mental health----leading group project

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2009

What kind of unit is this? What are the kinds of problems the patients are admitted for? What problems do you see the patients, in general, might have that would be good to address? What do others in your group have to say about this?

TRISHA,SN · Jan 17, 2009

IT IS A UNIT IN A COMMUNITY HOSPITAL THAT DEALS WITH Mostly personality disorders....the rest of my class is scared sh**less....i'm not scared, just wanna have a good response...

TRISHA,SN · Jan 18, 2009

so sorry about the all caps i didn't even think about it....my caps lock must have been on and I just started typing! Once again, I really am sorry for that

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2009

How about something along the lines of how to interact appropriately when they can't get something they want. Example: Can I borrow xxx for a second? The person says, no. Instead of having a hissy fit and acting out the appropriate response would be. . .you could either role play it or have the people attending throw out responses.

You could look up theapeutic responses to typical statements. Formulate some statements and throw them out to the group and discuss appropriate responses that they should give back.

A good class is always one where you can get the attendees to participate as much as possible.

Another idea is to talk to the nurses on this unit and ask them for ideas. They know the unit and its patients well and might have some suggestions.

TRISHA,SN · Jan 18, 2009

Thank You Soooooooo much for your ideas!

RochesterRN-BSN, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2009

Coping skills/strategies in dealing with stress. Most patients I have seen with personality disorders--particularly borderline PD-- have horrible coping skills and turn to self injurous behaviors lilke cutting, burning, Trictotillomania (hair pulling), and newly we are seeing object insertions--under the skin. Not sure if you are familiar with DBT but this is a therapy used all the time for this population. (Dialectical Behavior Therapy). You could look this up and talk about a couple of the concepts used in this....many of the patients may be familiar with DBT but need encouragement or reinforcement of the skills. Don't be so nervous, just try to relax and you will do fine. I have been in psych for like 3 years and love it. Sounds like you are pretty nervous in this setting. Let me know if I can be of any help. I worked for a long time in inpatient psych--adults and now in psych emergency with children starting at age 4 up through geriatric patients.

Oh and the other thing that is good is taking about med compliance. (Not that there is truly a med for Axis II things--DBT and other theripies work better for them) But many of them have real Axis I Dx and take meds or ned to be and are non-compliant. Good luck I'm sure you will be great. The biggest thing to remember is to be open minded and non-judgemental and genuine. Treat them with respect. They can sense when you are not and will respond negatively. Many people hate working the patients with Borderline PD but it helps if you try to remember that most if not all have had horrible childhoods of abuse, neglect, and have a hard time with healthy relationships and have a lot of self loathing despite the image they may try to portray.

TRISHA,SN · Jan 18, 2009

thanks, I am nervous....my son, who just turned 13 this week, is Bi-polar and we have delt with the inpatient hospitalizations several times. I am nervous to be on the other end...as a helper. I just want to be successful in getting a good response from the patients...i am so not judgemental of these people....they just need a bit more support and understanding and help to understand themselves and guidance. So, even though i have had many years of experience dealing with mental illness firsthand, I am at a loss here......