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Running Head: NURSING EVOLUTION

Nursing Evolution Kalinda McElroy West Coast University

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Mental Health took place during my second term in nursing core at West Coast University. Coming into this class I was very nervous because during my LVN program mental health was one of my weaker areas of study. I knew that I had a lot of hard work and intense studying ahead of me and I doubted my abilities. The first week is always difficult because you have yet to learn the teacher’s style of testing and then have to adapt your own study techniques to the material given. During the next three weeks the class went over nurse-patient relationships, awareness of personal as well as others’ values and beliefs, factors that encourage and promote patient growth, and establishing boundaries and rapport. We also learned about verbal and nonverbal communication skills, Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorders, depressive disorders, treatment for psychiatric disorders, support groups, cultural implications surrounding mental health, and managing behavioral crisis in the clinical setting, in addition to covering suicide and other forms of self injury that are non-lethal. During the following three weeks we discussed topics including Anxiety disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, management of stress, intimate partner violence, violence against children and older adults, and sexual assault. We covered substance disorders and their effects, addictive disorders, neurocognitive disorders, and different types of family types. We also discussed dissociative disorders, trauma and stressorrelated disorders, somatic-symptom disorder, neurodevelopmental disorders, sexual dysfunctions, gender dysphoria, and paraphilias. I felt the most confident during this week because I really enjoy learning about sexuality disorders. During clinicals, I was able to apply the concepts I learned in class to my patients admitted in the hospital. I worked with patients who were experiencing varying degrees

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of depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, delusions, and paranoia. One week I had a patient who was getting really agitated because the patients around her were loud and rowdy. I could tell that she was becoming annoyed when the patient started to glare at the other patients in the room and began to mutter under her breath. After noticing this I suggested that we wander around the facility until it was time for the smoke break. After 15 minutes of walking up and down the halls the patient had calmed down and was excited again for her smoke. Over the course of clinicals I became able to more easily identify defense and coping mechanisms the patients used during my interviews and improved my interviewing skills because of it. I once interviewed a patient who repressed the memories related to her hospital admission and also repeatedly denied the poor state of her health. An experience I really enjoyed was attending group. With the help of social services leading the conversation, I was able to listen to patients’ stories in depth, hear their concerns, and help guide them with their plan of care. I found that the patients who were the most motivated to improve their health and comply with the provided care were the ones with strong support systems. Patients who had weak or no support system exhibited poor insight and judgment about their own health....