1

Learning Plan 1

Introduction to Mental Health Nursing

Information
An overview of general mental health nursing practice and concepts.
Target Competency
Analyze concepts of mental health nursing.
You will demonstrate your competence:
by diagramming essential components of mental health care
by role playing situations that require interventions appropriate to mental health
clients
Your performance will be successful when:
response accurately identifies various components of mental health care
response identifies safety and protective concerns for the patient
response identifies safety and protective concerns for the nurse
response effectively utilizes therapeutic communication techniques
response demonstrates knowledge of various mental health treatment
approaches used in patient situations
response includes role of stress in exacerbating symptoms of mental illness
Learning Objectives
a. Examine the three components of psychotherapeutic management.
b. Examine the continuum of care in the treatment of mental health disorders.
c. Discuss the relationship between the continuum of care and the
psychotherapeutic management model.
d. Explain the various levels of care within the continuum of care.
e. Examine the enormity of mental health concerns in both human and financial
contexts.
f. Explore the history of psychiatry as a foundation for current mental health nursing
practice
g. Explain the impact of psychotropic drugs on psychiatric care.
h. Analyze the immediate and long-term effects of the community mental health
movement.
i. Examine issues that affect the delivery of psychiatric care.
j. Identify the various treatment activities used in inpatient psychiatric settings.
k. Identify the treatment environment of community health settings.
l. Explore the extent of mental illness in the United States.
m. Identify the most common mental disorders in the United States.
n. Discriminate between AXIS I-V in the DSM-IV-TR edition which is still used in
some clinical settings.
o. Identify guidelines applicable to all aspects of psychotherapeutic management.
Summer 2015

Learning Activities
_____READ in Keltner and Steele: Chapters 1 (Me, Meds, Milieu), 2 (Historical Issues),
22 (Therapeutic Environments in Various Treatment Settings) and 23
(Introduction to Psychopathology), and SCAN the Appendix DSM-5 Classification
of mental disorders.
_____REVIEW the study notes at the end of Keltner and Steele: Chapters 1, 2, 22,
23.
_____ANSWER the NCLEX review questions on the Evolve Elsevier website for the
assigned chapters in Keltner and Steele.

Assessment Activities
_____Strive to achieve a minimum competency of 78% on the review questions on the
Evolve website.
_____Evaluate your knowledge of the assigned reading.
_____Check to see if you can achieve the learning objectives.
_____Actively participate in all class discussions and activities.
Updated 4/21/2015

Summer 2015