Mental Health/Geriatric Psychiatric

Catalog description

Mental Health/Geriatric Psychiatric Nursing is a lecture, simulated lab, and clinical based course that will focus on mental health and illness throughout the life span, with emphasis on the geriatric population and understanding psychopharmacology. In the classroom setting the student will learn the importance of therapeutic communication, relationships, therapy, and caring for patients with psychiatric disorders. The student will learn about specific concerns of the geriatric population regarding; health maintenance, health promotion, and home health consideration, medication, nutritional, and fluid balance needs, and legal and ethical concerns re lated to elder law and abuse. The mental disorders that will be discussed are stress and stress related disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders , eating disorders, and multiple mood disorders that include depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, and addictive disorders. The stude nt will also learn how to care for a patient experiencing a psychiatric emergency, child, partner, and elder violence, suicidal thoughts a nd behaviors, anger, aggression, violence, and care for the dying patient. Building on these principles, students will apply what they have learned in a clinical setting under the supervision of their instructor where they will work with the psychiatric patient population. Working with their instructor, students will observe the milieu, offer individual and group conversa tion to patients. Prerequisite: Student must have passed the following courses NUR100 & NUR119, NUR105, NUR115, NUR130 & NUR125