Experiential group communication and psychomotor labs will be a component of this course. Students will develop the knowledge and skills to participate in and to lead selected groups within the practice setting and have the opportunity to experience group process. The historical development of groups, selected theoretical bases of group counselling, the basic elements of group structure and process, leadership roles and responsibilities, rights and responsibilities of members, ethical issues and evaluation tools will be addressed. Students will have the opportunity to integrate specialized knowledge and skills in caring for persons, families and groups experiencing complex ongoing health challenges in a variety of mental health care settings. Students will have opportunities to strengthen leadership skills within the psychiatric nursing role in collaboration with members of health care teams.
Weekly seminars assist to integrate concepts and issues related to practice settings.
This course promotes integration and internalization of the values, concepts, patterns, interventions and skills relevant to professional psychiatric nursing practice within the health care delivery system. The focus will be on assisting the student to assume the professional role with persons, families, groups and communities experiencing a wide range of complex health challenges. This practice course is a preceptorship experience with placement in a variety of mental health care settings. Students integrate specialized knowledge and skills while functioning as full team members. This distance learning course provides an overview of acute psychiatric nursing.