Health Assessment: Community Health & Mental Health
Curriculum guideline
It is the intent of faculty to facilitate student learning, and promote critical inquiry, reflection and analytical reasoning through a variety of learning processes such as simulation, practice, observation and demonstration.
In this course, the holistic health assessment of clients experiencing mental health challenges and/or substance use disorders and clients in a variety of community settings are the foci for discussion. In addition, a variety of psychomotor skills commonly used in nursing practice with clients in mental health and community health nursing settings are addressed. Concepts and essential content that will be addressed relative to these topics are listed below. In addition, the core curriculum concepts are integrated in this course.
Holistic health assessment of adult clients with mental health challenges and/or substance use disorders, and in community settings
- Comprehensive assessment
- Focused systems assessment
- Screening for vulnerabilities and resilience
- Risk assessment
- Mental status exam
- Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA)
- Intoxication and withdrawal states
- Assessing for movement disorders
- HEADSS assessment
- Intimate partner violence
- Human trafficking
- Community assessment
Nursing skills and application of theoretical knowledge commonly used in nursing practice with adult clients with mental health challenges and/or substance use disorders
- Establishment of therapeutic relationships
- Therapeutic communication
- Active listening
- Setting up an interview
- Crisis planning
- Non-violent crisis intervention
- Recovery model
- Pharmacological considerations
Nursing skills and application of theoretical knowledge commonly used in nursing practice with adult clients in community settings
- Therapeutic communication
- Motivational interviewing
- Reporting communicable diseases
- Immunization principles and health promotion
- Sexually transmitted infection health promotion and prevention
- Informed consent and mature minor consent
- Nutrition across the lifespan
Safety
- Personal safety
- Safety planning and suicide precautions
- Limit setting and professional boundaries
- Cultural safety
- Stigma
- Harm reduction
Nurse's role
- Various contexts of practice for community health nurses
- Collaborative partners
- Professional image
- Advocacy and social justice
- Cultural humility
Concepts relative to health assessment to be explored include:
- Purpose
- Principles
- Engaging with clients
- Planning
- Rationale
- Implementation
- Evaluation
- Preventing complications
At the end of this course, the successful student will be able to:
- Demonstrate the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary for holistic, comprehensive and focused assessment of clients with mental health challenges and/or substance use disorders.
- Demonstrate the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary for holistic, comprehensive and focused assessment of clients in a variety of community settings.
- Demonstrate the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary for the safe implementation of a variety of relational and other psychomotor skills commonly used in mental health and community health nursing practice.
- Demonstrate the consolidation, integration and application of knowledge in simulated nursing practice experiences.
The course evaluation is consistent with Douglas College Evaluation Policy. A course evaluation schedule and other course evaluation information are provided on the Instructor’s Course Outline which is available to students at the beginning of each semester. This is a graded course.
Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:
A list of recommended textbooks and materials is provided on the Instructor’s Course Outline which is available to students at the beginning of each semester.