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!
Friday, October 23, 2015
NURS 432: Mental Health Nursing: Week One
NURS 432: Mental Health Nursing: Week One: Students are usually apprehensive about going into a psychiatric facility for the first time. My own experiences were actually pretty tame. ...
Jamia Anderson 10/23/2015 Blog 1 I actually do not have any prior experience on an actual mental health unit, but I have worked with some Neurocognitive impaired individuals. I work on a Neuroscience unit in Sinai hospital and I have interacted with many individuals with brain disorders. One that stands out is patients with Alzheimer’s. These patients are really forgetful and do not understand the reason for them being in the hospital. I have to consistently orientate patients to time, place, and situation. I had a patient who insisted on telling us to call her mom and this patient was 94 years old and her mom passed away over 20 years ago. The assumptions I have for this particular mental health setting is that I would interact with patients that have some or most of the disorders I learned so far in the course. I expect to interact with patients and gain enough experience to be able to be comfortable with the mental ill individual. My concerns regarding this clinical is that I will not be able to find a patient that’s willing to cooperate. To get the best of a clinical experience is to have patients that don’t mine working with students. One personal goal for this clinical experience is that I will stay safe throughout the entire 7 weeks.
Having a patient that cooperates and answers your questions will decrease your anxiety but gaining trust and then getting your questions answered will be more meaningful...
Ashley Griffith Blog 1. I don't have little experience with mentally ill. I work on a Medsurg floor and Ive came across patients that suffer from Dementia, Delirium, Suicide Ideation and bipolar disorder. Dementia patients in particular, seem to be very unpredictable and restless. I had one patient who couldn't sleep all night and sat in the chair in the hallway, talking to the nurses all night. My clinical setting is as RICA with adolescents from 12-19 age. I assume that most of the children will have some type of conduct disorder or social impairment. I expect the children to be relatable since they are not too far from my age. I also expect the setting to be little like a dorm hall. I have been told before that younger mental health patients are more violent that older patients. I am little concerned about my safety and the unpredictability of the adolescents at RICA. My personal goal while at the clinical setting is to develop a client-patient relationship that will have some type of positive outcome for my client.
As far as prior experience with the mentally ill is concerned I do possess some. I currently work on the mental health unit at the VA, prior to that i worked on a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation unit in Rochester NY. My first degree is in Psychology and it is something I enjoy.
If I have learned anything when it comes to a mental health unit, it is to assume nothing. Safety is first for the patients and yourself and staff. I hope to help people while I am working at the crisis center, and perhaps experience some things that i have not come across yet.
I expect to learn some new therapeutic communication techniques and to broaden my knowledge of this field and either confirm my desire to work in this field or perhaps see that I need to work on myself before I enter it as I realize it takes a special kind of nurse to work with the mentally ill.
my concerns are making sure that I can reach the consumer in the way the need to be reached. I want to be an effective nurse and help them make the steps in the right direction that they need in order to live life in a happy, safe, and healthy manner.
My personal goal, as stated above is to see if i have what it takes to make it as a mental health nurse. I would like to continue my education, and I want to make sure that I am applying myself in the right area where I can make the most difference for people, and I hope that is with mental health
My prior experience with the mentally ill is working with the Alzheimer’s and dementia patients in a nursing home setting. It is really challenging in that these patients need constant redirection all the time. I am beginning now to understand mental illness now unlike what I know before. I was one of the people that relate being mentally ill to supernatural powers that one is unfortunate to fall victim of. I now understand it has to do with chemical imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain. My clinical setting is at Baltimore crises response Inc. initially, I expected more like a crises center where some patients will be on restraint and all that. That was not what I saw on my first clinical experience. My expectations from this clinical is to learn and be well prepared in caring for the mentally ill patients as it relates to therapeutic communication and using evidenced based interventions in the care of the mentally ill patients. My concerns is being safe when I am interacting with the patients because some of the patients can sometimes demonstrate anger outburst. My personal goal at the end of the clinical experience is acquire what it will take to be a competent mental health nurse
In the country I was born, there are some people who are mentally ill. Although I have no prior experience or direct relationship with them, but I can say I see them in my community. Believes of people including me when I saw mentally ill people was that they are possess with evil spirit or supernatural power. The cure of mentally ill individuals involved ritualistic exorcism to purge out unwanted forces. These people are beating, deprived of food or separated from other people in the community. They are neglected. Nursing school especially this course ( psychiatric nursing) have enlighten me and now I know that mentally ill is a disease process just like any physiological illness. More so, now that I am in the nursing field, I have more empathy toward mentally ill individuals. My assumption about the mental health setting in which I am assigned was to see mentally ill individual who are not reliable, don’t know what is happening to them, acting like babies disrespecting staff members and continuous violence act. My expectation form this clinical is to have more knowledge on how to take care of the mentally ill. Be able to use therapeutic communication to relate to them. Know how to show empathy during nurse to patient interaction and be able to mention about seven side effects of each psychiatric medications. At this moment I have no concern about my clinical experience. My personal goal is to be able to restore or build hope for the mentally ill individuals. Majority of the mentally ill individual have lost hope. Their life has been a series of crushing disappointment, repetitive failure or losses stigma and discrimination. I will engage the individual in social activities that are pleasurable, helping them to develop friendship or meaningful relationship and activating spirituality or faith are some ways to help individuals restore their hope.
Keva Ramsay: My first experience working on a mental Health Unit was actually kind of scary. I was doing one to one supervision with a suicidal patient, but I was sitting outside of the room where I could see them. I didn't feel comfortable at all being in the room alone, because I was afraid of something happening to me. Even though I was outside of the room their were still other patients pacing back and forth past me which made me a little nervous because you don't know what to expect. I made sure my back was up against the wall that way I could see everything that was happening and no one could sneak attack me. It might have been a little ignorant as I speak on it now, but that is how I felt at the time. I also remember sitting with six patients in the ER and one of the patients actually attacked me by grabbing my arm so tight I had to scream out code green. Then their was another incidence where a nurse was beating up by a patient which left her with a swollen face and black eyes. I haven't seen that nurse in a few months. It probably took me at least a month to get used to working on the unit. I'm a little more comfortable and more open minded. Yet, I will continue to have my guard up because anything can happen. I've bonded with most of my patients and had some interesting conversations. They are just regular people with a mental disability and shouldn't be stigmatized before actually getting to know them. Everyone has a different story and I'm glad I've had more positive experiences than negative.
I have worked with mentally ill patients in my last clinical rotation. Initially, when I think of mentally ill people, I think of people in a dark corner without recovery but now I understand that mental illness can be controlled and the patients can live a normal life. Then, I was scared but at the end of our clinical rotation I had a better understanding of how to work with people that are mentally ill. Presently, I am very confident working with them because I am no longer scared but know how to use therapeutic communication technique to interact with my client. Another thing that is different is working with children and adolescent that look innocent but sometimes display some abnormal behaviors. I am looking forward to having a great clinical experience by positively interacting with my client and other team members.
1 I do not have prior experience with mental health but being part of this class as really enlightened me about knowing how to approach care for the mentally ill individual.
2 My assumption was that RICA it is more structured setting for child and adolescent to correct and treat their mental disorder and a way to educate them and with the help of medication of how to behave more acceptable in the society.
3 My expectation from this clinical is that I will be able to interact with my client has conduct and learning disorder and also ADHD by using therapeutic communication to gain trust from my client so I can be able to work with him to meet his goal.
4 My concern regarding this clinical is that, the institute pose the risk of someone getting injured by the client because of their illness. The children are most of the time violent and disrespectful to the staff members.
5 My goal is to work with my client and teach him about attending school and participate more in class activities and also about danger of eloping from their family.
1. When I think about caring for individuals who are mentally challenged I feel nervous and anxious. I have three years experience in mental health field. I started working with individuals with developmental disabilities in 2012, and then I was five months pregnant and I had two clients one was diagnosed with ADHD and the other had Bipolar disorder. Both ladies were in a group home and I was their house manager. My experience was really tough because the ladies always act out and get aggressive whenever they are unable to have their ways, they elope sometimes and I have to call 911 to go get them back to the unit, there was a day C.C grabbed a chair and almost hit me with it. I had to stop working in that particular unit for my safety and that of my unborn child. Right now those ladies are in Spring groove hospital for charges of assault. 2. My Assumptions about clients in Red Bricks cottage 4 being a Forensic psychiatric unit is that the clients are still under the supervision of the courts. The treatment of these patients on outpatient orders of condition poses special problems. Treatment needs to center on the issues related to patient's potential for harmful/violent behavior to self and others. Therefore, there will be need to conduct periodic risk assessments and staff members must continuously monitor identified risk indicators. 3. My expectations from this clinical is to demonstrate an interpersonal and professional competency in the forensic unit. Improve on my self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-evaluation (e.g., knowledge of the content and potential impact of my personal beliefs and values on clients, peers, faculty, and allied professionals).
4. My concern at the moment is Safety and to feel less anxious and comfortable throughout my stay in my new environment.
5. My personal goal for this clinical rotation is to help my client improve on her hygiene by supplying her with few hygiene supplies (like bathing soap, tooth brush, tooth paste, and deodorant) this will motivate her to carry out this goal.
I have work with the mentally ill patients especially, the geriatric population for over 5 years. I really enjoyed working with the elderly. Their diagnosis were mainly Alzheimer, dementia, bipolar, depression, and a very few schizophrenic patients. I never heard about Spring Grove Hospital Center until starting this course therefore, I am very limited with my assumptions. However, I volunteered at Shepard Pratt few years ago so; I assumed it was going to be the same. To my amazement, I was in total shock when I arrived at the unit for clinical today. The unit was very small, rooms were shared, the yard was small, the activities and groups area was small and limited, and the unit appeared to be the patients’ residence since they live there so long (meaning 9, 10 years for the few that I asked). I am looking forward to exploring this part of my clinical rotation, exploring the insight of people living with mental illness, learning to build and terminate therapeutic relationship, and organizing and leading groups with the patients. I am curious to see the different aspect of how people live with mental illness since I am on a chronic mental illness unit with court ordered forensic patients and regular patients. How it is to live with mental illness all your life? My personal goal is to learn as much as I can and explore mental health as a field to work in or not work in upon graduation. This clinical experience is essential and my experience will determine my career exploration. I look forward to having a great clinical experience.
1. When I think about caring for individuals who are mentally challenged I feel nervous and anxious. I have three years experience in mental health field. I started working with individuals with developmental disabilities in 2012, and then I was five months pregnant and I had two clients one was diagnosed with ADHD and the other had Bipolar disorder. Both ladies were in a group home and I was their house manager. My experience was really tough because the ladies always act out and get aggressive whenever they are unable to have their ways, they elope sometimes and I have to call 911 to go get them back to the unit, there was a day C.C grabbed a chair and almost hit me with it. I had to stop working in that particular unit for my safety and that of my unborn child. Right now those ladies are in Spring groove hospital for charges of assault. 2. My Assumptions about clients in Red Bricks cottage 4 being a Forensic psychiatric unit is that the clients are still under the supervision of the courts. The treatment of these patients on outpatient orders of condition poses special problems. Treatment needs to center on the issues related to patient's potential for harmful/violent behavior to self and others. Therefore, there will be need to conduct periodic risk assessments and staff members must continuously monitor identified risk indicators. 3. My expectations from this clinical is to demonstrate an interpersonal and professional competency in the forensic unit. Improve on my self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-evaluation (e.g., knowledge of the content and potential impact of my personal beliefs and values on clients, peers, faculty, and allied professionals).
4. My concern at the moment is Safety and to feel less anxious and comfortable throughout my stay in my new environment.
5. My personal goal for this clinical rotation is to help my client improve on her hygiene by supplying her with few hygiene supplies (like bathing soap, tooth brush, tooth paste, and deodorant) this will motivate her to carry out this goal.
1. What prior experience, if any do you have with the mentally ill? I have no prior experience with the mentally ill.
2. What assumptions do you have regarding the particular mental health setting to which you will be assigned for the next 7 weeks? I am not really comfortable working with the mentally ill because of the stigma that they are all violent. My assumptions would be that I should be careful of what I say to not upset them. I understand that this a wrong perception that I plan to clarify.
3. What are your expectations from this clinical? My expectations for clinical are high. I am assigned to a patient who has had a student nurse before, so he understands the routine. He looks forward to meet with me every clinical day hoping for me to give him “a bacon muffin from McDonalds” which may be hard to live up to. Furthermore, I expect to establish a relationship with the client and receive first-hand knowledge of how interact and care for mental health patients. In addition, I am hoping this clinical experience will assist with processing lecture.
4. What, if any, are your concerns regarding this clinical experience? I have a concern that the patient will not be too receptive of me. My patient has a history of not being cooperative at times and not following through with a student nurse. Also, I have a concern of being attacked in some way.
5. Discuss (1) personal goal for this clinical experience. My personal goal for this clinical experience is to establish a healing and caring relationship with the patient. I want my client to understand that I have the passion to actually care for people and I am not there just to pick his brain. I want each patient to feel just as normal as me, and I can learn from them.
I do not have any prior mental health experience. My assumptions regarding the mentally ill are that they are very edgy people and that you have to be careful when taking care of them. When I think of mentally ill patients the only reference I have is what is portrayed by media in movies, books, tv shows, etc. but my clinical setting is not nearly as threatening as the media portrays it to be. My expectations for this clinical is to gain a better understanding on mental health illnesses and mental health nursing. There is so much to learn in a short amount of time. My only concern about clinical is that I won't be able to connect with my patient like I would like to because I feel like I'm not sure if I'll be communicating effectively. My personal goal for this clinical is to try and use the skills I learn in class and apply it to my clinical setting. I just want to gain as much experience from my clinicals and be able to assist my patient in reaching his/her goals in their care.
1.Thats intresting because anyone who may worked in the medical field proably in some port of time have worked with someone that have mental chanllenges. i know I did not realize iuntil now taking memtal health I am able to recognize the varies factors and I M now able to recognize the different classifcations of medicines that are used to manage behaviors and to prevent progression.
2. My expectations from this clinical is to learn the appropriate ways to interven with individuals to help promote adaption, self-independence, individuals of the society. 3. My expectations consists of me to becoming familiar with mental illness utilizing all of my senses as a Future nurse to mange and prevent progression of any mental illnesss. 4. My concerns was is the client and I am not able to build an rapport initially because I know thats were trust come at and so you will be therapeutic to the client
5. One personal goal from this clinical experiences is to become aware of mental illness and how to have an therpeutic relationship with the client.
Working in this field you have to be caring. I worked with the mental ill patients in the Baltimore City Jail under MHU and the Women detention center in the same jail. It was very scary at first but it became part of me after a short time. It was a very good experience because it made me to appreciate my creator and myself for being in my rightful mind. Their diagnosis were Schizophrenia, bipolar, depression and so on. It was a good experience like I rightly said, because I never dream in my life sitting beside a mental person talk less caring for them. My career as nurse has given me the opportunity to assist and care for them as human beings. I have seen where someone hanged herself in her cell, people cut their body because they were not given the attention needed. I believe we as nurses are trained and privileged to help these ones out. My goal as a nurse is to display a good clinical experience to establish a caring relationship with my patients. And It is also very essential for me to complete this course upon my graduation. I am grateful to be a part of this clinical group.
I have about 11 years of experience in mental health. I started working at a company called Copw Homes in 2004 before they shut down. I then began working at Emerge Inc and University of Maryland Harbor City both doing residential care for people with intellectual disabilities. I really enjoy working in the mental health setting and I plan to become a mental health nurse some day. I really do not have any assumptions as far as the mental health setting. I know my clinical experience will be a little different at Spring Grove because I am working with patients in a inpatient setting. My expectations from clinical is to learn how to care, treat, and advocate for patients as a nurse and not a counselor. I hope that I can interact with many individuals with different mental illnesses so that I can have the ability to enhance my skill and knowledge. My concern about my clinical experience is patients possibly attacking me or not opening up to me. I am comfortable with communicating although I know I have room for improvement. One personal goal that I have during my clinical experience is to do my best. I know that building a rapport and trusting relationship is key when working with people with a mental illness, so I will do my best to do so.
l have little experience in dealing with mentally ill patient. People with mental illness here in USA, is very different from mental ill people in Africa. l am from Africa where we do not believe that mental illness is a disease and should be treated with any form of medications. Africans still believe mental illness is caused by African charms people placed on each other out of jealousy or hatred. As a result of this believe, mental challenge people have no structured place where they can stay, and be taken care of until they recover. The mental people walk around the street dirty, naked, and pick food from the garbage to survive. The assumption l have regarding the particular mental health setting “RICA” which l was assigned to is that l am going to have the most emotional challenging practical experiences dealing with children that have behavioral disorder. My expectation for this clinical is to become a good psychiatric nurse, care for my patient, and help them in their recovery process here in the USA. l will like to create awareness in Africa about mental illness being a “REALITY” and not a “MYTH”. l will also advocate and open a hospital for them to receive treatment. My concern regarding this clinical experience is for every one, as well as the patient to be safe whenever we are at the clinical site. My personal goal for this clinical experience is to get the best clinical experience, work as a team with the rest of my clinical group and apply all the skills that l have learned in this course to facilitate my patient recovery.
I personally had no experience with the mentally ill but am willing to try during clinical to gain some inside on it. The assumption i have for spring grove hospital is that, its first of all the oldest mental health hospital in the states and they get the worst of the worst of all cases of patients with mental health condition. My expectation for this clinical is to establish a trustworthy relationship with my patient and help him through therapeutic communication to manage his condition if possible. My biggest concern regarding clinical is safety, how can be safe around people whose mental status is unbalance? Would my patient be receptive, engaging, or combative? Because the truth about it is that patient with mental health condition are portray as being crazy, which i hope and pray would not be the case through out our clinical period. My personal goal is to be safe and gain enough clinical experience to deal with mental health patients.
Prior to this class, the only experience I had with mental health was when my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I saw the effect that the disease caused to the family and the struggle of my aunt taking care of him. Other than that I do not have experience with mental health. Therefore, before I started mental health clinical, I was nervous and a little scared about what to expect in the clinical settings. By the end of mental health clinical session, I am expecting to know more about the mental health field and have a better knowledge on ways to help patients with mental health illness. The only concern I have regarding the clinical experience is leading a group discussion and making sure that the patients stay focused and engaged in the group activity. In conclusion, my personal goal for this clinical experience is to have a better idea on the mental illness and build my ability to help patients through therapeutic communication.
Jamia Anderson 10/23/2015
ReplyDeleteBlog 1
I actually do not have any prior experience on an actual mental health unit, but I have worked with some Neurocognitive impaired individuals. I work on a Neuroscience unit in Sinai hospital and I have interacted with many individuals with brain disorders. One that stands out is patients with Alzheimer’s. These patients are really forgetful and do not understand the reason for them being in the hospital. I have to consistently orientate patients to time, place, and situation. I had a patient who insisted on telling us to call her mom and this patient was 94 years old and her mom passed away over 20 years ago. The assumptions I have for this particular mental health setting is that I would interact with patients that have some or most of the disorders I learned so far in the course. I expect to interact with patients and gain enough experience to be able to be comfortable with the mental ill individual. My concerns regarding this clinical is that I will not be able to find a patient that’s willing to cooperate. To get the best of a clinical experience is to have patients that don’t mine working with students. One personal goal for this clinical experience is that I will stay safe throughout the entire 7 weeks.
Having a patient that cooperates and answers your questions will decrease your anxiety but gaining trust and then getting your questions answered will be more meaningful...
ReplyDeleteAshley Griffith Blog 1. I don't have little experience with mentally ill. I work on a Medsurg floor and Ive came across patients that suffer from Dementia, Delirium, Suicide Ideation and bipolar disorder. Dementia patients in particular, seem to be very unpredictable and restless. I had one patient who couldn't sleep all night and sat in the chair in the hallway, talking to the nurses all night. My clinical setting is as RICA with adolescents from 12-19 age. I assume that most of the children will have some type of conduct disorder or social impairment. I expect the children to be relatable since they are not too far from my age. I also expect the setting to be little like a dorm hall. I have been told before that younger mental health patients are more violent that older patients. I am little concerned about my safety and the unpredictability of the adolescents at RICA. My personal goal while at the clinical setting is to develop a client-patient relationship that will have some type of positive outcome for my client.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAs far as prior experience with the mentally ill is concerned I do possess some. I currently work on the mental health unit at the VA, prior to that i worked on a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation unit in Rochester NY. My first degree is in Psychology and it is something I enjoy.
If I have learned anything when it comes to a mental health unit, it is to assume nothing. Safety is first for the patients and yourself and staff. I hope to help people while I am working at the crisis center, and perhaps experience some things that i have not come across yet.
I expect to learn some new therapeutic communication techniques and to broaden my knowledge of this field and either confirm my desire to work in this field or perhaps see that I need to work on myself before I enter it as I realize it takes a special kind of nurse to work with the mentally ill.
my concerns are making sure that I can reach the consumer in the way the need to be reached. I want to be an effective nurse and help them make the steps in the right direction that they need in order to live life in a happy, safe, and healthy manner.
My personal goal, as stated above is to see if i have what it takes to make it as a mental health nurse. I would like to continue my education, and I want to make sure that I am applying myself in the right area where I can make the most difference for people, and I hope that is with mental health
Florence Amaikwu
ReplyDeleteWeek one log
My prior experience with the mentally ill is working with the Alzheimer’s and dementia patients in a nursing home setting. It is really challenging in that these patients need constant redirection all the time. I am beginning now to understand mental illness now unlike what I know before. I was one of the people that relate being mentally ill to supernatural powers that one is unfortunate to fall victim of. I now understand it has to do with chemical imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain.
My clinical setting is at Baltimore crises response Inc. initially, I expected more like a crises center where some patients will be on restraint and all that. That was not what I saw on my first clinical experience.
My expectations from this clinical is to learn and be well prepared in caring for the mentally ill patients as it relates to therapeutic communication and using evidenced based interventions in the care of the mentally ill patients.
My concerns is being safe when I am interacting with the patients because some of the patients can sometimes demonstrate anger outburst.
My personal goal at the end of the clinical experience is acquire what it will take to be a competent mental health nurse
In the country I was born, there are some people who are mentally ill. Although I have no prior experience or direct relationship with them, but I can say I see them in my community. Believes of people including me when I saw mentally ill people was that they are possess with evil spirit or supernatural power. The cure of mentally ill individuals involved ritualistic exorcism to purge out unwanted forces. These people are beating, deprived of food or separated from other people in the community. They are neglected. Nursing school especially this course ( psychiatric nursing) have enlighten me and now I know that mentally ill is a disease process just like any physiological illness. More so, now that I am in the nursing field, I have more empathy toward mentally ill individuals. My assumption about the mental health setting in which I am assigned was to see mentally ill individual who are not reliable, don’t know what is happening to them, acting like babies disrespecting staff members and continuous violence act. My expectation form this clinical is to have more knowledge on how to take care of the mentally ill. Be able to use therapeutic communication to relate to them. Know how to show empathy during nurse to patient interaction and be able to mention about seven side effects of each psychiatric medications. At this moment I have no concern about my clinical experience. My personal goal is to be able to restore or build hope for the mentally ill individuals. Majority of the mentally ill individual have lost hope. Their life has been a series of crushing disappointment, repetitive failure or losses stigma and discrimination. I will engage the individual in social activities that are pleasurable, helping them to develop friendship or meaningful relationship and activating spirituality or faith are some ways to help individuals restore their hope.
ReplyDeleteKeva Ramsay:
ReplyDeleteMy first experience working on a mental Health Unit was actually kind of scary. I was doing one to one supervision with a suicidal patient, but I was sitting outside of the room where I could see them. I didn't feel comfortable at all being in the room alone, because I was afraid of something happening to me. Even though I was outside of the room their were still other patients pacing back and forth past me which made me a little nervous because you don't know what to expect. I made sure my back was up against the wall that way I could see everything that was happening and no one could sneak attack me. It might have been a little ignorant as I speak on it now, but that is how I felt at the time. I also remember sitting with six patients in the ER and one of the patients actually attacked me by grabbing my arm so tight I had to scream out code green. Then their was another incidence where a nurse was beating up by a patient which left her with a swollen face and black eyes. I haven't seen that nurse in a few months.
It probably took me at least a month to get used to working on the unit. I'm a little more comfortable and more open minded. Yet, I will continue to have my guard up because anything can happen.
I've bonded with most of my patients and had some interesting conversations. They are just regular people with a mental disability and shouldn't be stigmatized before actually getting to know them. Everyone has a different story and I'm glad I've had more positive experiences than negative.
I have worked with mentally ill patients in my last clinical rotation. Initially, when I think of mentally ill people, I think of people in a dark corner without recovery but now I understand that mental illness can be controlled and the patients can live a normal life. Then, I was scared but at the end of our clinical rotation I had a better understanding of how to work with people that are mentally ill. Presently, I am very confident working with them because I am no longer scared but know how to use therapeutic communication technique to interact with my client. Another thing that is different is working with children and adolescent that look innocent but sometimes display some abnormal behaviors. I am looking forward to having a great clinical experience by positively interacting with my client and other team members.
ReplyDeleteWeek One
ReplyDelete1 I do not have prior experience with mental health but being part of this class as really enlightened me about knowing how to approach care for the mentally ill individual.
2 My assumption was that RICA it is more structured setting for child and adolescent to correct and treat their mental disorder and a way to educate them and with the help of medication of how to behave more acceptable in the society.
3 My expectation from this clinical is that I will be able to interact with my client has conduct and learning disorder and also ADHD by using therapeutic communication to gain trust from my client so I can be able to work with him to meet his goal.
4 My concern regarding this clinical is that, the institute pose the risk of someone getting injured by the client because of their illness. The children are most of the time violent and disrespectful to the staff members.
5 My goal is to work with my client and teach him about attending school and participate more in class activities and also about danger of eloping from their family.
1. When I think about caring for individuals who are mentally challenged I feel nervous and anxious. I have three years experience in mental health field. I started working with individuals with developmental disabilities in 2012, and then I was five months pregnant and I had two clients one was diagnosed with ADHD and the other had Bipolar disorder. Both ladies were in a group home and I was their house manager. My experience was really tough because the ladies always act out and get aggressive whenever they are unable to have their ways, they elope sometimes and I have to call 911 to go get them back to the unit, there was a day C.C grabbed a chair and almost hit me with it. I had to stop working in that particular unit for my safety and that of my unborn child. Right now those ladies are in Spring groove hospital for charges of assault.
ReplyDelete2. My Assumptions about clients in Red Bricks cottage 4 being a Forensic psychiatric unit is that the clients are still under the supervision of the courts. The treatment of these patients on outpatient orders of condition poses special problems. Treatment needs to center on the issues related to patient's potential for harmful/violent behavior to self and others. Therefore, there will be need to conduct periodic risk assessments and staff members must continuously monitor identified risk indicators.
3. My expectations from this clinical is to demonstrate an interpersonal and professional competency in the forensic unit.
Improve on my self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-evaluation (e.g., knowledge of the content and potential impact of my personal beliefs and values on clients, peers, faculty, and allied professionals).
4. My concern at the moment is Safety and to feel less anxious and comfortable throughout my stay in my new environment.
5. My personal goal for this clinical rotation is to help my client improve on her hygiene by supplying her with few hygiene supplies (like bathing soap, tooth brush, tooth paste, and deodorant) this will motivate her to carry out this goal.
I have work with the mentally ill patients especially, the geriatric population for over 5 years. I really enjoyed working with the elderly. Their diagnosis were mainly Alzheimer, dementia, bipolar, depression, and a very few schizophrenic patients. I never heard about Spring Grove Hospital Center until starting this course therefore, I am very limited with my assumptions. However, I volunteered at Shepard Pratt few years ago so; I assumed it was going to be the same. To my amazement, I was in total shock when I arrived at the unit for clinical today. The unit was very small, rooms were shared, the yard was small, the activities and groups area was small and limited, and the unit appeared to be the patients’ residence since they live there so long (meaning 9, 10 years for the few that I asked). I am looking forward to exploring this part of my clinical rotation, exploring the insight of people living with mental illness, learning to build and terminate therapeutic relationship, and organizing and leading groups with the patients. I am curious to see the different aspect of how people live with mental illness since I am on a chronic mental illness unit with court ordered forensic patients and regular patients. How it is to live with mental illness all your life? My personal goal is to learn as much as I can and explore mental health as a field to work in or not work in upon graduation. This clinical experience is essential and my experience will determine my career exploration. I look forward to having a great clinical experience.
ReplyDelete1. When I think about caring for individuals who are mentally challenged I feel nervous and anxious. I have three years experience in mental health field. I started working with individuals with developmental disabilities in 2012, and then I was five months pregnant and I had two clients one was diagnosed with ADHD and the other had Bipolar disorder. Both ladies were in a group home and I was their house manager. My experience was really tough because the ladies always act out and get aggressive whenever they are unable to have their ways, they elope sometimes and I have to call 911 to go get them back to the unit, there was a day C.C grabbed a chair and almost hit me with it. I had to stop working in that particular unit for my safety and that of my unborn child. Right now those ladies are in Spring groove hospital for charges of assault.
ReplyDelete2. My Assumptions about clients in Red Bricks cottage 4 being a Forensic psychiatric unit is that the clients are still under the supervision of the courts. The treatment of these patients on outpatient orders of condition poses special problems. Treatment needs to center on the issues related to patient's potential for harmful/violent behavior to self and others. Therefore, there will be need to conduct periodic risk assessments and staff members must continuously monitor identified risk indicators.
3. My expectations from this clinical is to demonstrate an interpersonal and professional competency in the forensic unit.
Improve on my self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-evaluation (e.g., knowledge of the content and potential impact of my personal beliefs and values on clients, peers, faculty, and allied professionals).
4. My concern at the moment is Safety and to feel less anxious and comfortable throughout my stay in my new environment.
5. My personal goal for this clinical rotation is to help my client improve on her hygiene by supplying her with few hygiene supplies (like bathing soap, tooth brush, tooth paste, and deodorant) this will motivate her to carry out this goal.
1. What prior experience, if any do you have with the mentally ill?
ReplyDeleteI have no prior experience with the mentally ill.
2. What assumptions do you have regarding the particular mental health setting to which you will be assigned for the next 7 weeks?
I am not really comfortable working with the mentally ill because of the stigma that they are all violent. My assumptions would be that I should be careful of what I say to not upset them. I understand that this a wrong perception that I plan to clarify.
3. What are your expectations from this clinical?
My expectations for clinical are high. I am assigned to a patient who has had a student nurse before, so he understands the routine. He looks forward to meet with me every clinical day hoping for me to give him “a bacon muffin from McDonalds” which may be hard to live up to. Furthermore, I expect to establish a relationship with the client and receive first-hand knowledge of how interact and care for mental health patients. In addition, I am hoping this clinical experience will assist with processing lecture.
4. What, if any, are your concerns regarding this clinical experience?
I have a concern that the patient will not be too receptive of me. My patient has a history of not being cooperative at times and not following through with a student nurse. Also, I have a concern of being attacked in some way.
5. Discuss (1) personal goal for this clinical experience.
My personal goal for this clinical experience is to establish a healing and caring relationship with the patient. I want my client to understand that I have the passion to actually care for people and I am not there just to pick his brain. I want each patient to feel just as normal as me, and I can learn from them.
I do not have any prior mental health experience. My assumptions regarding the mentally ill are that they are very edgy people and that you have to be careful when taking care of them. When I think of mentally ill patients the only reference I have is what is portrayed by media in movies, books, tv shows, etc. but my clinical setting is not nearly as threatening as the media portrays it to be. My expectations for this clinical is to gain a better understanding on mental health illnesses and mental health nursing. There is so much to learn in a short amount of time. My only concern about clinical is that I won't be able to connect with my patient like I would like to because I feel like I'm not sure if I'll be communicating effectively. My personal goal for this clinical is to try and use the skills I learn in class and apply it to my clinical setting. I just want to gain as much experience from my clinicals and be able to assist my patient in reaching his/her goals in their care.
ReplyDelete1.Thats intresting because anyone who may worked in the medical field proably in some port of time have worked with someone that have mental chanllenges. i know I did not realize iuntil now taking memtal health I am able to recognize the varies factors and I M now able to recognize the different classifcations of medicines that are used to manage behaviors and to prevent progression.
ReplyDelete2. My expectations from this clinical is to learn the appropriate ways to interven with individuals to help promote adaption, self-independence, individuals of the society.
3. My expectations consists of me to becoming familiar with mental illness utilizing all of my senses as a Future nurse to mange and prevent progression of any mental illnesss.
4. My concerns was is the client and I am not able to build an rapport initially because I know thats were trust come at and so you will be therapeutic to the client
5. One personal goal from this clinical experiences is to become aware of mental illness and how to have an therpeutic relationship with the client.
Working in this field you have to be caring. I worked with the mental ill patients in the Baltimore City Jail under MHU and the Women detention center in the same jail. It was very scary at first but it became part of me after a short time. It was a very good experience because it made me to appreciate my creator and myself for being in my rightful mind. Their diagnosis were Schizophrenia, bipolar, depression and so on. It was a good experience like I rightly said, because I never dream in my life sitting beside a mental person talk less caring for them. My career as nurse has given me the opportunity to assist and care for them as human beings. I have seen where someone hanged herself in her cell, people cut their body because they were not given the attention needed. I believe we as nurses are trained and privileged to help these ones out.
ReplyDeleteMy goal as a nurse is to display a good clinical experience to establish a caring relationship with my patients. And It is also very essential for me to complete this course upon my graduation. I am grateful to be a part of this clinical group.
I have about 11 years of experience in mental health. I started working at a company called Copw Homes in 2004 before they shut down. I then began working at Emerge Inc and University of Maryland Harbor City both doing residential care for people with intellectual disabilities. I really enjoy working in the mental health setting and I plan to become a mental health nurse some day.
ReplyDeleteI really do not have any assumptions as far as the mental health setting. I know my clinical experience will be a little different at Spring Grove because I am working with patients in a inpatient setting.
My expectations from clinical is to learn how to care, treat, and advocate for patients as a nurse and not a counselor. I hope that I can interact with many individuals with different mental illnesses so that I can have the ability to enhance my skill and knowledge.
My concern about my clinical experience is patients possibly attacking me or not opening up to me. I am comfortable with communicating although I know I have room for improvement.
One personal goal that I have during my clinical experience is to do my best. I know that building a rapport and trusting relationship is key when working with people with a mental illness, so I will do my best to do so.
Week one, Blog 1
ReplyDeletel have little experience in dealing with mentally ill patient. People with mental illness here in USA, is very different from mental ill people in Africa. l am from Africa where we do not believe that mental illness is a disease and should be treated with any form of medications. Africans still believe mental illness is caused by African charms people placed on each other out of jealousy or hatred. As a result of this believe, mental challenge people have no structured place where they can stay, and be taken care of until they recover. The mental people walk around the street dirty, naked, and pick food from the garbage to survive.
The assumption l have regarding the particular mental health setting “RICA” which l was assigned to is that l am going to have the most emotional challenging practical experiences dealing with children that have behavioral disorder.
My expectation for this clinical is to become a good psychiatric nurse, care for my patient, and help them in their recovery process here in the USA. l will like to create awareness in Africa about mental illness being a “REALITY” and not a “MYTH”. l will also advocate and open a hospital for them to receive treatment.
My concern regarding this clinical experience is for every one, as well as the patient to be safe whenever we are at the clinical site.
My personal goal for this clinical experience is to get the best clinical experience, work as a team with the rest of my clinical group and apply all the skills that l have learned in this course to facilitate my patient recovery.
I personally had no experience with the mentally ill but am willing to try during clinical to gain some inside on it.
ReplyDeleteThe assumption i have for spring grove hospital is that, its first of all the oldest mental health hospital in the states and they get the worst of the worst of all cases of patients with mental health condition.
My expectation for this clinical is to establish a trustworthy relationship with my patient and help him through therapeutic communication to manage his condition if possible.
My biggest concern regarding clinical is safety, how can be safe around people whose mental status is unbalance? Would my patient be receptive, engaging, or combative? Because the truth about it is that patient with mental health condition are portray as being crazy, which i hope and pray would not be the case through out our clinical period.
My personal goal is to be safe and gain enough clinical experience to deal with mental health patients.
Prior to this class, the only experience I had with mental health was when my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I saw the effect that the disease caused to the family and the struggle of my aunt taking care of him. Other than that I do not have experience with mental health. Therefore, before I started mental health clinical, I was nervous and a little scared about what to expect in the clinical settings. By the end of mental health clinical session, I am expecting to know more about the mental health field and have a better knowledge on ways to help patients with mental health illness.
ReplyDeleteThe only concern I have regarding the clinical experience is leading a group discussion and making sure that the patients stay focused and engaged in the group activity.
In conclusion, my personal goal for this clinical experience is to have a better idea on the mental illness and build my ability to help patients through therapeutic communication.