Course Description
This course will continue to build on the application of therapeutic communication within the context of the nurse-client relationship as introduced in previous semesters. Students are introduced to the concept of working with clients with complex health challenges in the broader context of community. Students will consolidate skills previously learned with a focus on Risk Assessments and clinical decision making. Students will further develop assertive communication skills within the context of effective collaboration with colleagues. Therapeutic communication issues related to cultural competence will continue to be developed. Students will be introduced to therapeutic communication skills as relates to family and group. Students will also have the opportunity to teach DBT skills. Professional documentation will continue to be developed, and will be linked to Professional Standards for Psychiatric Nursing and the Douglas College Psychiatric Nursing Conceptual Framework.
Course Content
In this course, within the context of the Douglas College Psychiatric Nursing’s philosophy and conceptual framework, students will focus on developing the psychiatric nursing role as a team member.
Specific concepts that will be addressed are:
- Developing and maintaining group process that contributes to positive client outcomes.
- Encouraging clear communication with clients and colleagues
- Facilitating conflict resolution
- Developing leadership and interpersonal skills to enhance client/nurse interactions.
- Ability to engage clients in short and long-term committments to treatment planning
- Adoption of a client centered care approach
- Utilization of motivational interviewing techniques
- Integration of PSR theory
- Consolidation of therapeutic communication skills throughout the phases of the nurse- client relationship.
- Demonstrates therapeutic communication with client as individual, family and group
- Demonstrates assertive and accurate communication
- Demonstrates cultural humility and safety
- Demonstrates professional documentation
- Consolidation of assessment skills and clinical decision-making.
- Demonstrates knowledge to conduct thorough holistic assessments
- Ability to formulate a clinical impression
- Ability to plan client focused care based on assessment data
- Gain knowledge of the community mental health system through simulated interactions.
- Demonstrates the roles and responsibilities of the RPN in a Community Mental Health Team
- Demonstrates the roles and responsibilities of the RPN at the Access and Assessment Centre
- Demonstrates the roles and responsibilities of the RPN at Acute Home Base Treatment
- Understanding of DBT skills and its use as a therapeutic modality
- Demonstrates effective teaching of a DBT skill
- Observe a variety of DBT skills
- setting clear, challenging and attainable goals
- encouraging teamwork and sharing of leadership
- facilitating members awareness of their personal contributions to group success
- organizational structures needed to support strong teams
- Making meetings effective
- conflict resolution
- negotiation
- mediation
- techniques to improve meetings and help difficult discussions
- observer reports and process evaluations
- Therapeutic communication will be enhanced through:
- understanding and demonstrating the phases of the nurse-client relationship.
- understanding and demonstration of therapeutic communication with client as individual, family and group.
- understanding and demonstration of assertive and responsible communication.
- understanding and demonstration of effective communication with colleagues; requesting and receiving colleague support.
- demonstration of understanding of theory and concepts through simulated clinical examples.
- understanding of cultural competence and the issues of professional documentation and sharing of client information for the client as individual and family.
Learning Activities
Student learning is facilitated through a variety of teaching/learning methods including lecture, demonstration, audio-visual aids, group discussion, group and/or individual research and presentations and experiential learning as a group member with the intent of strengthening group skills and team building.
Means of Assessment
The course evaluation is consistent with Douglas College evaluation policy. An evaluation schedule is presented at the beginning of the course.
This is a graded course.
Learning Outcomes
In this course students will use the Douglas College Department of Psychiatric Nursing Curricular Threads (wellness-illness continuum, professional values, professional caring & health care delivery system), and in the context of the environmental, health and psychiatric nursing domains, will develop strong productive group/team skills and awareness. They will know how to develop, manage and evaluate teamwork and collegial relationships.
Textbook Materials
A list of required and optional textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of each semester.