Mental Health Clinical Prep

Other than today being a Saturday, it was Mental Health Clinical Prep day.

We were put into different groups (4) and were shuffled around all day long into 1 hour and 15 minute lectures. I was in the blue group...wooh, my favorite color.

The first lecture was about the mental status examination.

We watched a nurse/patient interview and filled one of these bad boys out during the process. 

If you ever go crazy...these are the kinds of things they will be checking you out for...so be prepared!

Moving on to lecture two, we went over some case studies and came up with some interventions.

Nothing too crazy.

Lunch was provided again (yay) from McCallister's. 

After a short 30 minute break, it was time for lecture number 3.

We discussed some of our fears entering into a mental health clinical. The majority of us have the fear of saying the "wrong" thing or "setting off" a patient. 

We then discussed the different phases of the nurse-patient relationship.

The fourth and final lecture was entertaining. We were involved in some role playing. The professor almost made me pee in my pants when she acted out being a touchy-feely patient. We learned some therapeutic communication techniques and also went over non-therapeutic communication. 

The main thing I learned: it's always about the patient, never give advice, and redirecting may happen a lot

Believe it or not, we got out at 2:15

It's really sad that I get excited about being out of class at 2:15 on a Saturday...but hey, I'll take what I can get.

I'm not going to lie, mental health puts me in a crazy excited state. I don't know what it is, but learning about labotomies and electroshock therapy sends me into some kind of whirl. I don't know if it is the fear of having something like that done to me that interests me so much or what. 

The brain is a crazy thing.

I had the chance (time) to video chat with my parents for about an hour and then headed out for a jog/walk.

I finally bought a porch chair right before break and got it out of it's package this afternoon. 

I sat in it for 5 minutes and enjoyed it so much, but then reality sunk in and I knew I needed to do some work.

I read a chapter in my mental health book. I am now caught up with all the reading in that class for this past week (7 chapters). 

I took a break for dinner and then jumped right on into pharmacology. I have 4 chapters to read in there before Thursday and a quiz to complete. I only read one chapter tonight, but it's the longest. The rest are a bit shorter.

I think I have finally filled everything in on my calendar for the summer session. These first 2-3 weeks are pretty hectic. Then I have 2 four day weekends and a three day weekend in there. I think once I hit those breaks, I will feel as if I can breathe again. 

 Here is just a "short" list of what I need to get done before my Thursday and Friday classes this week.

No big deal.

I'll take the challenge.