PMHNP PRAC 6645 Clinical Skills
QUESTION
Before embarking on any professional or academic activity, it is important to understand the background, knowledge, and experience you bring to it. You might ask yourself, “What do I already know? What do I need to know? And what do I want to know?” This critical self-reflection is especially important for developing clinical skills such as those for advanced practice nursing.
The Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Clinical Skills List and Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form provided in the Learning Resources can be used to celebrate your progress throughout your practicum and identify skills gaps. The list covers all necessary skills you should demonstrate during your practicum experiences.
Just as you did in PRAC 6635, for this Assignment, you assess where you are now in your clinical skill development and make plans for this practicum. Specifically, you will identify strengths and opportunities for improvement regarding the required practicum skills. In this practicum experience, when developing your goals and objectives, be sure to keep assessment and diagnostic reasoning in mind.
To Prepare
Review the resources and clinical skills in the PMHNP Clinical Skills List document. It is recommended that you print out this document to serve as a guide throughout your practicum.
Review the “Developing SMART Goals” resource on how to develop goals and objectives that follow the SMART framework.
Review the resources on nursing competencies and nursing theory and consider how these inform your practice.
Download the Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form to complete this Assignment.
Assignment
Use the PMHNP Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form to complete the following:
Rate yourself according to your confidence level performing the procedures identified on the Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form.
Based on your ratings, summarize your strengths and opportunities for improvement.
Based on your self-assessment and theory of nursing practice, develop 3–4 measurable goals and objectives for this practicum experience. Include them on the designated area of the form.
PMHNP PRAC 6645 Clinical Skills
ANSWER
PMHNP PRAC 6645 Clinical Skills
Self-Assessment Form
Desired Clinical Skills for Students to Achieve Confident (Can complete independently) Mostly confident (Can complete with supervision) Beginning (Have performed with supervision or need supervision to feel confident) New (Have never performed or does not apply)
Comprehensive psychiatric evaluation skills in:
Recognizing clinical signs and symptoms of psychiatric illness across the lifespan
Differentiating between pathophysiological and psychopathological conditions
Performing and interpreting a comprehensive and/or interval history and physical examination (including laboratory and diagnostic studies)
Performing and interpreting a mental status examination
Performing and interpreting a psychosocial assessment and family psychiatric history
Performing and interpreting a functional assessment (activities of daily living, occupational, social, leisure, educational).
Diagnostic reasoning skill in:
Developing and prioritizing a differential diagnoses list
Formulating diagnoses according to DSM 5 based on assessment data
Differentiating between normal/abnormal age-related physiological and psychological symptoms/changes
Pharmacotherapeutic skills in:
Selecting appropriate evidence based clinical practice guidelines for medication plan (e.g., risk/benefit, patient preference, developmental considerations, financial, the process of informed consent, symptom management)
Evaluating patient response and modifying plan as necessary
Documenting (e.g., adverse reaction, the patient response, changes to the plan of care)
Psychotherapeutic Treatment Planning:
Recognizes concepts of therapeutic modalities across the lifespan
Selecting appropriate evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for a psychotherapeutic plan (e.g., risk/benefit, patient preference, developmental considerations, financial, the process of informed consent, symptom management, modality appropriate for the situation)
Applies age-appropriate psychotherapeutic counseling techniques with individuals, families, and/or groups
Develop an age-appropriate individualized plan of care
Provide psychoeducation to individuals, families, and/or groups
Promote health and disease prevention techniques
Self-Assessment skills:
Develop SMART goals for practicum experiences
Evaluating outcomes of practicum goals and modifying plan as necessary
Documenting and reflecting on learning experiences
Professional skills:
Maintains professional boundaries and therapeutic relationships with clients and staff
Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to improve clinical practice in mental health settings
Identifies ethical and legal dilemmas with possible resolutions
Demonstrates non-judgmental practice approach and empathy
Practices within the scope of practice
Selecting and implementing appropriate screening instrument(s), interpreting results, and making recommendations and referrals:
Demonstrates selecting the correct screening instrument appropriate for the clinical situation
Implements the screening instrument efficiently and effectively with the clients
Interprets results for screening instruments accurately
Develops an appropriate plan of care based on the screening instrument’s response
Identifies the need to refer to another specialty provider when applicable
Accurately documents recommendations for psychiatric consultations when applicable
Summary of strengths:
One of my strengths is Empathy which is evidenced in my ways of patient interaction and care providence. I believe that my empathy enables me to take care of patients dealing with different kinds of problems to their satisfaction. Additionally, empathy allows me to understand patients’ feelings and come up with the best ways to meet their optimal health (Anselmo-Witzel et al., 2017).
My second strength is my ability to effectively communicate with everyone. I am able to communicate excellently with patients, fellow nurses, and my seniors which enables me to comprehend the prevailing situations and ways to tackle them. Communication helps me in patient education, communication about their diagnosis as well as enhancing patient self-management.
My other strength is my willingness to learn new skills both clinical and non-clinical skills. I interact with different professionals to grasp their view of the profession as well as seek help whenever I am stuck. Additionally, I interact with patients and their families inquiring about their previous experiences and their expectations.
I am good at paying attention to even the smallest details which ensures my accuracy and reliability in my everyday work. Using this, I am able to strategize patient treatment plans, motivate my positive care quality as well as meet patient satisfaction.
Opportunities for growth:
One of my growth opportunities is growing my psychotherapeutic skills. The skill is essential for every psychiatric nurse as it facilitates the selection of appropriate therapy as per the patient’s age, psychiatric condition, and diagnosis.
My other opportunity for growth is to develop competency in the implementation of screening test results in psychiatric practice. I aim to cooperate with my instructor and fellow professionals to acquire the relevant expertise in this area.
My third area of improvement is in the assessment of care effectiveness that is offered. What I need to do I acquire assessment skills to determine whether the care provided is effective or not to facilitate optimum patient care and outcomes (Hercelinskyj & Alexander, 2019).
Lastly, I have an opportunity for effective collaboration with different professionals which will aid in advancing my practicum skills regarding patient management. I will explore different caring styles, and seek guidance and advice from colleagues and seniors to expound on my caring skills and knowledge.
Now, write three to four (3–4) possible goals and objectives for this practicum experience. Ensure that they follow the SMART Strategy, as described in the Learning Resources.
1. Goal: Become expertise in the employment of various psychotherapeutic treatments among patients of different ages presenting with different conditions and diagnoses.
a. Objective: In the first 3 weeks of the experience, I will explore the different psychotherapeutic procedures employed by care providers in managing psychiatric patients.
b. Objective: Employ the different psychotherapeutic methods learned when managing and treating patients based on their psychiatric conditions.
c. Objective: Collaborate with my instructor and fellow care providers in employing psychotherapeutic modalities when treating psychiatric patients.
2. Goal: Ensure that by the end of the practicum experience, I have gained outstanding expertise in the implementation of screening results for mental conditions.
a. Objective: Comprehend and analyze more than five screening results after every three days in my practicum experience.
b. Objective: Strategize effective treatment plans, at least 10, for the patients based on my interpreted screening results.
c. Objective: Seek help whenever I am stuck from competent care providers as well as my instructor regarding screening results, and cooperate with them in strategizing effective patient treatment plans.
3. Goal: Become expertise in the assessment of the effectiveness of the care provided to psychiatric patients by the end of the experience.
a. Objective: Go through 5 patient treatment plans assessing their effectiveness.
b. Objective: Assess the treatment plans employing evidence-based interventions for accuracy and up-to-date evaluation (Morgan, K. I., & Townsend, M. C. (2019).
c. Objective: Cooperate with my fellow care providers and my preceptor in the assessment processes.
4. Goal: Develop competencies in professional skills and offer quality patient care.
a. Objective: Provide patient care by observing ethical and legal issues.
b. Objective: Adhere to professional guidance from my workmates as well as my seniors
c. Objective: closely collaborate with other care providers to expand my skills and improve clinical practice.
Signature:
Date:
Course/Section:
References
Anselmo-Witzel, S., Orshan, S. A., Heitner, K. L., & Bachand, J. (2017). Are generation Y nurses satisfied on the job? Understanding their lived experiences. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 47(4), 232-237.
Hercelinskyj, G. (Julie), & Alexander, L. (2019).Mental Health Nursing: Applying Theory to Practice.Cengage AU.
Morgan, K. I., & Townsend, M. C. (2019).Essentials of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Concepts of Care in Evidence-Based Practice. F. A. Davis Company.
PMHNP PRAC 6645 Clinical Skills