Welcome May Graduating Class of 2016!

You have been invited to post to 6 blog discussions about various aspects of mental health nursing this semester. Use the Assignment tab in Blackboard to discover the topics for each week.You must post before and/or by the due date to receive credit. Some discussions require you have patient access, in that case.  Students will only be given in some instances 24 hours to post after clinical. This takes in account evening clinicals and/or weekend clinicals. I have programmed the blog not to receive additional comments beyond the time frame outlined for posting. You will receive a zero for not posting or posting beyond the time frame in the gradebook.  Each posting will be reviewed by faculty. Realistically, I usually will read (and often comment) on your responses and post grades within one week after the closing date. Each posting is worth 1 point in our course gradebook. You will be able to view all comments and my responses. There is value in reading the experiences, feelings and attitudes of your peers and my comments. You do not have to respond to peers but comments are welcome. The six blog postings represent 1% of your overall course grade. Please note: Week Five requires you to have attended a support group meeting of your choose before you post. You are a participant observer.  Please do not identify yourself as nursing student on assignment (no uniforms, please). Do not go as a group. If you choose to go with a classmate, do not sit together. Just blend in and observe.

To get started, locate Week One under the Blog Archive (under 2011) on the lower right side, read Week One for information and instructions (its about my first time at Spring Grove). Click on Comment(s). You will type your response in the white  
    window.

I will begin the discussion for each of the six weeks. You are responding to my discussion by posting your thoughts and/or feelings in the comment window.  DO NOT START ANOTHER DISCUSSION!!!!  I have disabled the Comment Window for this posting so you will not make the mistake of posting your Week One here. This 2014 thread is for instructions only...

For me (and your classmates) to see your post, you will publish the post. You may be asked for your Google (or other) account information. Remember to save a copy in a WORD document for you clinical faculty. You will put this in your 2 inch clinical binder under Reflections.....Happy Blogging!

Week Six

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

Week Five

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

Week Four

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

Week Three

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

Week Two

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

Week One

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