| Learning Objective #1: Address the creative planning phase of an academic and government facility partnership including goals for a geriatric mental health student experience | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Address the evaluation of the student clinical experience from the perspective of the client(s), the student(s),the facility staff, the instructor(s), and course objectives |
As America continues to gray, more than ever it is important that professional nursing students learn to identify and care for the mental health needs of elders. Schools of nursing have frequently used the rehabilitation/long-term care setting for beginning nursing students' clinical experiences. Little emphasis has been placed in nursing education programs on mental health issues apart from psychopathologies that are frequently identified in this population, e.g. the concepts of loneliness, anxiety, fear of the unknown, isolation, multiple losses, and depression. Traditional clinical placements for students in a mental health nursing course have not provided opportunities for the use of geriatric assessment tools and the planning of focused nursing care based on these assessments.
When the need for additional clinical sites for students in a mental health nursing class arose due to increasing enrollment, university faculty investigated opportunities for senior nursing students to interact with elderly clients in well-care and healing environments. Such an experience would meet the objectives of the mental health nursing course and increase student involvement in elder care.
Through a private university partnership with a Veterans Administration facility, nursing students are learning to identify and recognize the effects of mental health needs on the bio-physical health of their elderly clients. Using mental health assessment tools for the elderly population, they are learning how to individualize nursing care. The rehabilitation/long-term care focus of the units used for this clinical experience allows each student the opportunity to care for the same clients over multiple weeks, encouraging the student to learn from the client. Using mental health as the filter, students are able to build on knowledge acquired at the junior level, use critical thinking strategies to synthesize assessment findings, and give total client care. This experience reinforces holistic nursing care for the student, benefiting the elderly clients.
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