{"id":83545,"date":"2023-02-10T14:49:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T19:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=83545"},"modified":"2023-02-10T15:42:06","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T20:42:06","slug":"nursing-students-train-on-mental-health-crises-supports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2023\/02\/nursing-students-train-on-mental-health-crises-supports\/","title":{"rendered":"Nursing students train on mental health crises supports"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a day filled with difficult conversations, intense moments and endless learning opportunities.<\/p>\n

As part of their core mental health education, Brock\u2019s first cohort of concurrent Bachelor of Nursing\/Master of Nursing (BN\/MN) students participated in a Mental Health Assessment Simulation Jan. 20 in the University\u2019s Nursing Simulation Lab,<\/p>\n

A trained actor from McMaster University\u2019s Standardized Patient Program \u2014 Niagara Region simulated a client experiencing depression and suicidal ideation, and interacted with the Brock Nursing students during the assessment.<\/p>\n

The simulation was intended to help prepare students for their upcoming clinical rotations in acute in-patient mental health. Brock Nursing students are trained to assess and support patients experiencing mental health crises in various practice settings.<\/p>\n

\"Bachelor

Bachelor of Nursing\/Master of Nursing students (from left) Joy Fadase, Emma Brooks, Sarah Cowan and Anna Piorczynski observe the Mental Health Assessment Simulation while Department of Nursing Assistant Professor Kathryn Halverson looks on in the background.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe standardized patient realistically portrayed an acute mental health scenario that a patient would present with,\u201d says Nursing Simulation Lab Manager Shelley Wills. \u201cOur BN\/MN students were able to conduct an assessment to identify risk factors for patient suicide, self-harm and self-injury in a safe learning environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to the simulation, students received in-class preparation from Department of Nursing Assistant Professor and Registered Nurse Kathryn Halverson. They also learned about key demographic groups with higher risk factors for suicide and explored various community resources, including supports available to them as Brock students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day before, students participated in a virtual simulation with interactive decision-making points,\u201d says Halverson. This led to group discussions about safety, care planning, collaboration and community resources.<\/p>\n

Brock\u2019s Department of Nursing runs several simulations each academic term for all years of the undergraduate program and throughout each term of the BN\/MN program. Some are smaller scale lab activities, and some involve larger co-ordinated efforts that engage alumni and community partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, what you witness are students having the opportunity to observe, participate and debrief their experiences, which is exactly what learning is \u2014 hearing, seeing, doing and reflecting back,\u201d says Wills. \u201cWe provide our students with true-to-life scenarios where they can gain exposure and experience, giving them the tools to use new skills in their clinical practicum area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nursing

Bachelor of Nursing\/Master of Nursing student Kodi Wright (left) practices communication, interview, diagnostic and clinical skills as she assesses the \u2018standardized patient\u2019 as part of the Mental Health Assessment Simulation.<\/p><\/div>\n

In last month\u2019s simulation, students took turns interacting with the \u2018patient\u2019 to gain experience as the primary nurse, navigating very difficult conversations. This differs from other simulations that see students assigned specific roles to fulfil.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely see students\u2019 level of engagement grow and develop over the course of the programs,\u201d says Wills. \u201cThe important lesson is that it is OK to make mistakes in these controlled environments \u2014 that is what they are for. I always tell students if you are not making mistakes in the simulation lab, you are not learning as much, because mistakes are part of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following simulations, students often express feeling more prepared for their upcoming clinical rotations.<\/p>\n

After the recent mental health simulation, students recognized there can be tensions between their own need to gather information for assessments, and the need to spend more time listening to the patient as they express feelings such as grief, loss, isolation and despair.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BN\/MN students have professional and academic experience that has contributed to an increased level of comfort and confidence having difficult conversations,\u201d says Halverson. \u201cThis simulation provided students with extensive lab practice in mental health assessment skills and communication focused on caring for someone in need of compassion, safety and support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The

The first cohort of concurrent Bachelor of Nursing\/Master of Nursing students pose with Brock Nursing faculty and staff who support their learning prior to the Mental Health Assessment Simulation.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a day filled with difficult conversations, intense moments and endless learning opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":83549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,12374,3319,188,55,1,4,4665],"tags":[28,12422,488,4811,1153,5541,926,34,11922],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83545"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83553,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83545\/revisions\/83553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}