Throughout this course, we had two rounds of simulation. The first round for me was very difficult because it was my first time talking to patients. I had not had clinical yet for this course so I was very anxious about how to approach and talk to the patients. I was very reserved throughout this first simulation, I asked questions related to the part I was assigned and then sat and watched the rest trying to observe and learn from everyone around me in regards to how they communicated and approached certain topics. The second round of simulation I think was much better for me because I had gone through clinical, I had grown and learned more about how to talk to the patients and I think I really showed that in simulation. The first round of simulation went pretty smoothly, my group was not really faced with any challenges that we had to address. Second round of simulation we struggled with one patient in specific (substance use patient) and we had to work through our frustration and lack of insight we got with this patient. We talked as a group about how to address this patient before he got in the room, then it seemed as though everything was thrown out the window while we were talking to him. We did not use therapeutic communication and not only were we frustrated with the patient, but he was frustrated with us as well. At the end of this patient, we all talked about what we could have done better next time and I think we all learned from the experience. I learned that the mental health nursing process is just how it sounds, a process. You have to be patient and open minded because the patients can tell when you’re judging them and it makes them closed off. During the first simulation I definitely did not feel as though I was ready to address mental health problems in the clinical setting, however after going through clinical and the second round of simulation I feel much more confident in my abilities to address problems that come up.
