Health Assessment: Community & Mental Health

Curriculum guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
No
Course code
NURS 3412
Descriptive
Health Assessment: Community & Mental Health
Department
Nursing
Faculty
Health Sciences
Credits
2.50
Start date
End term
Not Specified
PLAR
No
Semester length
15 weeks
Max class size
24
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Contact hours

Lab: 3 hours/week

Method(s) of instruction
Lab
Learning activities

Faculty will facilitate the student's integration of nursing theory and promote the development of critical inquiry, clinical reasoning and judgment through learning activities such as lectures, demonstrations, return demonstrations, case studies, simulations, and group discussions.

Course description
In this course, students learn the holistic assessment of adults with mental health challenges and/or substance use disorders. Additionally, students in community settings view the community as their client and care for individuals, families, and groups. Students explore the role of the nurse in various community and mental health practice contexts. Students complete one-half of the course in community health and the other half in mental health.
Course content

Health assessment and nursing skills in community and mental health settings:

  • Comprehensive assessment
  • Focused systems assessment
  • Screening for vulnerabilities and resilience
  • Therapeutic communication and relationships
  • Setting up an interview
  • Collaborative partners
  • Professional image
  • Advocacy and social justice
  • Care planning/nursing process
  • Client and family teaching
  • Personal safety and risk assessment
  • Limit setting and professional boundaries
  • Cultural safety, humility, and anti-racist practices
  • Stigma
  • Harm reduction
  • Indicators of intimate partner violence
  • Indicators of human trafficking

Nursing skills in mental health settings:

  • Crisis planning
  • Non-violent crisis intervention
  • Recovery model
  • Pharmacological considerations
  • Mental status exam
  • Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA)
  • Intoxication and withdrawal states
  • Assessing for movement disorders
  • Safety planning and suicide precautions

Nursing skills in community health settings:

  • Motivational interviewing
  • HEADSS assessment
  • Community assessment
  • Reporting communicable diseases
  • Immunization principles 
  • Health promotion
  • Sexually transmitted infection 
  • Informed consent and mature minor consent
  • Nutrition across the lifespan
Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and abilities required for holistic, comprehensive and focused assessment of clients in community and mental health settings;
  2. Apply theoretical knowledge and frameworks to relevant relational, communication, and psychomotor skills used in community and mental health nursing practice;
  3. Integrate theory during simulated nursing practice experiences;
  4. Refine nursing practice skills, including critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and judgment.
Means of assessment

This is a graded course, and the means of assessment are consistent with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor's course outline will be available to students by the first class and list the evaluative components of the course.

Textbook materials

The instructor's course outline will be available to students by the first class and list the required textbooks and materials that students must purchase.

Prerequisites

NURS 3311 AND NURS 3312 AND NURS 3313 AND NURS 3315 AND NURS 3316

Students in the BSN program are required to maintain a passing grade of 65% (C+) in all courses in order to progress in the program.

Corequisites
Which prerequisite