gave me a big hug!!! It was pretty surprising and a nice way to start off that clinical day definitely. Another surprise was that the week of thanksgiving, one of the calmer and nicer client's that is around my age had a very bad moment and lashed out on the unit breaking all the windows out and tearing things off the wall. After that I noticed that he walked around and was not as talkative and I was not sure if it was because he felt bad or not, so I made it my business to talk to him and speak to him to possibly bring him out of his state of depression if that is what it was. The following week when I came in one of the first things he said to me beside the normal "hello" was "how are you feeling? Are you okay?" I thought that was really nice and thoughtful considering the fact that I did not think we were on the unit enough time to have made an impact already. I believe that we helped brighten each others days and that really helped the clinical experience go by faster and more enjoyable. Both the client's and nurses can learn from each other and I LOVE THAT!
ReplyDeleteThis experience wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I learned that I need to try new things that are outside of my comfort zone so I can get new experiences and prove to myself that I can do new things. The biggest surprise of my clinical experience was when Michael destroyed the unit out of anger. I must admit that I underestimated him. I remember on the first day when I met and decided that I wanted him to be my patient, I wanted him because I thought he would be calm and wouldn’t be too much trouble to write my paper about him. I never expected him to be so violent. He was and still is pleasant around me but now I understand that anger does something to some of these patients and that you can never underestimate them or become too comfortable. I would like to think that I, as well as my clinical group, have made an impact on the patients. I hope that they feel like we treated them well, like human beings, and maybe they might even remember some of the groups we had. They have definitely changed my perspective and I hope that they enjoyed our presence as much as I enjoyed being there.
ReplyDeleteSIXTH BLOG ENTRY
ReplyDeleteTermination 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.
I was at BCRI during this clinical rotation. I discovered a lot about myself during these past few weeks. I felt that Psych lecture and clinical were probably the most challenging and intense experiences that I’ve had during my entire time in nursing school. The clinical packet and workload initially felt overwhelming and I really didn’t know how I would be able to accomplish it all. Looking back I am very happy to see what I was able to achieve. I took a one day at a time approach; one exam at a time, one assignment at a time, one clinical day at a time. I found that this approach was also effective for many of the clients at BCRI. Many times when dealing with mental illness you may not see the light at the tunnel but if you can manage to just do one thing or complete one goal it gives you the confidence to know you can make it through.
I enjoyed talking with many of the residents at BCRI and learning about their different services. I don’t think that I would want to work at a facility like BCRI or a mental institution however, I can see myself out in the community doing mobile treatment, or case management, or mental health screenings for the community.
I have had a wonderful experience at Spring Grove hospital, and I am very happy that psych clinical is not as frightening as I thought it would be. It is actually a lot of fun. I really like the patient; I feel empathetic towards them, but I do not let my feelings get in the way of doing what I am required to do. The client I have had to work with is unique and I will really miss her. I can’t even imagine how the goodbye will be for both of us.
ReplyDeleteFrom this clinical experience, I have learned a lot about myself. One of the thing I learned is that I can do whatever I want to do if I put my mind into it. I initially thought I can’t do psych, I will be horrible at it, and that I might fail. However, after confronting my fears, I realize that I am not bad at it at all, and I could make a good psych nurse someday.
I had lots of surprises. In fact, the whole experience is a surprise. I thought the unit will be so loud and out of control, but it isn’t for the most part. The milieu was quiet for the most part the entire time I was there. I was also surprise to see that the patients are not as different as I had expected. They are fun to be around, and I had good conversation with the ones I had contact with.
I would say I have had a positive impact on the patients I had the opportunity to work with. For example, I meet one of my client’s needs by offering self and she seems to be very happy and grateful about it.
Overall, I have had a good experience, and I wish I wasn't coming to the termination phase so soon.
As termination approaches next week, I have learned a great deal about myself and how I very mental illness and person who have mental illness. Before clinical I believe that it is safe to say, that I would have all the right things that one should say in regards to how one should view and treat a person with a mental illness. I saw that I had a little prejudgment about this topic. I saw that I was taken back and felt like it was mostly the fault of the patient. I felt that all they had to do was take their meds. Now I feel so different. I feel as if we “john Q public” have, are and will do this group a disservice. I will never again assume that “they” just don’t want to help themselves. I see now that we have to give more and treat them better. Yes we are the caregivers but they are not “children” They are adults with mental illness and many who are about their wits, many of which don’t take their meds because of how it makes them feel as well as because they know they have nowhere to go so they manipulate the system to protect themselves.
ReplyDeleteI may not want to become a mental health nurse but I have a new found respect for the position. I am surprised at the living conditions and I am surprised how little the state can provide. I am surprised to know that I have made a positive impact on my patient’s life in such a short amount of time. This past week I noticed that they were mad at me because I had not brought coffee in for them in two weeks. I told him that I had forgotten and that we were not there the week before. He replied with such clarity that he was grateful for my honesty and for not blowing him off like he was crazy. He stated that he knew his condition and that he knew what people thought of him and that I was the first person in a long time to treat him like he was treated before he came in. I got a bit choked up. Over all I have enjoyed my time at Spring Grove.
As termination of my clinical rotation is near, I feel like I have learned and grown in numerous ways. First and foremost, I have learned that I am able to use the knowledge and skills I have learned in lecture to care for my patients. I have also learned that as nervous as I was, I was able to connect and communicate therapeutically with my patient and others in the clinical facility. One thing that surprised me the most was the fact that some of my perceptions of psychiatric nursing came into reality such as patients acting out and being destructive. Seeing the aftermath of a destructive patient on the floor was a real eye-opener of what you can expect on a psychiatric floor. Another important factor I learned on the unit was the fact that many patients consider us their friends and family and look forward to us visiting, as they may not have any other contact to the outside world. I consider this a huge impact to the patients and hope that this has benefited them in a positive way. I also believe that we had a impact on the fellow staff at the hospital as we somewhat relieved them from some of their duties as we held groups and interacted with the clients. Despite my initial intentions and the experience I had during clinical, I was surprised to think that psychiatric nursing may be apart of my future as I am interested in the field and believe I am capable of caring for such clients.
ReplyDeleteI actually can’t believe our clinical experience has now come to an end. My clinical experience I felt was somewhat different since I was at BCRI and we weren’t assigned a client because it was not a long- term care facility. Most of the patients were there maybe 3-5 days or less. Each clinical we met different patients who were usually gone the following week, so we were unable to form a relationship. In this experience I learned that I really had no clue the real duties of a mental health nurse and what they were expected to do. I learned how unaware I really was. For the clients on our psychiatric unit I think we made a positive impact on them. The patient were always happy to see us and talk to us and were very encouraged to even hear that we were nursing students and would be graduating in May.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe that this is the end of clinical. Termination is Thursday and I am not sure how my my patient will react. He always wants me to call him and I always have to set boundaries. I know I will be a little sad to leave and pray that he uses his coping skills and and takes his medications so he can have the best life possible. I hope I don't cry, if I do I will make sure it is not in front of him. I am not just terminating with just my client but all of them. I pray that they all live the best life possible. I learned that I like psych more than I thought I would. I take the patients home with me and I need to stop. I have helped someone life whether it was big or small. I am stronger than I think. I learned that it takes a lot of work keeping an eye on all the patients. They should be treated just like everyone else. I enjoyed my psych clinical.
ReplyDeleteWOWWWWWWWW IS ALL I CAN SAY I ACTUALLY MADE IT THROUGH THIS EXPERIENCE. IT'S KIND OF HARD TO LEAVE NOW BECAUSE MY CLIENT AND I HAVE BUILT A RELATIONSHIP. EVERY WEEK I WENT TO CLINICAL SHE WOULD BE WAITING BY THE DOOR FOR ME. THAT MADE ME FEEL GOOD BECAUSE THAT MEANS I MADE SOME TYPE OF POSITIVE IMPACT ON HER. I KNOW SHE WILL BE UPSET THAT I HAVE TO GO BUT SHE UNDERSTANDS THAT I WAS ONLY THERE TEMPORARILY. THROUGH MY CLINICAL EXPERIENCE, I HAVE CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT WHICH PROFESSION I WOULD LIKE TO GO INTO AFTER GRADUATING. I BELIEVE I CAN BE A MENTAL HEALTH NURSE BECAUSE I ENJOYED LISTENING TO THEIR PROBLEMS AND I UNDERSTAND THEM. I HAVE A WHOLE NEW OUTLOOK ON MENTAL HEALTH CLIENTS THEN PRIOR TO GOING TO CLINICAL. I ACTUALLY WAS AFRAID OF THEM. OVERALL I REALLY ENJOYED THE EXPERIENCE.
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ReplyDeleteMy clinical is termed as community mental health group meaning that we spent most part of our clinical in the community. However, we have been going to Spring Groove Hospital for the past two weeks and we will still go to the hospital for the last day. For that reason, I did not have a single client to myself; apparently, I worked with the entire client. My going to Spring Groove for my mental health clinical exposed most of the information I had before but could not really understand it. I noticed that the client like student because is like when little children have a visitor they will be so happy and want to share everything with the visitor especially if the visitor is a close relative. Anytime we are entering into the hospital, I observed the client and the smiles on their faces. They will asked questions like did you guys bring juice, did you bring snack because they knew that one or two student must teach and they will all have snack. Last week on 12/4/2014 after our group teaching because we had a lot of juice, snack , yourgout, chips, fruit etc, two of the residents came close to us and asked us which day is your last day and we said next week. They shouted with an exclamation and some sad expression on their faces. “ I do not want you guys to stop coming”. I told the resident that we are meant to be here for a short time.
Talking about termination phase, is never easy when the nurse played the role by giving appropriate care and creating good professional relationship with the client.
I completed my clinical rotation at Spring Grove Hospital Center. Initially, I was anxious about completing clinical there being that Spring Grove is a state hospital and therefore, some patients would be criminals. However, I developed the mindset that I walk the streets filled with criminals on a daily basis and yet I never step foot outside my house in fear. In addition, you pass many on the street who either blatantly display symptoms of mental illness or carry it with them quietly. This mindset reminded me that all people, including patients are still individuals just like the rest of us. They’re just unique in ways others may not be. This clinical rotation emphasized to me my ability to look past factors that some people cannot in order to care for my patient adequately and address them like I would any other person. This was further emphasized when my patient stated to me that though he usually keeps to himself, he likes talking to me because I “made [him] feel like a person”. Every so often, people treat those with mental illness as if they are not individuals with rights and feelings just like any other person on this earth. I feel that my merely treating my patient like an individual, like someone with an identity, as opposed to an ID number like in prison or a “crazy patient” benefitted him very much and facilitated a therapeutic relationship. It was a surprise to see how the patients interact with each other and to observe how protective my patient can be when someone is in danger. He even intervenes when another patient gets confrontational with medical faculty at the hospital. As a whole, I believe myself and my clinical group has made an impact on patients’ lives because we created a new environment for them, and they experienced a change from the norm in regards to different activities we hosted and how we treated them. Also, they got a chance to see some new faces and have temporary guests, as a lot of patients don’t receive many visitors or any at all for that matter. I truly enjoyed my rotation at Spring Grove Hospital Center, and it has greatly influenced my consideration of doing psychiatric nursing in the future.
ReplyDeletePatrice Williams: Spering Grove Red Brick 2
ReplyDeleteI am glad that clinical, as well as this semester, has come to an end. I did not make too much progress with my client because I believe that his mental illness is chronic to the point that he is pretty much maintaining and not improving. However, this clinical has taught me a lot about myself. I went in very anxious and apprehensive. I knew for sure that psych nursing was something that I would NEVER do. I was surprisingly patient with my client and was also surprised that he was very cooperative. I think that when you are warned about how aggressive and noncompliant patients can be, you automatically assume that your client will be like that, which was not the case here. While I am still not interested in pursuing psych nursing as a career, I do not have many of the misinformation that I did before and as clinical continued, the more comfortable I was around all of the patients, not just the one that was assigned to me.
I feel that my classmates and I have made a great impact on the lives of the patients on our unit because we spent a lot of time getting to know them. A lot of times, we just talked to them, not always asking questions as a part of assessment, but just to get to know them as people and what their life was like before they came to the institution. I could tell that they appreciated our presence.
The termination phase is kind of bitter sweet for me. It has been a long exhausting semester so far and I am obviously looking forward to the end of the semester. However, I am a little sad leaving the patients behind. I naturally don’t like saying goodbyes. Today was my last day at Baltimore Crisis Response Center. We had to say our good byes to both patients and staff members and I got the feeling like “oh wow” psych clinical is really over. I did not really get the opportunity to form a long working relationship with a client because they only stay at the facility for seven days and two weeks at most. So, I had to form a relationship with a new patient every week. This made termination for me very easy but I still got a little knot knowing that I will not be seeing any of the patients again. In fact, this might be my only opportunity to work with mental health patients week after week as a nurse.
ReplyDeleteI learnt a lot about myself. I have always wondered how therapists and psychologists just sit all day and listen to patients. But I have actually learnt that it can be very rewarding to get someone to open up and express their feelings. It can be rewarding to make someone feel better. I have also learnt that my communication skill is better than I thought. I had thought that am not much of a speaker and prefer to listen instead. But I learnt through this clinical rotation that perhaps am more of a talker than a listener. I was initially surprised on the first day of clinical. I thought that Baltimore Crisis Response Center was an outpatient center where patients visited during the day and then leaves in the evening. But I was surprised that they offered residential services and I was stunned at how nicely put together the place was. I have made an impact on the patients by offering myself. Some of the patients just needed a listening ear and I made myself available. I also served as an educator by giving the clients educational information on how to improve their quality of life.
I embarked on this clinical activity with apprehension and concerns that emanated from my prior experience (the experience had not been a palatable one for that matter!) with individuals who had mental illness problems. Little did I now that this experience would unconsciously shape my perceptions about individuals with mental illness. Fortunately for me, this clinical experience has been extremely helpful in changing my perceptions and belief system about mentally ill persons. If I had my way I would love to continue the clinical activity; in actual fact, working as a psych nurse has now become a very strong possibility for me.
ReplyDeleteMy interaction with the individual that was assigned to me was intriguing and eventful. I was opportune to observe him hallucinate, he was equally tangential during the interview sessions I had with him, and a display of these signs further reinforced what I had learned in class. In all, it was equally interesting to see my client display a sense of humor such as insisting that he knew my name and was not going to forget it in a hurry (he did say my name without me reminding him). Termination can sometimes be difficult, my experience at the clinical site has proved this and I would not say I am not going to miss going my time at the clinical facility.
An attitude is an important thing. It can shape the way the individual sees an experience and how observers see the individual. An attitude can entirely make or break an experience. This is as true in clinical experiences as it is in life. My experience in my mental health clinical was without a doubt unique but I feel its uniqueness was in what I made of it, something every nursing student can do for themselves. If there is one lesson to gain from reading about my experiences it should be that the success of a clinical, whether a preceptorship or group experience, is entirely what the student makes of it. I really enjoyed my Mental Health rotation. I sat in on a role-playing session which was awesome and sat in on several group sessions. We were encouraged to contribute. There was no one, even in lock down that we couldn't interact with. I read all the charts I could get my hands on. We were assigned to one patient, we wrote a care plan on our choice of all the patients in that unit. We rotated through all the different units, both opened and closed. The thing I learn from the clinical in Mental Health is that there are very few medication to give. You can't give these clients a pill and fix their problem. It takes a lot of therapy and teaching to help these clients. I watched pro Mental Health teams work together and was in awe. I used this time to learn as much as I could. These people know their stuff and how to use it. I’m in shock to say this, I like Mental Health I can see myself as a future Psych nurse.
ReplyDeleteTermination for me and my client was a mixed feeling for me because I was happy that this clinical rotation is over but I was not happy that we will not be meeting to discussing as we have been since we started this rotation. Yesterday was my last day in Spring Grove Red Brick #4 and I had a good client. The question that my client asked me when I told him that that was my last day was whether I will be visiting him or at last calling to know he is doing. The answer I gave him was no but that I will be praying for him. It was very hard to say goodbye but I was glad that my patient was so grateful and happy with the moments we shared during the interview phase.
ReplyDeleteI learned that I am a compassionate and professional person that can work with any kind of person. I was able to get enough information from my patient and he enjoyed answering my questions. I set limits when necessary and used non-judgmental attitude to make him feel like a human being. Overall, he was so happy. The only surprise was that i bought him a Christmas present that made him to be very happy and grateful. He said that he will always remember my kind gesture.
We made a positive impact in the lives of the consumers at Spring Grove through the presentation we had on “conflict management strategies”. A good number of the clients express that the can now manage their relationship with others but avoiding conflicts and disagreements. They also agreed to go to the nurse to report any conflict or walk away to avoid getting into a fight with another patient. Overall, I feel so happy and enriched by this clinical rotation especially my instructor (Prof. Jones) and Prof. Day-Black taught us practical skills for identifying classifications of psyche medications and administration. I am so grateful to my group members too for giving me an opportunity to work with them. We all had real fun.
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BLOG #6
Nursing is a profession that came across the process of admission of a client, working with the client, and finally when the client reaches his/or her optimum function then termination of client. Starting the nursing process at the Spring Field hospital was a little scary for me, because my expectation was different. As I started to know them and build trust relationship then I started to understand and visualize the mental illness and its effect very well. Empathy! Empathy!! To all mental health clients.
I found out it is going to be easy to work with a client if one build the trust ship relationship with the client. So I was accepted as a nursing student by my client and other clients too. When we call (Nursing student) for activity we found out the participant number increases as we go along. My surprise was, the clients will wait for us in the hallway some standing near the entrance door to say hi to us and then they will ask, “Do you have activity for us?” I did not expect them to think about us for a week and respond with these loving attitudes.
Yea it has to come to an end. We had a talent show program, where the clients were participated with high interest and of course us too and it was wonderful. My client was not able to attend due to medical appt. but he came to the activity room and said,” thanks.” Other clients were gave us a beautiful complements to us. One female client stated, she thanks Coppin State University to send such a loving nursing students to them.
My clinical experience was much different than I first expected it to be. It was unlike all other clinical I have experienced so far. Throughout this clinical I learned more about patience. I knew at the beginning we would have to have more patience with our patients than we people without psychiatric conditions, but I didn’t realize how much more. My client wasn’t as trying as some of the clients on the unit. It’s sometimes hard when patients speak over you and invade your personal space but taking a moment to realize they don’t always know what they are doing or how they are affecting you. (Although sometimes they do) I thought it was interesting to see patients that you wouldn’t suspect as trouble makers be the ones who could be the most destructive if they were upset and felt unheard by the doctors and nurses.
ReplyDeleteI think I made an impact on my patient but treating him like a human and giving him someone new to talk to other than the nurses and other patients. He seemed to open up to me and we worked on different coping methods and ways for him to get through his inpatient time without getting frustrated with the other patients. I also didn’t realize how appreciated we would be. My client stated that his favorite thing to eat was chocolate cake during one of our interview sessions. When it was time to present our teaching groups I made sure to bring chocolate cupcakes, which brought a huge smile to my patients face. Later he couldn’t stop talking about how I remembered they were his favorite and how good they were, in fact, he ate 3.
Over all mental health clinical opened my eyes to mental health disorders and how patient you have to be as a mental health nurse. When it came time for termination I had mixed feelings, which I didn’t think was going to happen. I’ve built a relationship with my patient throughout the past couple weeks and I can only hope he continues to do well and incorporate his coping mechanisms we have worked on these past weeks.
Blog 6
ReplyDeleteAfter 7 weeks of attending clinical at Spring Grove, I feel like I’ve learned a lot. I was frightened about the thought of even going to a mental facility. Now, I can’t even wait to get there and see how my patient’s week has been. This was a clinical rotation that was more about building repor, which I enjoy. Unlike med surge which focused on the medical side of the patient, mental health was focused on how the client was mentally feeling, what was going through their mind etc. I enjoyed it. When giving our teaching session everyone on the unit attended our class, all 39 patients and staff. How rewarding! Patients participated and even gave us a round of applause at the end. They appreciated our time, and that was eye opening. As a nurse, even though I have been through several clinical rotations, at that moment I felt like I actually helped and maybe changed something. As our last clinical day is tomorrow, I am sad to say bye to all the great people I met at the facility. All the laughs, all the fascinating stories, and all the craziness I might not ever see again. Mental health was a great experience, and now I am more aware of what actually goes on with a mentally ill patient. Maybe… psych is in my nursing future :).
Next Thursday marks the end of my clinical rotation at Spring Grove Hospital Center and I cannot say that I am disheartened in any way. Unlike many of my peers, my excitement to come to this facility every week quickly diminished. On my first day on the unit I was thrilled to observe and talk to the patients on the unit; that did not last long though. This lack of interest is mainly due to my failure to establish a therapeutic relationship with my client due to her acute mania. However, it was interesting to see psychotic symptoms first hand. My patient had an influx of grandiose delusions and magical thinking, pressured speech, she had a labile affect and displayed agitation and irritability. She referred to me as a “demon” and an “alien”. It was incredibly frustrating attempting to talk to her; we just did not connect. Other patients, however, were easier to communicate with and welcoming to nursing students. They appreciated our presence because many of them just want an open ear and it was gratifying knowing that I could be that for at least one of them. I learned from this experience how to gather information from the patients by engaging them in a casual conversation. And I also learned that mental health nursing is a road that will go untraveled by me. I cannot see myself as a psychiatric nurse.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this clinical rotation. During this rotation I have learned that if I just relax and fit into the situation, I will be just fine. I was little scared at first but that was unknown anxiety that i never knew I had. Working on a Psych ward is not as bad as I initialy thought.
ReplyDeleteWorking with the clients every week, there has not been a dull moment. I was suprised at how intelligent some of the patients were and that was what made our group meetings so interesting. Just sitting with the patients talking and hearing their stories made me appreciate my life so much more, especially my mental health. Some of these patients were so young and instead of being out enjoying life they were at Spring Grove Hospital.
I know I have made an impact in the lives of my clients. Just sitting with them and discussing their futures and and how they would accomplish the things they wanted to accomplish and how to better cope with their issues. I think that my most memorable client will be the patient was was overly excited to see the nursing students. He wanted to participate in every group and was very engaging and nice to the students. When we had our party the last day, he got up and spoke very highly of the student nurses and how they have we made an impact on his life/ condition.
This Psychiatric clinical experience has been far different from the other clinical rotations. The setting was accommodating for learning. The first day of clinical, I was anxious and kind of scared knowing that I was going to face clients that had mental illnesses. I am leaving with a better understanding on how to care for and deal with deal with mental health clients. I am now prepared to work as a mental health nurse. I enjoyed working with my client. I think I accomplish my goal of better understating these diseases. I cannot thank the staff at spring grove enough for allowing me have this tremendous experience at this facility. The clients were very grateful of all the things the students did with them. This was a fun experience and I came out on the last day feeling proud of myself.
ReplyDeleteAt BCRI we was never assigned the same client because patients stayed only for a short amount of time. The experience of hearing the different stories and struggles faced by each patients has strengthen my understanding in mental health. I was surprised on how much I enjoy Mental Health as a Psychiatric nurse. I believe I made an impact into the lives of the psychiatric consumers by offering self, listening to their stories or complaints, and letting them know that I am here to help them reach their goals. I hope I had made an impact into the lives of the psychiatric consumers because this experience has shaped my perspective on individuals with mental illness.
ReplyDeleteThis clinical experience is different than I thought. I was very excited to see mentally ill patient before I went to the clinical site but when I get there and saw them, they do not look different from us. They look just like us very normal. Even though some has a criminal history and some are pedophile, they look very innocent and well behave. One patient was there with the nasty criminal background and very violent due to which he is transferred to another unit which is usually consider as jail for the violent patient with extra security. Before staff member transferred him to another unit, they called him to say good bye. I was really scared to even look at him. But guess what when he came into the room he looked very innocent and normal and he apologize with all the staff members for his behavior. Aww!! I felt sorry for him and my heart melt. At that time I realize it’s not him who commit crime but his mental illness made him do all the crimes. Honestly I feel very sorry for the entire patient in the unit, the way they get excited when they see us, the way they run behind us for the snacks we carry. I was thinking about the society who will always treat them as a crazy people and will never accept them like normal people. The only people who can treat them well and understand them and spend most of the time with them are the psychiatric nurses. I respect all the psychiatric nurses who choose this t field to take care of mentally ill people. I have never ever thought that I will even think of being a psychiatric nurse but when I will be choosing my special area of nursing I will definitely consider psychiatric nurse as an option. Now I don’t have any different feelings for mentally ill patient, i have a respect for them like any other regular patient.
ReplyDeleteMy experience at Spring Grove Hospital was both very beneficial and fun. My client was cooperative and enjoyed talking with me every week. He was close to my age, so it was not difficult to establish a rapport with him. The other patients on the unit were also cool and they got excited every time we came. During my experience I learned a lot, but really nothing new about myself. I was surprised about how calm and quiet the environment on a mental health unit can be at times. I think my clinical group as a whole made a huge imapct on the patients in our unit. The patients enjoyed themselves at each of our group therapies and always expressed how much they enjoyed it. In the hallways, we are constantly interacting with them. I believe we made such a huge impact on them because of the way we treated them. Instead of treating them as just another crazy patient, we treated them as a normal people.
ReplyDeleteI always made an effort to speak and see how they are doing, and I believe they appreciated that.
Week 6 blog
ReplyDeletePsych clinical rotation at BCRI was very interesting and challenging for me. I love the fact that it brought out the best in me. I enjoyed caring and listening to patients, being the charge nurse, facilitating the group and medication presentation etc. The community services we did at Zeta center (doing depression screening and taking blood pressure) also added color to the whole clinical experience. All of it helped me to learn how to develop a therapeutic relationship with the different patients I meet and interact with every weekly. I also learnt how to write an annotated bibliography, IPR, making a brochure for my group presentation, conducting a mental status examination to mention but a few. Our last clinical day was yesterday and surprisingly, I felt like our time should be extended because we are beginning to master the role of a psych nurse and getting very comfortable with working together with the patients and the team of professionals at BCRI. I must say that this clinical rotation was my best.
I must say I was very hesitant about going to Spring Grove for my mental Health clinical rotation. I had prior experience working with mentally ill individuals within the community, but I assumed it would be different at Spring Grove. I formed my biases on the assumption that individuals living in the community are stable and the people in the hospital are not, especially the ones on a forensic unit. I assumed the individuals would be aggressive in nature and I needed to watch my back at all times. This caused me to be very guarded during my first two visits to the unit. The clients on the unit definitely warmed me up. They were very receptive and excited to have us around, and to be honest, some of them seemed just as nervous to engage as I was. Once the fear was gone, it made for a great experience. I learned that when interacting with mentally ill individuals make no assumptions about their behavior even the ones I have previously worked with. Their mood and affect can vary and their behaviors are unpredictable. I should always keep an open mind but don’t assume that you “know” them. I believe that I impacted the clients on red brick four by offering of self and willingness to engage in conversation. I have definitely gained more from this experience than what I imaged.
ReplyDeleteTermination 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.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow is the last day at of my clinical experience at RICA. I have enjoyed working with my client, as well as the other clients and staff in the milieu. I have learned so much this semester about psych nursing as well as about myself. I was put in very challenging positions during this clinical rotation, and the way that I handled them showed enormous growth. Usually, I would be afraid to speak in front of a crowd especially a group of teenage boys. However, I assumed the role of educator twice during this clinical rotation and I was not nervous at all. I will miss the children at RICA, especially their card tricks and friendly personalities. I went in to RICA with an open mind and was willing to lend an ear not only to my client, but to whomever needed it. I hope that during my time at the facility that I have made an impact to the clients in the cottage that I was working in. I hope I have modeled acceptable behavior for them, and I genuinely wish them the best in the future. I am truly thankful for this experience.
My mental health clinical practice just ended last Tuesday. That day was graced with other new learning experiences. Few minutes after our arrival to the facility, our clinical Professors engaged us with medication identification, their indications, side effects, contraindications... and practicing of how to give injections. It was really enjoyable and educative as our professor went further into teaching us again. At the end this drill, we had a small entertainment with snacks together. Then we proceed with the discussion of our project paper about our clients after which I left to see my client and members of staff. I spent a lot of time with them and let them know my clinical orientation is terminating that night. We all share warm greetings and wishes as good friends parting away for some distance journey.
ReplyDeleteMy mental clinical practice was a very good leaning experience as I witnessed most of the things we discuss in class about mental illness, difference disorders and their symptoms, different interventions done to maintain this group’s quality of like. The clinical also increased my emotions for the mentally ill. I intend to volunteer in mental health institutions to help maintaining the improvement of their quality of life which hopefully may enhance their rehabilitation. My clinical orientation somehow move some of the clients into happy mood as I keep them company and organize some entertaining activities for them.
Psychiatric mental health clinical was a new era in my nursing career. It was quite a new experience for me in the nursing field. During the first two weeks, I find it challenging to interact with a mentally ill patient but as the weeks goes by, I became familiar with my surrounding how to interact with my clients. I find it interesting how interactive and engaging most of them are. In fact it is quite amazing how intelligent and out spoken most of this mentally ill patient are. They are very respectful and friendly. Every morning before going to the floor I have the opportunity to listen to the concerns of the client in Spring Grove at the RBC building. My experience during this clinical rotation is, I have learn that even some one is mentally ill there is a feeling of belonging, feeling to be love, compassion and friendship. I have made a great impact during my clinical rotation because I was able to assist someone and shear my ideas with a mentally ill person. I was able to teach a group on how to manage with their difficult emotions and self-management tools. This clinical rotation was not bad than I thought I really enjoy it because I belong to the best clinical group and the best clinical instructor professor Day Black.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, termination, so soon. BCRI is an experience in its own but from first day I was excite to attend clinical but no textbook or level excitement could have prepare me for psych/mental health clinical. First thing, THANKS very much to the nursing staff and all other collaborative team member at BCRI. They were very helpful and welcoming from day one. I learned that I am so much more patient then I thought. I learned not to judge I book by its cover, a perfect example of this was the first time we run group, I was so surprise how much patients know about their medications as well as other everyday subjects. I learned in mental health nurses have to stay sharp, because you have to be able to use multiple skills at a time in order to be effective. I learned I have to make each and every encounter with a patient educational, therapeutic, and a complete process of exchange of knowledge between the patient and student. Because BCRI is a transitional facility, students may have no more than a single session with patients; understandably this is why psych nurse must remain sharp at all time. Our third week at clinical some of the client were attempting to disrupt the group, I thing because student we trying to be nice we acted as if we didn’t mind their behavior, but one of the patient loudly said I’M TRYIN TO HEAR THIS S*@#t these student didn’t have to do this. After group was over I quietly said to him man thanks for taking our side he smile and said no I wasn’t, an hour later as I was making rounds Abou!!! He runs down to me and says are you really a nurse? Yes, I am then he replies that’s cool man I really can talk to you. We talked that whole afternoon; I learn that there is a whole population our there I can help, basis of he thinks we have in common.
ReplyDeleteThrough this clinical experience I have learned I can overcome my own anxiety as it relates to public speaking in front of individuals I do not know. For example, when I led one of the therapeutic groups. I was surprised the staff were so welcoming. In my past experiences in clinical rotations, sometimes the staff are not very welcoming to students. I believe I provided education regarding medication and its side effects. My group was a therapeutic group focusing on medications and their side effects. The patients participated in a discussion about their personal experiences with medication management. I also believe I provided another ear for the clients to vent and express their feelings and concerns.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of this clinical experience I was very nervous was not sure how my client would react to me. I found out that through communication and having an open and genuine attitude my client would respond to me in a positive way. The client really became comfortable with me and very open. He started o join in group activities and really communicated in our sessions. In the midst of developing a professional relationship with my client I became acquainted with other patients in the facility. I affectionately gave them nick names as I became familiar with there personalities. I was really proud of the progress my client made interact ting with his peers and participating in group activities.
ReplyDeleteWeek Six:
ReplyDeleteThis is my last blog which I’m happy and sad about. My time at spring grove has been a very pleasant experience for me. I truly enjoyed my patient he was the sweetest person I have met; it’s really hard to believe he has a mental problem. I know after tomorrow I’m going to always think about my patient, because I want the best for him. I wish that I could help him outside of spring groove. But outside of me leaving I feel like my time at spring groove I have made a good impact on the patients. My group and I was very interactive with the patient they express how happy that made them. We recognize them as regular people and they could feel that. I truly love mental health patients and I would love to work with them In the future
This experience has been suprisingly well. I learned that my ability to access and recognize symptoms were great and once you obtain knowledge predispositions on mental illness can be eradicated. I have a new found respect for psych nurses. Although I don't see the benefit in my client I definitely have establish entrusting relationships with other residents of RICA.
ReplyDeleteThis experience at RICA during my clinical for mental health has been profound. First, to realize how wonderful my life is absent the challenges that the residents at RICA experience. Furthermore they are children and adolescents and their life experiences are not as enhanced to manage some of the emotional and physical symptoms. That is truly heartbreaking, but I am truly thankful that I dont have these challenges.
ReplyDeleteIt should also be noted that I think that everyone has bits and pieces of mental health issues. Individuals may not always meet the threshold of diagnosis, but we often have snippets of a little something.
My client was selectively mute. As much as i enjoy a challenge, this one threw me for a loop. I did not know if i could be helpful or therapeutic to help the client meet his goals and promote some development.
One the last day when my client and i said goodbye, he smiled. If paychecks were in the form of emotions, i would have been a millionaire. I know that the interaction made a positive impact on him in some way. I truly believe that finding his interest, and being supported by one of his favorite staff members fostered a great introduction. I was very surprised ay his hope. I cant say i would be able to maintain such hope with the circumstances that surround his story.
He taught me to judge no one. He also taught me that life is not able to always offer you the best things, but you can make the best out of things. This lesson was very important and humbling. I thank him and Professor Opranozie for allowing me this opportunity..
I learned that it is possible for me to get accustomed to being around the mentally ill without feeling uncomfortable. I was able to sit and play games with patients and actually enjoy myself. I learned that once I am around them long enough it is easier for me to be therapeutic. I don't have to second guess so much if I am saying the wrong thing that could potentially be harmful. In the beginning I was overwhelmed with being nervous about saying something to tic my patient off. But like I said I learned that I am more than capable of holding therpeutic conversations without sounding too textbook. I know that I have impacted the patients at Spring Grove in a positive way. I'm sure they will never forget my workout routine that I did for their group. They were so overjoyed when we gave them a holiday pizza and chicken party. (Of course we gave them fruit as a healthy snack). One of their favorites was when some of my classmates and Prof. Boles played them in Spades.
ReplyDeleteIt was bittersweet saying goodbye to all of the patients at my facility. A lot of the patients let us know that they enjoyed our being there and I enjoyed making them happy. One thing I learned about my self, is that I need to control my initial responses to patients. A patient that made me uncomfortable since the beginning of my experience said he wanted to put his fingers in my hair. My response was curt and straight to the point, letting him know that he can't do it. The surprise for me was that I enjoyed it. I did not expect to enjoy my clinical as much as I did. I believe my group and the others brought a little cheer to the seemingly monotonous situation. Doing simple things like talking to everyone, smiling, hosting group activities, playing pool, playing the wii and providing snacks seemed to make everyone happier. I believe we left a positive impact with just our positive interactive presence. This might have been especially helpful for the holidays.
ReplyDeleteThis clinical experience really altered my outlook on psychiatric consumers, psychiatric facilities, and the nurses that care for them. I must admit that I harbored a lot of preconceived notions about what my clinical at RICA would be like but I came to realize that I couldn't have been more wrong. My patient was a joy to work with, the facility was state of the art and the staff was amazing and really supportive. The complete opposite of what I was thinking. My patient was a little distant at first but over the course of this clinical we established a good rapport and I believe that my presence had a tremendous impact on my patient and his treatment. My patient expressed that he was happy to get a student nurse and has enjoyed our interactions. I never thought I'd say this prior to this this clinical but I may become a psych nurse.
ReplyDeleteI find that I am anxious about terminating my relationship with my assigned client as well as with the other residents at the facility. I have grown to respect them and their environment. I also feel that there is a lot more that I could learn that would broaden my understanding of not only psych/mental, but that of human thinking in general.
ReplyDeleteI’ve learnt that I am more understanding of others than I give myself credit for. My nature has always been to perceive of other non-judgmentally. On the other hand, while I may have patience, I certainly do not have tolerance. I try to understand where one is coming from and if they are knowingly or ignorantly taking advantage of the situation, then my patience runs out.
I was very much surprised at the level of sanity of the mentally ill. The terms ‘mental patient’ have been of such stereotype in my mind. I’ve come to appreciate the people who suffer from mental illness because that’s all it is. It’s unfortunate but it’s the reality of our existence. We’re all sane but only to an extent. Some of us have physical hardships while some of us have cognitive deprivation.
All in all, the residents made more of an impact to my life. I was able to relate with them and reflect myself in their eyes. I truly felt a sense of connection with some of them, and some reflected the same sentiment about me. Overall I’ve had a wonderful time at redbrick 4 with all the residents and staff. The nurses were of such inspiration, ever ready to discuss issues with us, broadening our knowledge base.
Throughout the last six weeks I have learned a lot from my psych rotation. My client is a teenager that suffers from bipolar disorder and by hearing some of the trouble and difficult times that he's had while coping with the disease, it not only makes me look at people that suffer from a mental health condition differently but it also clarifies the clinical picture that it gives in the textbook. This clinical has also taught me not to judge because usually there's a whole other side thats not known to the people on the outside. Prior to coming to RICA, I honestly just thought that the kids were troublemakers and just misbehaved and that's how they got there. However, by talking to them and getting to know them I soon realized that many if not all of them have some kind of mental health condition and most were abused, neglected, and/or mistreated by some adult in their lives. Most often people judge and do not fully know the complete story only pieces of it and its usually the not-so-flattering aspect of it and I was guilty of prejudging them prior to this clinical.I think out of all of the things that I learned through this class and clinical that was the most important.
ReplyDeleteTermination 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. Include empathic skills you have acquired during this rotation.
ReplyDeleteThe Psych Mental Health clinical rotation has been an experience filled with learning and discovery for me. As a member of the Community Mental Health clinical group, I learned SO much about the history of homelessness and mental illness in America, and how our society is affected by these issues in multiple ways. But the most beautiful thing that I learned from my research is that there are some very, very good programs in the City of Baltimore that are affectively responding to the needs of the homeless and mentally ill community. The research and discovery of resources in the city was very exciting for me! What I learned about myself was that there is a great compassion within me for the homeless, and a great desire to see them receive the resources they need so that they can stand. I did not know that such a level of compassion for these vulnerable populations existed in Baltimore. The clinical rotation at Spring Grove was also full of discovery for me in the sense that by the end of my first full clinical day on the unit, I had a greater appreciation for the work that psych mental health nurses do. I began my experience with compassion for the mentally ill patient, but with no real desire to work on the psych mental health unit. However, as I observed my clinical instructor’s expert method of engaging with the clients and showing a sincere level of care for them, I was touched at the difference she made in their affect and present condition in only a few moments. I realized that it definitely takes a certain level of skill and compassion to be a psych mental health nurse. One of the greatest surprises for me was to see how very different each client’s case is from another. Some clients were further along Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and were beginning to focus on fulfilling the need for love and belonging, while others were still in the lower dimensions. The clients who were further along on Maslow’s pyramid are people who in many regards seemed “normal” and could perhaps thrive in society if they remain compliant with their medications and treatments. It was nice to meet some of these clients and to hear their stories. Hearing their stories helped me to develop empathetic skills such as listening and offering of myself. I am scheduled to teach in my last day of clinicals and I believe that the teaching I will do will make a difference in the lives of the clients. The information is practical and critical for well-being. I look forward to engaging with the group and hearing their feedback on how the information can be applied to their lives. Overall, its been experience that has been filled with surprising encounters. I am glad my group has had the opportunity to experience the psych mental health unit at Spring Grove.
My time at Spring Grove was more than what I could have asked for, but my termination experience was kind of sad. Even though I was only there for six weeks, in those six weeks I have bonded with majority, if not all, the patients, the nurses, doctors, social workers, direct care personnel, my clinical group and my instructor. I have already been with the people in my group for some time at Coppin, as we have been on this journey called Helene Fuld School of Nursing, for some time now. But now that our time at Coppin is coming to an end, we have grown to become a family with each other and everyone on our unit at Spring Grove. It’s sad to know that as we leave Spring Grove, we’re closer to the end of our journey together at Coppin. To my surprise, the saddest part for me though, was the look on my patient’s face when I told him that this would be my last week. I’m pretty sure my heart cracked a little bit, considering the fact that every time I have seen my patient he was ALWAYS smiling. It got to a point where the patients look forward to seeing you, and they ask for you, and their faces light up when they see you because they get a piece of normalcy again ( and get to remember what it was like before they ended up where they are). When it comes to what I have learned about myself, I have discovered what it truly means to not be judgmental towards someone who may be different. Everyone has a story, and once I read into some of my patients’ stories, I realized that people don’t need you to be biased, they need care and support. Clinical was a little nerve racking in the beginning because of knowing that I would be surrounded by rapists, pedophiles, and murderers. But after interacting with these patients, I learned that they are also ex-boxers, ex-nurses, mothers, fathers, previous professors. There is always more to a person then what the eye sees. It was nice to actually be able to sit and actually talk with my patient to find out how they were doing, or what their concerns were, because in a hospital on a unit you very rarely realistically get to do that. It was great getting their feedback on the groups/presentations we held, which I think will definitely be a constant reminder and help to them. I loved every minute at Spring Grove, wouldn’t change a thing. My time their not only had an impact on the patients, but on myself as well. I definitely have a different, more positive outlook on psychiatric nursing, but my heart is set on shock trauma (blood and guts baby). I will most certainly never forget my experience at Spring Grove.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t really call this a termination for me. With the exception of one man that I saw 2 weeks in a row, we usually only see our clients for one day then we never see them again. The average length of stay for BCRI clients is 8 days. I have yet to build any relationships with any patients because when we come back the next week they are gone.
ReplyDeleteWhat did I learn about myself? I learned that I used to judge books by their cover and after my rotations at BCRI that has changed. When I first got to the facility I didn’t like it. Everyone looked like homeless drug addicts that you would see on the street. I was very uncomfortable and did not want to be in the room with them, I know that sounds horrible but I’m just being honest. After actually talking with some of them I’ve learned that they are not much different than me. For a lot of them all it took was one bad choice and they ended up in the situation that they are in. Some of them are very educated and are very well spoken. Although some of them look “scary”, they are more scared than I was. They were very friendly and seemed genuinely happy to have us there.
The impact that I have made for most of the people I spoke with was just listening. I didn’t realize how much that means to some people. One of my clients was a Vietnam vet and had PTSD. All he wanted was someone to listen to him talk about how scary the war was for him. He said his wife never wanted to talk about it and other people in his life just thought he needed to “be a man” and deal with it. He seemed so happy to have me just sit and listen to him so he could release all of the feelings he had bottled up inside. And to be able to do that for that one client made my entire clinical rotation worth it.
I could not believe that this clinical rotation is over. It was now that I realized the old Shakespearian saying that “parting is such a sweet-sorrow”. While I was happy that the hassle associated with the clinical is over, I was somewhat nostalgic, it was hard to watch my client go. Termination is imminent but I realized I was not really prepared for it. But we must say goodbye and wish other well. When he asked when I was graduating, I was taken aback, I had a feeling that he cared after all. We never talked about me all these while, so that question was somehow personal to me. Them we got busy putting finishing touches on our humongous clinical manual. Then the grand finale was the medication lecture by our dear Prof. Black. I learned more medications that day than I learned in the entire lecture. We played a very interesting game of matching medications according their classes. It was very interesting. Even though we left later than we originally planned it was worth the time because I have learnt all the psyche meds I need for my ATI and finales. Hurray!
ReplyDeleteDuring our clinical rotation I learned so much, at first I was afraid to work with mentally ill patient. In few week I learned that I do not have to be afraid of the mentally ill but was still very cautious of what may happen if my patient gets upset. I learned I have to gain knowledge about a disorder before I pass judgement on that person. However, after interacting with clients as well as learning about the different neurotransmitters in the brain I have more understanding to the mentally ill. I was able to establish a great relationship with my client. I was able to listen to his concerns and delusions in a non-judgemental way. He constantly expressed his preference to stay by himself and not to be involved with people. Nevertheless, deep down inside one can observe his unconsious desire for someone to listen to him without telling him what to do. Just by making myself available to listen to him and talk about the things that he wants to talk about, I hope, I helped him to realize that not everyone is trying to work against him but that there are many good still in people.
ReplyDeletewow, overall, this clinical rotation was a great experiences. i must say, i learned a lot about myself. at the beginning of clinical, i said i cant be a psych nurse, i was ignorant of the role of a psych nurse and the tremendous impact they had on their patients. at this point, i am actually considering being a psych nurse; and all this is because of the great clinical experience i had. throughout this rotation i realized i was calm and able to work with people who were mentally challenged. i witnessed myself taking on the role of a nurse and i must, i was proud of that. it made me feel ready for the task ahead. oh there were a lot of surprises but with time, everything was normal; nothing that happened on the unit surprised me since i got used to how things worked in the mental health unit. it was great having things read in the textbooks witnessed. i interacted with patients with different disorders and i was able to assess certain behavior that were expected. it made everything i learned make sense. my termination experience was REALLY sad because i couldn't talk to my patient :( . after the medication lesson i went to the day room and he had left for this activity in a different block. i am really thankful of the knowledge i got to gain through this experience and mostly, the impact i made on my patient. i offered my self, listened and explored his feelings. we had the privilege to talk about different coping mechanisms that would help him address issues better. i had the opportunity to also interact with other patients. overall, i am really glad i had this experience and i must say, you are an amazing instructor Prof. Day-Black :) thank you for your patient, time and willingness to help...it meant a lot. have a great Christmas holiday and stay blessed.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed every minute of every second at Red Brick 4, at Spring grove Mental Health Institution. I had the pleasure of working with SB who was really a good kid. I was able to teach him coping skills which help with getting his green status (outdoor privileges). He also used it for not getting into other problems with other clients at the facility. He smiled when I asked him if he used the coping skills that I had taught him. He smiled and said that he had. That gave me a really good feeling that I was able to do some good in someone's life.
ReplyDeleteThe overall feeling for Spring Grove, Red Brick 4 was very positive. My clinical instructor Prof. Jones gave us the highest honor possible and that he really enjoyed our learning project. My overall experience for all the clients at Red Brick 4 is very exciting. They enjoyed us as we did them. We played cards with them and they looked forward to us every Thursday. I cannot remember a bad moment that I have had there. I was not expecting the experience that I actually got. I was kind of sad that it was ending.
My client was closed off to staffing at the facility. I was able to get him to open up to me. He shared stuff with me that the staff was not able to get from him.
I will remember this experience for the rest of my life and this vulnerable group of people need caring nurses like us. this experience actually having me to think twice about mental health nursing as a career.
I learned quite a bit about myself this clinical rotation. I learned that I can handle the pressure. Even though I started out nervous, I was able to interact with my client and attempt to work with that client towards their goals. I am not sure of how much my speaking with them helped them, because I was able to talk to most of my clients once, but most seemed open and appreciative of the time spent. I also learned that most of the nervousness “went down once the lights went up”. I also learned that I enjoy teaching! I noticed it a bit during my community clinical, but I also notice that my favorite clinical day at BCRI was the day I facilitated the Group Education Session. One surprise I found was that most of the clients were really open and free with their personal information. I didn’t really expect that. I expected that we would have to build up to that openness. I am pretty sure I made some impact into my client’s lives. As their student nurse, I listened intently, educated them on some of their medications and coping techniques and told them to speak to their doctors about their concerns that I wasn’t able to help them with.
ReplyDeleteWeek Six
ReplyDeleteI could not believe that six weeks have rolled by until the time we have to say good bye to the pleasant and accommodating staff of Baltimore Crisis Response Inc. (BCRI) and their clients.
My experience in this clinical rotation was informative. Though, I work with mentally challenged individuals at my job, but the knowledge and experience I gained in this clinical rotation exposed me to why things are done the ways they are done at my job.
Due to the short periods of stays of clients at BCRI, I could not establish a relationship with a particular patient. However, there was a client I met one day whose story really touched my heart. He was educated, had a good job and good family until he made a wrong choice. In fact he wrote on my Mini Mental State Examination Form “ I don’t know how to love myself.” This shows the intensity of remorse he has for making a wrong choice. I however encouraged him to comply with all his therapies and taught him how to recognize and prevent relapse.
I was privileged to meet individuals or clients who have different mental illness from what we have at my job. With my knowledge and short clinical experience of mental illness, I can confidently challenge and redirect my colleague at work who is not being therapeutic in his or her approach to mentally challenged individuals. Thanks to Professor ( soon- to- be Doctor) Day-Black.+
First and foremost I can't believe six weeks already went past, it seems like just the other day I was walking into RICA nervous and excited all at the same time. I learned a few things about myself during this clinical roatation but the most important thing I learned is how much patience I have. This was the first time in real life that I was able to experience adolescents blatantly disrespect adults. There were times when we had to present and the clients would talk right over us, laugh and carry on as if it was okay, these moments clarified that I was more patient that I once suspected. I made an impact on my client because I was consistent in coming every week and making sure I met with him to discuss new events or problems that were going on in his life. I know I made an impact on his life because on the last day my client told me that him seeing all of us college students made him wonder what it would be like to "have it all together". I reassured my client that he can be all that he wanted to be and that being at RICA and learning the appropriate behaviors they're teaching him is the first step. Being at RICA was one I will never forget.
ReplyDeleteThe mental health clinical experience was a different one for me and I really learnt new things because the facility is completely different from other facilities I have visited like Med. Surg. Unit, Maternity and Pediatrics. Initially, I did not like standing in front of people to talk, but because I have to do my teaching, I had to do it. I discover that I was able to do the teaching without any nervousness. I was not really surprised by anything on the unit because my professor did a good for being detailed about what to expect in a mental health hospital. I was not also surprised because I have been working with individuals with developmental and mental disabilities for the past 5 years so I have little experience.
ReplyDeleteI believe that I have made impact in the lives of the individuals through my teaching. I thought them how to manage their stress using meditation. I also made impact in their lives my talking with them with respect which made them feel like human being.
My experience at Rica was full of self-awarness both personal and professional. Personalty, I realized I have a passion working with people with mental illness. I leant I am patient, kind and empathetic. I also learnt in order for care of clients in a mental facility to be successful, the client should participate in their care.
ReplyDeleteProfessionally, thanks to my clinical instructor at Rica I was ready for the challenges that where coming my way. Through my teachings on the unit, I got my client and the rest of the girls to participate in a group disscussion and asking open ended questions. By the end of my clinical rotation, I believe I made an impact in my client mood and helped her develop stress reduction techniques. A good example of this technique is keeping journal to write her thoughts and her feelings. I was a little surprised by some of the conversations I over heard between the girls because when I was their age, I cannot remember using such hateful language. Thankfully, I was able to intervene in a few situations and I hope the girls will change their feeling towards each other.
Blog closed
ReplyDeleteMy clinical rotation is at BCRI. My experience at BCRI was different from my other clinical site I have visited like pediatric unit, Med. Surge unit, and Maternity. I wouldn’t really call this termination for me because we only see our client once a week. The average length of stay of patient at BCRI is 8 days and by the time we get there the following week, our previous patient are gone.
ReplyDeleteI have learnt a lot from BCRI. I am able to use therapeutic communication to build and maintain relationship with my clients. With therapeutic communication and able to elicit and attend to client thoughts, feelings, concerns, and family’s issues. I have improved in making eye contact, showing empathy, displaying caring attitude and nonjudgmental attitude. Furthermore, I will say am more confident to talk in front of others. I did two presentations on mental hygiene and crisis management and it felt like I was just talking to a friend.
I have also learnt the role of nurses in the mental health settings. The nurses at BCRI explain to our group their roles at BCRI and other mental health settings. The weekly medication presentation also helped me to know more about psychiatric medications.
Throughout my stay at BCRI there is no surprises. No abnormal behavior or crisis. The patients are very friendly and welcoming. I realized that some of the clients were educated they know more than I think.
I believed I have made an impact through my group presentation. The patients showed an interest during the presentation and asked questions. I also made an impact in my patient live by talking to them in a respectful manner and offering self whenever needed.
Florence Amaikwu
ReplyDeleteWeek six Blog
It is unbelievable that this clinical rotation is almost over. I have learnt so much from this clinical experience unlike the other clinical rotation that I have been to. I will really miss my interaction with my clients at BCRI. My interaction with my clients has really helped me with therapeutic communication. I now understand what therapeutic communication entails and how to listen and hold conversation unlike before. I was also able to learn a lot from the therapeutic group. I was surprised to know that these clients know so much especially with their medication and other group topics. Psychiatric nursing is interesting when it comes with the interaction with the clients because you never know what kind of client you will come across until when you start your interpersonal communication.
I have made great impact in the lives of my client by using unique therapeutic intervention to address each client’s diagnosis. The staff of BCRI were welcoming and supportive to us making it possible for me to learn each day of my clinical experience. I am so happy to have been placed in BCRI for this clinical rotation.
As the termination is near for me and my client, l have learned a lot of wonderful experiences at RICA hospital and l am very happy the l was able to establish nurse-client relationship with my client. It is actually a lot of fun, when these kids start acting out in the collage, and especially when they saw us around. I really like the patient that l was assigned because he was quiet and feels very comfortable talking to me. I also feel empathy towards him, but I do not let my feelings get in the way of doing what I supposed to do. The client that I work with is unique and I will really miss him. I can’t even imagine how the goodbye will be for both of us.
ReplyDeleteFrom this clinical experience, I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned that I can do whatever I want to do if I put my mind to do it. Initially, l thought I can’t do psych, It is horrible and that they may hurt me. However, after my clinical experience, I realize that I am not bad at all, and that l will make a good psych nurse someday.
I had lots of surprises in my clinical experiences. In fact, the whole clinical experience is a surprise and unpredictable. Somedays, the unit will be so loud and out of control, but for the most part the nurses and their aids work together as a team to keep it under control. I was also surprise to see that the patients are not as difficult as I expected. They are fun to be around, and I had good conversation with most of them that will curse the nurses out.
I had a positive impact on the patients that l was assigned to work with as well as his peers. For example, l offered self to the clients whenever they needed help, educated him on anger management and their medications. They clients and their nurses also enjoy the fact that we shared some snacks, after each teaching and they were all grateful about it.
Finally, I have had a good experience, and I wish that l will not come to the termination phase so soon.
When I first started this clinical rotation I really thought I wasn't going to like it, but I was totally wrong. I've looked forward to clinical every week. I established good relationships with the patients and I learned a lot. I figured that I would learn a lot but had no idea i would love it. This clinical has taught me so much about therapeutic communication, and how important it is to use it. It actually works! I learned that when you utilize your communication skills and your heart is in it, you can make a difference in the lives of the patients. We have talked to the patients about termination and they all accept it but wish we could stay longer. As for me I'm looking forward to moving on because I am ready to graduate, but those patients hold a special place with me. They made my clinical experience great. I can't wait for the party!
ReplyDeleteAs the clinical experience is coming near the end, I learned so much about myself. I learned that, I had the wrong perception about the mentally ill. Stigma is real and I realized that I was adding to the stigma about mental illness. I learned to self-assess in an effort to reduce my own feelings about certain mental illness. I learned to look pass the diagnosis of the client and to accept the client but not the diagnosis. I loved my clinical rotation specially my client, who last week told me how much he enjoys our meetings and groups. He said that he looks forward to see me every week because to him I am his only visitor. He appreciate all the snacks and the simple Hello! and smiles from the student nurses. I love that I was able to make an impact in someone's life with just my presence. I learned about therapeutic communication and how to utilize it. Another thing that I learned is how to set clear limits and boundaries, I usually have a hard time saying no when asked for something, specially food, but during my clinical experience I had to learned to say no, over and over again. I really enjoyed this clinical experience.
ReplyDeleteI could not believe that the clinical rotation is over. I learned a lot about myself during the clinical rotation. I learned that I could work effectively in a chaotic environment and be able to control the atmosphere with the help of others to make it a peaceful one. I was able to interact with my client and work with him towards his goals. I started off very scared and nervous, but the constant interactions with my client helped me overcome the fear. After the day we had a group presentation on anger management at RICA, I was rest assure that, at least I have not only making an impact on my client live, but to the rest of the children in the cottage. I also conducted medication teaching and I got a lot of positive feedbacks and question from the client. I cannot remember a bad moment that I have at RICA. I was not expecting the experience that I actually got. I was kind of sad that it was ending.
ReplyDeleteMy experience at RICA for the six weeks was full of self-awareness both personal and professional. Personally, I realized that the adolescents have experience so many difficulties in their young age, such as abuse, neglect or mistreated and the post traumatic effect can sometimes contribute to them misbehave with their mental illness. Its very important not to judge quickly and treat others as important as self. I have always love working with individual with mental illness.
ReplyDeleteProfessionally, I learned that with therapeutic communication, and calm approach brings a safe environment in mental health facility. Health care worker needs to be patient, kind and empathy when in mental facility. They need to be involve in their plan of care and treated with dignity and respect.
Overall, I had a unique experience that made me realize that, there are people out there who are really struggling living everyday life. I feel empathy for them. I encourage my client to attend group therapy and the important of taking his medication. I believe I made an impact in my client mood and helped him develop anger/conflict reduction techniques. A good example of this technique is keeping journal to write his thoughts and feelings. Since he was looking forward to going home, I told him to abide by the cottage regulations and resolve any issues in a calm approach, to avoid losing his points. I believe that the 6 weeks is too short to make a great impact and I was just getting to know my client and was time for termination.
My mental health rotation has been too short in terms of time spent at clinical. I have truly enjoyed my time spent at the site, in my group, with the clients and staff, and with my instructor. However, I think the clients get very attached to us, very excited to see us, and I am guessing that both they and we are sad to part ways at the end. I feel I am already fairly self-aware, and I cannot say with absolute certainty that this level of self-awareness has increased greatly in this short experience. I think I would have learned more about myself had I been able to spend 6 months to a year in the clinical setting rather than two months. I suppose I learned that I need to listen very carefully to clients with speech that was difficult to understand due to medication side effects, and I was given ample opportunities to practice my listening skills and improve them. I think the best impact the clients have gotten from me and my group is through our ability to play cards. I think many of the clients grew to trust us and enjoy our company through this game. I think they also benefited simply from activities such as exploring their artwork with them, listening intently as they describe it in great detail. We sang hymns together, played a game that was sort of like charades, recited scriptures, and other activities that unified nursing students and clients together. This unification benefited them greatly as many clients are not close with family or rarely see them. I think they can feel isolated in the facility, so they were comforted by our presence and shared activities.
ReplyDeleteTermination is near and I will miss my mental health rotation. Surprisingly enough, I really had a great time working on the mental health unit. I learned the patients are facing a disease,which is mental, and not are just criminally insane. There are just like normal people with an illness, and need assistance just as any other patient. I feel I have made an impact on the patients in the psych unit. They are always excited to see us and look forward to our visits. In addition, we have build the trust of the unit, therefore, patients are receptive to our help and are readily available to join our groups and different activities to facilitate on the unit.
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DeleteDuring this experience I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned that when I interview patients I should slow down when I ask the questions. I know as I get more comfortable with the scenario I will be more relaxed with this process and it will take more time but I can accomplished this. As far as surprises go, it is hard to stay on track with the interview questions sometimes because the patients have so much they want to say and it is such a short time we get to interact with them. Leading group was always a fun activity as well, especially on the last day as the activity planned was creative and the patients really enjoyed it. As far as making an impact on anyone, I’ll never know. I would like to think that I did but because this was a short term unit I never got to see any of my patients again. One gentleman told me the best conversation he ever had with a health care professional was with me but I am not sure if he was saying that to boost my ego (haha) or if he truly felt that way. I hope he truly felt that way, as I would like to think I have made a positive impact for someone. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the unit to learn and I think this rotation was more about getting our feet wet and helping us to understand what the role of a mental health nurse is like, as with all of our rotations. As I already work on a mental health unit I get a lot of experience there which is beneficial as far as knowing safety and how to interact with patients in a therapeutic manner and distract them from their illnesses by encouraging games and group activities.
ReplyDeleteGoing into this rotation was really a challenge for myself because I was not sure if I was going be able to deal with people with multiple mental health disorders. I was eager and afraid for my safety at the same time. I did gain knowledge from this experience. I learned that they are regular people who just suffer from mental health issues and if I want to become a nurse, I have to come in contact with different people. I interacted well with the clients and they really opened up to me. The best part about my experience was performing group. The patients were really involved in group and they kept interest. Even if we as the students went into the group nervous, we ended with confidence. Each of our groups were a success and we able to establish a trusting relationship with the clients. There was one surprise when we came in and the clients were all upset with the workers. They were upset that one client had to go and they did not understand why. It was a surprise to me because I realized that most of them had attachment issues and they did not like to see others leave. I may have impacted their lives because some individuals stated to me that they just don't have anyone to talk too. So just being a listener and holding conversations with these clients, helped them relieve some issues they had inside. Overall, this was a great experience.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed my experience at BCRI. What I've learned about myself is that I am able to effectively communicate with mental health clients. In the beginning I thought the interaction was going to be weird because of lack of conversation, but it wasn't that at all. As the weeks progressed I became more comfortable with speaking to these clients. I also learned that I am able to facilitate a group on my own. As a shy person I surprised myself because I was so afraid of holding a group on my own, but I overcame that. The clients were very involved with the discussion and because I was very familiar with the topic the group ran smoothly. Also, I've seen first hand how a client can monopolize a group discussion.
ReplyDeleteTheir weren't any surprises, but the clients really helped me learn about psych drugs because they know them so well.
I believe that I've made an impact on these clients by being available to speak to them one on one. I've notice that they really appreciate having students at the facility and they like talking with us.
I don’t really know how to feel about the termination part of mental health. I wouldn’t say I walked into psych with a negative expectation, but I sure was confused and scared in what will await for me in my rotations. Days replaced weeks, and weeks into months and now I can finally say “I LIKE PSYCH”. I had to read that a few times to confirm my feelings lol. But it is true, I have come to appreciate mental health nursing. I might not be able to recall when exactly I had a change of heart about this class experience. Maybe it was the fun classes or the inspiring patients, either way this class has helped me to grow as a nurse and more importantly as a person. The skills I learned from my clinical rotations will help me to be successful in future clinical rotations. I appreciate my professors and my fellow classmates for helping me get through this experience.
ReplyDeleteMy time at BCRI seemed to go rather quickly. It seems like we just stepped foot on the unit for orientation and now it is time to terminate. I learned that I am able to listen to patients tell their stories without being judgmental. I was able to separate the patients I spoke to from the mental illness and see them as people. I was surprised to learn that many of the patients who were at BCRI are very knowledgeable on various topics. We had great discussions with patients when we did group and I felt the experiences were good learning experiences for both the patients and the nursing students. Since there are new patients every week, it is sometimes difficult to determine if you have made an impact. One patient I did speak with told me at the end of our session that I have made him look at things differently and he really wanted to try to learn other coping skills. That interaction made me feel good. Overall, the experience at BCRI has been a good one.
ReplyDeleteMy experience at RICA Baltimore has be surprisingly pleasant. I learn that I have more in common with these adolescent girls than i thought. Many of them are very nice and just want someone to talk to and actually listen to them. I learned that i am able to listen to others problems and relate to them. A lot of these females have family issues and at home problems that trigger their mental state. I was quiet surprised at how quick things escalate on the Cottage. A code green crisis would occur at almost an instance. My client and I would always talk about what was happening at the cottage and how the females rarely got along. Over all, I enjoyed my experience at RICA.
ReplyDeleteMy experience at this point with my client has been good. I had some assumptions in the beginning based on his diagnosis but after introducing myself, I found my perceptions to be wrong. I was surprised about how talkative he became. He seemed to be very up front about his past experiences and his history at Spring Grove and other psychiatric institutions that he was committed to. During this rotation I learned a lot about myself. I realized that I allowed stereotypes to shape my opinion but after becoming comfortable and talking to some of the patients. I found that some of my initial perceptions were wrong and that not every disorder is going to present the same in every patient. I enjoyed the patients and how welcoming they were. I feel that we definitely made a difference in their day, as they were sad to see us leave and wondering if we would return.
ReplyDeleteTermination day was a bitter sweet for me, i was happy that it was finally over but i was concern for some of the clients there whom i got to spend time with. A few of them gave us a hug and my patient actually told me he would give me a thousand dollars if i stay and keep coming which was surprising to even the nurse and staff members because he speaks very little to anyone according to what they say. We had a teaching done on hygiene, mouth care, hand washing, bathing and clothing. It was surprising to see how interesting and involved they were by answering and asking questions. At the end of the teaching we gave them snacks, pizza and drinks which they enjoyed very much, i quest they were looking forward for that from day one.
ReplyDeleteTalking about day one, i was so afraid and nervous about working with mental health patients especially in Spring grove where i heard have the worse case of patients with mental illness. But i didn't see that being the case because the patients that i saw and talked to were far more better than the worse case scenario. Some of these patients have nobody to call family so they looked forward to see and talk to the students each week. It was a pleasure to experience working with mental health patients. What i learned about myself was to be mindful of the environment and the people around me, to be a good listener and treat everyone with respect whether sick or not. Because i learned that most of these patients are sick but they are not stupid; some are retired engineers, doctors, lawyers and more. Overall, i think our present made a difference in their lives as they did to ours.
I originally did not expect this experience to be as impactful as what it turned out to be. I was able to develop a therapeutic relationship with my client which I did not expect to happen in the beginning because she did not really open up to me. However, the best part about the experience was definitely getting to know the other clients in the facility and learning about each of their own individual personalities. I had some of my best experiences playing games and watching movies in the day room and just simply standing in the hallway and talking to the patients. Spring Grove is definitely an interesting place and I would have liked to stay just a little while longer. Although I don't plan to go into psych nursing I am sure that this is an experience that will stick with me for the rest of my career.
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ReplyDeleteFirst off I am still in shock how the semester went by so fast. My clinical experience at BCRI was educational, interesting and nice. After we did the self-defense training on the campus, I was scared and nervous about my safety to go to mental health institution. Also, prior to this class, I never had experience or been to any mental health facility. Yet, my overall experience at the clinical site was not by any means threatening. I was shocked to find out all of the patients at the facility were there voluntarily and every week I have new patient with different diagnosis. Also, every work in the facility was paper based. I had a chance to go to the substance detox center to see how nurses work. The nurse in that section told me that whenever they receive their patients they write their name, vital signs and discharged date on the white board. Once the patient is discharged, they will erase their name and information from the board. I was surprised to observe the differences that exist between hospitals that I went to and mental health facility. Throughout clinical rotation, I had a chance to do education group with the patient. At first, I was nervous because I did not know how to hold a group for a half an hour. But, with one of my classmate, we were able to guide the patients to participate on the topic that we chose and keep their attention throughout the group session. I also acquired ways to use therapeutic communication when talking with patients. In general, the patients were happy to see us and talk to us the students and I believe our presence in the facility helped the patients see things in another perspective. I know they made me to think about mental health with different viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteThis clinical rotation has gone by fast. I felt like I did not have enough time to do and see all that I wanted. Despite this, I still enjoyed my time in Red Brick Cottage 2 at Spring Grove Hospital. Each day I went to my facility I grew more and more comfortable. The residents became more familiar and I grew to learn a little about each one. Although I did try to enter this clinical rotation with no preconceived notions, I still couldn’t help thinking a certain way. A little part of me thought maybe these patients would be difficult to talk with or connect with. Maybe they would be violent or maybe they’ll stare at you blankly. That same little part would think, “It’ll be easy to tell who’s a patient.” What really surprised me was to find out that some patients really didn’t seem like they were patients, especially if you first talk with them. Each patient had a story and it was great to learn their story. On our last day of clinical, we had a party to thank everyone for giving us an opportunity to learn from them. At the end of the day, the patients gave a thank you to us, which was so touching and made me really glad to have been a part of their lives for just a little bit.
ReplyDeleteHow time flies! My experience at Spring grove hospital center was awesome. My client was very cooperative and enjoyed talking with me every week this made very easy to develop a rapport with her. The other patients were very nice and always willing to have a conversation with us in the hallway. I learnt alot but really nothing new about myself.I actually thought the mental health unit was going to be noisy, chaotic, and disorganized but I was really impressed by the kind of orderliness I saw. The unit was calm and quiet most times and I was really amazed. We educated the patients on hygiene, they were ready to learn and they also got engaged in the discussion. We threw a big party after the educational session, there was a lot to eat and drink. It was really a bitter-sweet experience. Bitter because I already bonded with my client and I may not have opportunity to see her again for life, and sweet because the hassle of going to SGHC is over!!!!
ReplyDeleteI had an amazing experience with my psych rotation. It was interacting, I saw some of the manifestations of the different disease processes in real life, and the true definition of how therapeutic milieu environment can impact the patients. I was able to form and end a nurse-client relationship smoothly with the client benefiting from my interactions with him. At our farewell party, the clients were excited and appreciated our time there. I realize that offering one-self meant a lot to the clients. It was a wonderful experience.
ReplyDeleteBringing this semester's clinical rotation to an end hold mixed feelings for me. I feel like the time has gone by so fast that I can still remember the first day of clinical like it just happened. The perception I had about psychiatric nursing have changed drastically. In the beginning I thought that psych would be similar to the TV shows and movies I have seen but, it is nothing like that. The people that I have met have made an everlasting impression on me. Although my clinical experience may have been a little different from others considering the fact that I was at a voluntary institution, I do feel as though most of the patients I've met were unique in their own way. One thing that I learned is that the stigma placed on the mentally ill is very inaccurate. They are very intelligent and down-to-earth and don't just walk around talking to themselves as most people try to make it seem. The one thing that really touched me about my unit was that they felt as though we were very genuine and looked forward to seeing us every week. We were also a reminder to them that there are good people in the world and that we should always remain focused on our dreams and goals because it will take us very far.
ReplyDeleteAs the termination of my clinical approached I learned that there is always a reason why people act, react, and live their lives the way they do. After conversing with my client on the unit I have learned that a persons history especially childhood and adolescence years play a major role in the adulthood of peoples lives. The environment they are raised in has an importance on the risk that that person may develop a psychiatric disorder or substance abuse. With my client we set goals and came up with coping skills to deal with his unresolved pain which meant a lot to me to be apart of.
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