Instructions
There are a wide variety of community-based treatment settings in which psychiatric-mental health nurses practice. Mental Health Community Experience is to provide students with the opportunity to compare psychiatric services and identify nursing roles, responsibilities and activities in the community setting. Your campus will determine the number of hours and experiences that you will be required to participate in. You will probably spend more time than you will be given clinical hours credit for because these are unsupervised clinical experiences.
The community experience must include date and time of attendance with a written report. The campus will determine the community experience hours. Evidence of attendance is documented on the Community Experience Documentation Form on the following page. The form is signed by the group leader, nurse, administration or court officers indicating the organization, address, contact information and number of hours performed. The report must be in APA format, 800 – 1,000 words in length due on the 7th week of clinical. The assignment must earn 76% by the grading rubric and meet the requirements of the specific criteria on the Clinical Evaluation Tool. The report must follow the criteria on the Community Experience Rubric and also include personal reflection and a brief summary of what was learned during the community experience. In addition, include discussions of how the nurse could serve a positive role model and discuss the nursing process within the community setting.
You are the representative of West Coast University and the nursing profession. You are required to dress and conduct professionally in all community experiences. Business casual attire is mandatory. Your phones must be turned off at all times. Be on time and do not leave the groups or hearings early because this may create a disruption in the meeting or court proceedings. Always maintain confidentiality and do not document patients or participant’s names.
Mental Health Community Treatment Settings may include:
Community Experience No. 1: 12 step programs
The student may attend a 12-step program such as Alcoholic Anonymous (AA); Cocaine Anonymous (CA); Narcotic Anonymous (NA); Emotional Anonymous (EA) or Overeater Anonymous (OA). You can find the time and location of meetings by calling a 12-step program on the local directory. Ask for the place and time of the meeting near your home. For safety reasons, it is best that you go with another student. Do not go in groups of more than 2, as this tends to be overwhelming in the group process and limit your interaction with program participants.
Community Experience No. 2: Mental Health Court
Arrive 30 minutes before the first hearing. Attend LPS Conservatorship hearing and Writ of Habeas Corpus (Latin for “present in the body”), which must be granted to anyone on a 14-day hold or a 30-day hold upon request by the patient. Analyze the moral, legal, and psychiatric implication of involuntary commitment. In your discussion, include the reason the patient is being held involuntarily, psychiatric diagnosis and medication prescribed. Do not document the name of the patient.
Community Experience No. 3: Self-help Groups
Identity self-help groups from the local directory or local medical centers. This can be a group sponsored by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), Al-Anon, Parkinson’s disease group; AIDS support groups, bereavement support group or local Hunger Relief Organizations.
Additional community experience:
Psychiatric Adult day care settings, Partial Hospitalization Programs, School Counseling Centers. Community experience must have psychiatric foundation and approved by your clinical faculty.
