Title: Student Guidelines for the Clinical Component of NUR 1521C
Course: NUR 1521C Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing > Section: Module 8

Your only experience related to mental illness may have been watching old movies where patients are locked in a chaotic and abusive environment where attendants dressed in starched white coats wrestle patients into a seclusion room with iron bars. You may have the preconceived notion that all mentally ill patients are out of control and in need of outdated contraptions such as strait jackets. You may have the idea that patients experiencing mental illness are very different from patients experiencing physical illness. The truth is that any illness impacts every system of the body.

You may have some anxiety or apprehension upon entering a clinical area where you will be interacting with clients experiencing mild to severe mental illness. Please be aware that this is a common anxiety especially if you have no previous experience in an environment with clients diagnosed with mental illness. It is therefore imperative that you spend a considerable amount of time reading and discussing the clinical component of this course prior to going to an inpatient facility or support group. Interact with your instructor and classmates and describe your fears and concerns. You will find that most students, at least those who are being honest with themselves, have some degree of apprehension since this clinical rotation carries with it some degree of the "unknown." Many times just talking with other students helps to allay undue fear and anxiety.

The Clinical Rotation Hours

The clinical rotation component for this course consists of thirty (30) hours. The breakdown of the 30 clinical hours is as follows in three (3) Parts:

Part #1. Clinical preparation/orientation: 2 hours
Part #2. Independent Study: 4 hours
Part #3. Clinical Experience within a psychiatric facility: 24 hours (typically divided into three 8 hour days)

Directions for each of the components listed above are as follows:

Part #1. Clinical preparation/orientation: 2 hours

The clinical instructor will review facility protocol with students. The clinical instructor may use a video conference or other online sources to communicate the information to the students. The instructor may wish to use a chat room, or other modality to answer student questions. The instructor may post the following template or a similar document for you to complete as part of student orientation:

Florida State College at Jacksonville

CLINICAL ROTATION: PSYCHIATRIC/MENTAL HEALTH 1521C,

Facility name and location:_______________________________________________________
MAIN Facility NUMBER: ________________________________________________________
Faculty Contact information: _____________________________________________________
STUDENT NAME, phone number and emergency contact information:____________________
____________________________________________________________________________

What to bring and not bring to the clinical rotation/facility:

1. Bring change for vending machines, note paper and pen, name tag.
2. Bring Supplemental Syllabus in order to review how to complete papers.
3. No room to store books and notebooks at the facility.
4. Lock purses/wallets in trunk of car. NO cell phones or other digital devices.
5. NO CONTRABAND. Candy, gum, etc. Do not give any items to patients.
6. Do not touch patients.

What to Wear: Khakis, FSCJ POLO shirts, clean closed toed shoes and socks. No hoop or large earrings. If you tend to get cold then wear a plain jacket. No Logos. DO NOT LEAVE THIS DOCUMENT IN THE CLINICAL AREAS.

Part #2. Independent Study - Observational Community Experience: 4 hours

Support Groups, Two (2 groups): (2 hours per group – 1 hour for the actual group and 1 hour to document the experience)

The Assignment drop box and instructions for the Observational Community Experience is below. Students must upload two papers, one each documenting the two groups visited. While no specific points are awarded for these two papers, they are required to pass the Clinical Component of this course.

Part # 3. Clinical Experience within a psychiatric facility: 24 hours (typically divided into three 8 hour days)

Students must locate a facility (with the assistance of the instructor and or program) that will allow them to enter the actual inpatient units and interact with the patients. This will require that part of the 24 hours include a designated orientation time period. Signed documents used by both the facility and nursing program related to privacy guidelines, especially the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will need to be procured and completed prior to students entering the inpatient units.
_____________________________________________________

The Assignment drop box for the Clinical Component where your evaluation documents will be uploaded is below.

Also, during this clinical rotation the student will complete the following projects:

Interaction Paper-Process Recording (1)
Mental Status Assessment (1)

Assignment drop boxes for these projects are also below.