Assessment is central to mental health nursing practice and involves collaboration in the identification of an individual’s needs and goals. Assessment is the scaffolding for nursing care plans, and enables the development of individualised, person-centred interventions. The need for mental health nurses to be able to plan, and undertake a comprehensive assessment that encompasses the mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, social, and cultural needs of the individual is the basis for the delivery of care. Comprehensive mental health nursing assessment involves the knowledge of acute illness and long-term conditions; it encompasses the application of enhanced communication skills within a biopsychosocial framework, underpinned by the principles of recovery. Applying such knowledge and skills, mental health nurses are required to engage with and develop specialised understanding of a wide construct of mental illness and mental wellbeing and working with people across the lifespan. You’ll explore the context of mental health nursing assessment, both the underpinning values and specific knowledge and skills across a range of domains. You’ll explore and develop enhanced communication skills as they relate to specialist mental health nursing from engagement with psychosocial theory.
Care planning is the process by which the health care professional and patients discuss and reach a shared understanding about the service user’s problems, needs and priorities, the desired outcomes or goals; the intentions leading to a certain goal, with the aim to reduce symptoms, distress associated with problem; and it involves identification of methods for progress and outcomes (Norman and Ryrie, 2018) You’ll explore how care planning is inextricably linked to assessment in mental health nursing as it is the term that is used to describe all the activities that nurses engage in, from the time a patient is admitted into their care to when they are discharged. It’s the activity of negotiating with the service user, discussing how interventions or actions might meet the service user’s needs and represent some sort of a solution, and exploring with the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) what solutions might be suitable. You’ll explore how care planning is the process by which the nurse arrives at a shared understanding with the service user of the problems and needs and their respective priority; the desired or expected outcome, which is reflected in the goals and objectives; and the interaction(s)/intervention(s) which are the pathway to a certain goal, with the aim to reduce symptoms, distress and/or disability associated with the identified need. You’ll critically link care planning as a process that follows assessment, involves identifying the problem/need with the service user, establishing the goals, determining nursing interventions, evaluating care processes and setting review dates. You’ll consider how care planning is an important aspects of the nurse’s role as it serves as a legal record of care given and evidence of the therapeutic tool used to encourage recovery. You’ll analyse how, if care planning is performed well, it improves the care of the individual. You’ll be asked to evaluate the effectiveness of care planning as a description or blueprint of an action or intervention that is intended to bring about a change for the service user, understanding that care plans are strategies. They should be transparent, easy to follow, logical and clearly explained, so that all people either receiving or delivering individualized care can read it and know what to do.
We’ll provide you with the opportunities to develop and practice clinical skills in order to achieve all the NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (NMC 2018) identified in the England Practice Assessment Document 3 in mental health nursing. We’ll support your transition to an autonomous practitioner in readiness for joining the NMC register. You’ll practice with increased confidence and competence as you apply the knowledge and skills learned throughout Part 3 of the course, to a real-world clinical setting, working with a variety of people who use services and their carers in a range of different settings. You’ll enhance your skills around accountability, professionalism, assessment and care planning, providing and evaluating care, leading and managing nursing care, working in teams, and improving safety and quality of care as part of a wider inter-professional team. Simulation in the University skills laboratory will be used to support evidence based practice in a safe environment, and you’ll undertake practice learning via simulation as part of this module. You’ll have a named Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisors during the practice module. In collaboration with the Practice Assessor/Supervisor, you’ll identify a learning goal for each shift, and will receive feedback on the achievement of that goal. The Practice Assessor, in consultation with the Practice Supervisors, Academic assessor, and yourself, will assess your achievement of professional values, and performance criteria using the England Practice Assessment Document to confirm that you are practising independently with minimal supervision, and leading and co-ordinating care with confidence.
Over the past few years mental health nurses have seen significant increases in demand for mental health support at a time when delivery of that support has been very challenging. In this module, you’ll learn to deliver and evaluate care using a range of evidence-based interventions, tailored to meet individual needs, preferences and goals, drawing on your knowledge, skills, compassion, and personal resilience. You’ll analyse research and evidence to inform decision making and support effective partnership and collaborative multi-professional working. Mental health nursing also requires leadership at every level. We’ll develop your skills in using the evidence and data, alongside your leadership skills, to review and evaluate mental health care and identify ways in which you can bring about continuous improvements in care. We’ll support you through your Undergraduate Major Project to develop skills in sharing knowledge and understanding through poster presentations and writing for publication.
This module encourages the acquisition of skills and knowledge around therapeutic engagement and interventions within mental health care. The spectrum of interventions ranging from prevention, to treatments, to continuing development will be examined. You will analyse how socially inclusive practice and focusing on the promotion of dignity influences participation and the result of interventions. Subjective and objective appraisals will be included to illustrate perceptions and measurements of intervention outcome. This will help you understand the function of transparent clinical actions and will provide vital consideration for your future practice.
Entering higher education is exciting; but it can also be a daunting experience. At ARU, we want all our students to make the most of the opportunities higher education provides, reach your potential, become lifelong learners and find fulfilling careers. However, we appreciate that the shift from secondary education, or a return to formal education is, in itself, quite a journey. This module is designed to ease that transition. You'll be enrolled on it as soon as you receive an offer from ARU so you can begin to learn about university life before your course starts. Through Into ARU, you'll explore a virtual land modelled around ARU values: Courage, Innovation, Community, Integrity, Responsibility, and Ambition. This innovative module is designed as a game, where you collect knowledge and complete mini tasks. You'll proceed at your own pace, though we you to have completed your Into ARU exploration by week 6. If for any reason you're unable to complete by that date, we'll signpost to existing services so that we can be confident that you are supported.