RN Annalee

The place I'll be going is a residential house where few people with mental disorder live together. There are two co-workers at the house all the time. The nurse comes to check on the residents everyday. I am not sure what the clinical teaching assistant and the co-workers are expecting from student nurses like me. I think effective communication with the people with mental disorder, such as schizophrenia, is important. Effective listening and talking to them. Also I think motivating them to do things that they are capable of doing is important while they are on this "journey". But I cannot think of other things that I can do or should be doing at the placement. What are expected from student nurses at mental health placements? What should we be observing? Also, what are the roles of Mental Health nurses in this kind of setting? Please share your experiences and shed some light on this topic.