This course is designed to provide the foundation for entry level competence in both Maternal/Child and Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing across the lifespan. The Maternal/Child section of the course builds on previously mastered medical surgical content with an application to the maternity and pediatric population. The mental health section of the course introduces the student to the basic concepts necessary to care for patients experiencing alterations in mental health. Psychiatric nursing within a variety of relevant contexts will be explored. Clinical and lab experiences are selected to provide the opportunity for students to increase their assessment skills and decision-making skills in the specialties. Emphasis is placed on the practical nurse’s role as an effective member of a multidisciplinary team.
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Apply the curricular threads of medical surgical nursing, pharmacology, nutrition, culture, and teaching and learning to the care of the childbearing woman, neonate, child. and patients with mental health illness.
- Demonstrate knowledge of psychiatric pathophysiology and treatment for psychiatric disorders.
- Discuss barriers and the stigma surrounding mental health disorders.
- Use the nursing process to plan care for patients with mental health diagnoses.
- Identify the importance of therapeutic communication to ensure safety of patients, self, and others.
- Discuss physical and emotional demands of pregnancy and childbirth, including complications and related nursing management.
- Describe common diagnostic testing used for the specialty population.
- Describe a family-centered approach to the care of children and their families.
- Discuss principles of normal growth and development and changes seen in the child-bearing family.
- Describe the role of the practical nurse in maintaining accountability for delivering safe, ethical, and legal nursing care.