Ok, those of you who have done MH, how was it, what did you do in clinicals? I just got my syllabus and it looks very uh, strange...
Trauma Columnist traumaRUs, MSN, APRN 165 Articles; 21,209 Posts Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU. Has 31 years experience. Aug 18, 2006 When I did psych clinicals, we had to go to a state institution (locked ward) and interact in the milieu. I was very stressed over the whole experience and I remember a lot of details about that clinical setting and it happened in 1994. I then went on to do 10 years of ER and encountered a lot of psych patients and really enjoyed working with them. I especially loved my MSN clinical on the streets with a crisis team. So - there can be a lot of different settings.
firstyearstudent 853 Posts Aug 19, 2006 It was so much fun! Our CI was great, though. We didn't do meds or any procedures (we did do tests/assessments/car plans) and were not supervised directly during interactions (no one looking over your shoulder) which made things so much more pleasant than med-surg. The only folks who had problems were those who were completely freaked out by insane people -- and those only for the first two or three weeks.
allthingsbright 1,569 Posts Specializes in LDRP. Aug 19, 2006 Ok, thanks guys...I think I am freaked by the amount of paperwork we have to do? I think the care plans are just really different...should be interesting, tho!
BeccaznRN, RN 758 Posts Specializes in NICU, High-Risk L&D, IBCLC. Has 16 years experience. Aug 19, 2006 Our mental health clinical was fairly low-stress (compared to med/surg!). It was one day a week for about 14 weeks, and we were assigned to the psychiatric unit of a large teaching hospital. I thought it was great because there were different units and we rotated through them all for one day - units included acute care, adult inpatient, geriatric inpatient, a day program, a chemical dependency unit, and the ECT lab. Our other clinical days were spent out in the community at an adult day care center, a day spent in an organization called "Places for People," and also a day shadowing a school nurse in a school that provided education for children with behavioral disorders.We were only required to write two complete care plans, but we were required to submit a journal entry after each clinical day. We didn't pass meds but we did sit in on a lot of group therapy, look at clients' charts, and communicate with them.
