PRAC 6635: Psychopathology and Diagnostic Reasoning Practicum Week 1: Competencies of Advanced Nursing Practice

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Sep 5, 2024 • 30 min read

What do I have to do? When do I have to do it?
Review your Learning Resources. Days 1–7
Assignment 1: Practicum Site Information Submit Assignment 1 by Day 7.
Assignment 2: Clinical Skills and Procedures Self-Assessment Submit Assignment 2 by Day 7.
Assignment 3: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs Track your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek throughout this Practicum course.

Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.

—Xun Kuang, Chinese Confucian philosopher

Welcome to your Psychopathology and Diagnostic Reasoning Practicum! The practicum experience is an experiential learning opportunity, which allows you to gain and refine your clinical nursing skills under the mentorship of a Preceptor. As you engage with patients in the practicum setting, your involvement will extend your learning about a variety of psychiatric and mental healthcare needs for patients across the lifespan.

Throughout the next 11 weeks, you will evaluate your skill development, reflect on patient encounters, and generate goals related to your growth as an advanced practice nurse. This week, you start by assessing your strengths and opportunities related to Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) clinical skills.

Learning Objectives
Students will:

Complete Practicum site form
Assess clinical skills and procedures related to advanced nursing practice
Develop measurable goals and objectives for the practicum experience
Describe clinical hours and patient encounters
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Assignment
Practicum Manual Acknowledgment
The Practicum Manual describes the structure and timing of the classroom-based and practicum experiences and the policies students must follow to be successful in the nurse practitioner (NP) specialties.

Field Experience: MSN Nurse Practitioner Practicum Manual
Click here and follow the instructions to confirm you have downloaded and read the entire MSN Nurse Practitioner Practicum Manual and will abide by the requirements described in order to successfully complete this program.

Optional Discussion Forum: PMHNP Study Support Lounge
The PMHNP Study Support Lounge is offered throughout the course as a place of academic refuge, where you can ask questions, offer insights, and interact with your peers. Your Instructor may also weigh in to provide global feedback to the group based on trends, common problems, and common strengths in student posts.

As a peer, you are encouraged to provide constructive, helpful feedback to your peers. Advanced practice nurses always benefit from the feedback of others. Your Study Support Lounge posts may be procedural (“How do I attach a Kaltura video to a Discussion post?”), conceptual (“How does this relate to the other therapy approaches we have studied?”), or analytical (“What do these diagnostic results actually mean in the context of this specific patient case?”). Although not mandatory, this is an opportunity to interact and study together as you navigate the assignments, so you are highly encouraged to take part in this activity. Full participation in activities like these is a statistically significant predictor of success.

To Participate in this Optional Discussion:

PMHNP Study Support Lounge

Assignment 1: Practicum Site Information

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Prior to starting the course, you should have applied for a practicum site following the guidelines for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) practice. Now it is time to make it official. For this Assignment, you provide your Clinical Faculty with information about your practicum site, your Preceptor, and your clinical calendar.

To prepare:

Verify that your practicum application has been approved by logging in to Meditrek.
Access the Practicum Site Information Form from the Learning Resources.
Assignment
Complete the designated areas of the Practicum Site Information Form. Include your practicum site and contact information; your Preceptor and contact information; and a schedule of when you plan to engage in onsite practicum activities.

Students must provide their schedule in the form of a monthly calendar with the time written out on the appropriate date. For example, writing 8 hours on the 5th day of the monthly calendar slot is not acceptable. You must enter 8am-4pm or 10pm-6pm in the day slot of the monthly calendar. Students need to complete the calendar for the whole quarter to demonstrate to the faculty the total number of hours to be completed this quarter.

NOTE: Students have a responsibility to notify faculty of any schedule changes throughout the quarter.

By Day 7
Submit your completed Practicum Site Information Form.

Submission and Grading Information
Submit Your Assignment by Day 7
To participate in this Assignment:

Week 1 Assignment 1

Assignment 2: Clinical Skills Self-Assessment

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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 PRAC 6635 Clinical Skills List and PRAC 6635 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 experience.

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 clinical skills in the PRAC 6635 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.
Download the PRAC 6635 Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form to complete this Assignment.
Assignment
Use the PRAC 6635 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 three to four (3–4) measurable goals and objectives for this practicum experience. Include them on the designated area of the form.
By Day 7
Submit your completed Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form.

Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK1Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
Click the Week 1 Assignment 2 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
Click the Week 1 Assignment 2 link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK1Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:

Week 1 Assignment 2 Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity
To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 1 Assignment 2 draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 1
To participate in this Assignment:

Week 1 Assignment 2

Assignment 3: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs

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Clinical Hour Log

For this course, all practicum activity hours are logged within the Meditrek system. Hours completed must be logged in Meditrek within 48 hours of completion to be counted. You may only log hours with Preceptors that are approved in Meditrek. Students with catalog years before Spring 2018 must complete a minimum of 144 practicum hours. Students with catalog years beginning Spring 2018 must complete a minimum of 160 practicum hours.

You may not complete your hours sooner than 8 weeks. By the end of Week 1, make sure you confirm your Preceptor and clinical faculty are set up in Meditrek.

Each log entry must be linked with an individual practicum learning objective or a graduate program objective. You should track your hours in Meditrek as they are completed.

Your clinical hour log must include the following:

Dates
Course
Clinical Faculty
Preceptor
Total Time (for the day)
Notes/Comments–including the objective to which the log entry is aligned
Patient Log
Throughout this course, you will also keep a log of patient encounters using Meditrek. You must record at least 80 patients by the end of this practicum.

The patient log must include the following:

Date
Course
Clinical Faculty
Preceptor
Patient Number
Client Information
Visit Information
Practice Management
Diagnosis
Student Notes- Students must include a brief summary/synopsis of the patient visit—this does not need to be a SOAP note; however, the note needs to be sufficient to remember your patient encounter
Record your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek.

What’s Coming Up in Week 2?

Photo Credit: [BrianAJackson]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images

Next week, you will coordinate an email with your Clinical Faculty and Preceptor for orientation and onboarding, as well as to discuss goals and any related questions. You will continue recording your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek. You will also engage in reading to bolster your confidence in psychiatric interviewing.

Looking Ahead: Practicum Experience Plan (PEP)
Now that you have completed your self-assessment in Week 1, you will begin developing your Practicum Experience Plan (PEP) in Week 2. Your self-assessment will inform your plan. Please take the time to review your PEP Assignment in Week 2 and plan your time accordingly.

Practicum – Upcoming Deadline
In the Nurse Practitioner programs of study (FNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP, and PMHNP) you are required to take several practicum courses. If you plan on taking a practicum course within the next two terms, you will need to submit your application via Meditrek .

For information on the practicum application process and deadlines, please visit the Field Experience: College of Nursing: Application Process – Graduate web page.

Please take the time to review the Appropriate Preceptors and Field Sites for your courses.

Please take the time to review the practicum manuals, FAQs, Webinars and any required forms on the Field Experience: College of Nursing: Student Resources and Manuals web page.

Field Experience: College of Nursing Quick Answers
Field Experience: MSN Nurse Practitioner Practicum Manual
Student Practicum Resources: NP Student Orientation
To go to the next week:

Week 2

Week 2: Practicum Experience Plan

What do I have to do? When do I have to do it?
Review your Learning Resources. Days 1–7
Reminder: Orientation Communication Complete your orientation email by Day 7.
Assignment 1: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs Record your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek.
Assignment 2: Practicum Experience Plan (PEP) Submit Assignment 2 by Day 7.

When setting sharp, clearly defined goals and objectives, you focus on what you wish to accomplish and how and when you will get there. Based on your assessment of your strengths and opportunities related to psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) clinical skills, you can develop goals and objectives for your clinical practicum that can guide your activities. What are some steps you can take on the way to a larger goal? How might you gain confidence in a clinical skill or seek out more opportunities to practice? What external activities might boost your professionalism or enhance your skill set? As you settle in at your practicum site, keep these questions in mind.

This week, you continue engaging with patients at your practicum site, recording your time and experiences in your Clinical Hour and Patient Logs. You will also develop a Practicum Experience Plan (PEP) made up of goals and objectives designed to formally identify specific categories of clinical skills and procedures you wish to achieve during your practicum experience. Finally, through this week’s reading selections, you can deepen your understanding of the psychiatric interview.

Learning Objectives
Students will:

Describe clinical hours and patient encounters
Develop a Practicum Experience Plan
Create a timeline of practicum activities based on your practicum requirements
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Reminder: Orientation Communication

Photo Credit: Ellagrin / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images

This week, you must coordinate an introductory email with your Clinical Faculty and Preceptor. The purpose of this communication is for orientation and onboarding, goals discussion, and questions.

By Day 7
Complete your orientation email and send to your faculty and preceptor. Attach your clinical schedule calendar developed in Week 1 in your email. Include a summary of your goals and objectives for this practicum experience.

Assignment 1: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs

Photo Credit: auremar / Adobe Stock

Clinical Hour Log

Each log entry must be linked with an individual practicum learning objective or a graduate program objective. You should track your hours in Meditrek as they are completed.

Your clinical hour log must include the following:

The patient log must include the following:

Assignment 2: Practicum Experience Plan (PEP)

Photo Credit: Getty Images

As you establish your goals and objectives for this course, you are committing to an organized plan that will frame your practicum experience in a clinical setting, including planned activities, assessment, and achievement of defined outcomes. In particular, they must address the categories of clinical reasoning, quality in your clinical specialty, and interpersonal collaborative practice.

For this Assignment, you will consider the areas you aim to focus on to gain practical experience as an advanced practice nurse. Then, you will develop a Practicum Experience Plan (PEP) containing the objectives you will fulfill in order to achieve your aims. In this practicum experience, when developing your goals and objectives, be sure to keep psychiatric assessment and diagnostic reasoning in mind.

To Prepare
Review your Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form you submitted last week and think about areas for which you would like to gain application-level experience and/or continued growth as an advanced practice nurse. How can your experiences in the Practicum help you achieve these aims?
Review the information related to developing objectives provided in this week’s Learning Resources.  Your practicum learning objectives that you want to achieve during your Practicum experience must be:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Results-focused
Time-bound
Reflective of the higher-order domains of Bloom’s taxonomy (i.e., application level and above)
Note: Please make sure your objectives are outlined in your Practicum Experience Plan (PEP).

Discuss your professional aims and your proposed practicum objectives with your Preceptor to ascertain if the necessary resources are available at your practicum site.
Assignment
Record the required information in each area of the Practicum Experience Plan template, including three to four (3–4) practicum learning objectives you will use to facilitate your learning during the practicum experience.

By Day 7
Submit the Practicum Experience Plan for assessment and Faculty approval. When your Instructor has approved your plan, forward the signed PEP to your Preceptor, and retain a copy for your records.

Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK2Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
Click the Week 2 Assignment 2 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
Click the Week 2 Assignment 2 link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK2Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:

Week 2 Assignment 2 Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity
To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 2 Assignment 2 draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7
To participate in this Assignment:

Week 2 Assignment

What’s Coming Up in Week 3?

Photo Credit: [BrianAJackson]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images

Next week, you will engage in reading to bolster your confidence in diagnosing mood disorders. Additionally, you will track your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek.

To go to the next week:

Week 3

Week 3: Mood Disorders

What do I have to do? When do I have to do it?
Review your Learning Resources. Days 1–7

Assignment: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs Record your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek.

Mood disorders such as depression are some of the most common disorders that you may encounter in clinical practice. They often appear as comorbidities with other issues, such as chronic illness, anxiety disorders, PTSD, or drug or alcohol dependence. As you develop fluency in assessing for and diagnosing mood disorders at your practicum site, remember to frequently consult the DSM-5-TR and your preceptor for guidance in formulating differential diagnoses.

This week, you engage with resources that support your growing knowledge of mood disorders. You also continue to track clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek.

Learning Objectives
Students will:

Describe clinical hours and patient encounters
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Assignment: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs

Photo Credit: auremar / Adobe Stock

Clinical Hour Log

Each log entry must be linked with an individual practicum learning objective or a graduate program objective. You should track your hours in Meditrek as they are completed.

Your clinical hour log must include the following:

The patient log must include the following:

What’s Coming Up in Week 4?

Photo Credit: [BrianAJackson]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images

Next week, you will continue your clinical hour and patient logs in Meditrek. The week’s resource selections will also support your knowledge of assessing and diagnosing anxiety disorders, PTSD, and OCD.

Next Week
To go to the next week:

Week 4

Week 4: Anxiety Disorders, PTSD, and OCD

What do I have to do? When do I have to do it?
Review your Learning Resources. Days 1–7
Assignment: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs Record your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek.

Your weekly practicum Learning Resources mirror those content areas in the pre- or co-requisite companion course, NRNP 6635. Thus, this week, the Learning Resources support your knowledge of the assessment and diagnosis of anxiety disorders, PTSD, and OCD. It is recognized that at your site, you likely are seeing patients with a variety of disorders. Consult your course texts, as needed, to support the experiences you are encountering at your site. If you encountered a patient at your practicum site with an anxiety disorder, consider what patient factors and behaviors you think might impact the disorder. Also, consider steps you might take to mitigate the risk of misdiagnosing an anxiety disorder. As you progress in your clinical practicum, you continue to use Meditrek to record your time and patient encounters, thoughtfully considering the skills you are gaining.

Learning Objectives
Students will:

Describe clinical hours and patient encounters
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Assignment : Clinical Hour and Patient Logs

Photo Credit: auremar / Adobe Stock

Clinical Hour Log

Each log entry must be linked with an individual practicum learning objective or a graduate program objective. You should track your hours in Meditrek as they are completed.

Your clinical hour log must include the following:

The patient log must include the following:

What’s Coming Up in Week 5?
Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation and Patient Case Presentation
Next week, you will select a clinical patient from your practicum setting and complete a Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation to document information about the patient and formulate differential diagnoses. Based on this evaluation, you will then develop a case presentation on this patient.

Midterm Clinical Evaluation in Meditrek

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By Day 7 of Week 5, your Preceptor will be required to complete your Midterm Evaluation in the Meditrek system.

Ensure that both you and your Preceptor have submitted the required online evaluation in the Meditrek system. You must complete all fields in the log and have your Preceptor verify your completed hours in Meditrek. There is nothing to submit in the classroom for this assignment; it is submitted through Meditrek.

Next Week
To go to the next week:

Week 5

Week 5: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation and Patient Case Presentation; Midterm Clinical Evaluation

What do I have to do? When do I have to do it?
Review your Learning Resources. Days 1–7
Assignment 1: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs Record your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek.
Assignment 2: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation and Case Presentation Submit by Day 7.
Assignment 3: Midterm Evaluation Your Preceptor will evaluate your clinical skills by Day 7.

Consider the experiences you have had thus far, either in the healthcare workplace or at your practicum site. As you likely know, a nurse’s job does not begin and end with one-to-one patient contact. It includes meetings, documentation, trainings, and collaboration. In particular, the nurse is a member of an interdisciplinary team and must use oral and written communication to inform others of a patient’s status. A central skill of advanced practice nursing, then, is the ability to present a patient’s history, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment plan to relevant parties involved in treatment.

This week, in addition to your Meditrek tracking, you will develop a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and video case presentation on one of the patients you have interacted with in your clinical practicum. Also, as you approach the halfway point of your practicum, your Preceptor will assess your clinical skills this week in a Midterm Clinical Evaluation.

Learning Objectives
Students will:

Describe clinical hours and patient encounters
Assess patients across the lifespan in mental health settings
Formulate differential diagnoses for patients in mental health settings across the lifespan
Develop a case study presentation based on a clinical patient
Compare preceptor evaluation with self-evaluation to assimilate level of clinical performance
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Assignment 1 : Clinical Hour and Patient Logs

Photo Credit: auremar / Adobe Stock

Clinical Hour Log

Each log entry must be linked with an individual practicum learning objective or a graduate program objective. You should track your hours in Meditrek as they are completed.

Your clinical hour log must include the following:

The patient log must include the following:

Assignment 2: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation and Patient Case Presentation

Photo Credit: Pexels

Comprehensive psychiatric evaluations are a way to reflect on your practicum experiences and connect the experiences to the learning you gain from your weekly Learning Resources. Comprehensive notes, such as the ones required in this practicum course, are often used in clinical settings to document patient care.

For this Assignment, you will document information about a patient that you examined during the last 5 weeks, using the Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Template provided. You will then use this note to develop and record a case presentation for this patient.

To Prepare
Select a patient that you examined during the last 5 weeks. Review prior resources on the disorder this patient has.
It is recommended that you use the Kaltura Personal Capture tool to record and upload your assignment.
Review the Kaltura Media Uploader resource in the left-hand navigation of the classroom for help creating your self-recorded Kaltura Personal Capture video. The Personal Capture Quickstart Guide will walk you through creating your video, uploading it to Blackboard and placing it into the assignment area.
Conduct a Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation on this patient using the template provided in the Learning Resources. There is also a completed exemplar document in the Learning Resources so that you can see an example of the types of information a completed evaluation document should contain. All psychiatric evaluations must be signed, and each page must be initialed by your Preceptor. When you submit your document, you should include the complete Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation as a Word document, as well as a PDF/images of each page that is initialed and signed by your Preceptor. You must submit your document using SafeAssign. Please Note: Electronic signatures are not accepted. If both files are not received by the due date, Faculty will deduct points per the Walden Late Policies.
Develop a video case presentation, based on your progress note of this patient, that includes chief complaint; history of present illness; any pertinent past psychiatric, substance use, medical, social, family history; most recent mental status exam; and current psychiatric diagnosis, including differentials that were ruled out.
Include at least five (5) scholarly resources to support your assessment and diagnostic reasoning.
Ensure that you have the appropriate lighting and equipment to record the presentation.
Assignment
Record yourself presenting the complex case for your clinical patient.

Do not sit and read your written evaluation! The video portion of the assignment is a simulation to demonstrate your ability to succinctly and effectively present a complex case to a colleague for a case consultation. The written portion of this assignment is a simulation for you to demonstrate to the faculty your ability to document the complex case as you would in an electronic medical record. The written portion of the assignment will be used as a guide for faculty to review your video to determine if you are omitting pertinent information or including non-essential information during your case staffing consultation video.

In your presentation:

Dress professionally and present yourself in a professional manner.
Display your photo ID at the start of the video when you introduce yourself.
Ensure that you do not include any information that violates the principles of HIPAA (i.e., don’t use the patient’s name or any other identifying information).
Present the full case. Include chief complaint; history of present illness; any pertinent past psychiatric, substance use, medical, social, family history; most recent mental status exam; and current psychiatric diagnosis, including differentials that were ruled out.
Report normal diagnostic results as the name of the test and “normal” (rather than specific value). Abnormal results should be reported as a specific value.
Be succinct in your presentation, and do not exceed 8 minutes. Address the following:

Subjective: What details did the patient provide regarding their personal and medical history? What are their symptoms of concern? How long have they been experiencing them, and what is the severity? How are their symptoms impacting their functioning?
Objective: What observations did you make during the interview and review of systems?
Assessment: What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three (3) possible diagnoses. List them from highest to lowest priority. What was your primary diagnosis, and why?
Reflection notes: What would you do differently in a similar patient evaluation? Reflect on one social determinant of health according to the HealthyPeople 2030 (you will need to research) as applied to this case in the realm of psychiatry and mental health. As a future advanced provider, what are one health promotion activity and one patient education consideration for this patient for improving health disparities and inequities in the realm of psychiatry and mental health? Demonstrate your critical thinking.
By Day 7
Submit your Video and Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation. You must submit two (2) files for the evaluation, including a Word document and scanned PDF/images of each page that is initialed and signed by your Preceptor.

Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK5Assign2+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
Click the Week 5 Assignment 2 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
Click the Week 5 Assignment 2 link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK5Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:

Week 5 Assignment 2 Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity
To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 5 Assignment 2 draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 5
To participate in this Assignment:

Week 5 Assignment 2

Assignment 3: Midterm Clinical Evaluation in Meditrek

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Now that you have been working at your practicum site for more than a month, it is time to test your skills. Your Preceptor will now assess your clinical skills in a midterm clinical evaluation. In preparation for your evaluation, you may wish to review your PMHNP Clinical Skills List and Resource Review document, as well as revisit the goals and objectives you established in Weeks 1 and 2.

To Prepare
Check with your Preceptor to verify that they have received Meditrek credentials.

Following your midterm evaluation, your Clinical Faculty and Preceptor will meet privately to discuss your results and feedback. Once you receive your feedback, compare your Preceptor’s evaluation with your self-evaluation to better understand your clinical performance.

Clinical Evaluation Grades
Your clinical instructor will complete an evaluation with feedback from your preceptor and evaluation of your work. Meditrek calculates an average score which will be used to determine the score that will be entered into Blackboard for your evaluation grade.

By Day 7
Your evaluation should be completed by your Preceptor.

Grading Criteria
Week 5 Midterm Evaluation Rubric

What’s Coming Up in Week 6?

Photo Credit: [BrianAJackson]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images

Next week, you will continue to track your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek. You will also engage in reading to bolster your confidence in assessing and diagnosing neurocognitive, neurodevelopmental, eating, and somatic symptom disorders.

Next Week
To go to the next week:

Week 6

Week 6: Neurocognitive, Neurodevelopmental, Eating, and Somatic Symptom-Related Disorders

What do I have to do? When do I have to do it?
Review your Learning Resources. Days 1–7
Assignment: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs Record your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek.

This week, you will continue to engage with Meditrek, recording your clinical hours and patient encounters. You will also reinforce your knowledge about assessment and diagnosis of neurocognitive, neurodevelopmental, eating, and somatic symptom-related disorders through the resource selections. As you think about the patients in your clinical setting who may have one of these types of disorders, consider the strategies you would use to facilitate the treatment and management process while providing patient education and support.

Learning Objectives
Students will:

Describe clinical hours and patient encounters
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Assignment: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs

Photo Credit: auremar / Adobe Stock

Clinical Hour Log

Each log entry must be linked with an individual practicum learning objective or a graduate program objective. You should track your hours in Meditrek as they are completed.

Your clinical hour log must include the following:

The patient log must include the following:

What’s Coming Up in Week 7?

Photo Credit: [BrianAJackson]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images

Next week, you will complete another comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and case presentation on a clinical patient that you examined during the last 2 weeks. This should be a patient who presented with any disorder other than the one you selected for your Week 5 presentation. Additionally, you will continue your clinical hour and patient logs in Meditrek. You will also review resource selections that support your assessment and diagnosis of schizophrenia, other psychotic disorders, and medication-induced movement disorders.

Next Week
To go to the next week:

Week 7: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation and Patient Case Presentation

At your practicum site, you have been strengthening your communication, diagnostic, procedural, and treatment planning skills. This week, you highlight these skills as you present a complete case in a video, just as you did in Week 5. You also continue to track your clinical time and patients in Meditrek.

Your readings this week reinforce your knowledge about assessment and diagnosis of psychotic and medication-induced movement disorders. As you think about the patients in your clinical setting who may have a psychotic or medication-induced movement disorder, consider the strategies you would use to facilitate the treatment and management process while providing patient education and support.

Learning Objectives
Students will:

Describe clinical hours and patient encounters
Assess patients across the lifespan in mental health settings
Formulate differential diagnoses for patients in mental health settings across the lifespan
Develop a case study presentation based on a clinical patient
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Assignment 1: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs

Photo Credit: auremar / Adobe Stock

Clinical Hour Log

Each log entry must be linked with an individual practicum learning objective or a graduate program objective. You should track your hours in Meditrek as they are completed.

Your clinical hour log must include the following:

The patient log must include the following:

Assignment 2: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation and Patient Case Presentation

Photo Credit: Pexels

For this Assignment, you will document information about a patient that you examined during the last 2 weeks, using the Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Template provided. You will then use this note to develop and record a case presentation for this patient.

To Prepare
Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider the insights they provide about assessment and diagnosis. Also review the Kaltura Media Uploader resource in the left-hand navigation of the classroom for help creating your self-recorded Kaltura video.
Select a patient that you examined during the last 2 weeks who presented with a disorder other than the one present in your selected case for Week 5.
Conduct a Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation on this patient using the template provided in the Learning Resources. There is also a completed exemplar document in the Learning Resources so that you can see an example of the types of information a completed evaluation document should contain. All psychiatric evaluations must be signed, and each page must be initialed by your Preceptor. When you submit your document, you should include the complete Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation as a Word document, as well as a PDF/images of each page that is initialed and signed by your Preceptor. You must submit your document using SafeAssign.
Please Note: Electronic signatures are not accepted. If both files are not received by the due date, Faculty will deduct points per the Walden Late Policies.
Develop a video case presentation, based on your evaluation of this patient, that includes chief complaint; history of present illness; any pertinent past psychiatric, substance use, medical, social, family history; most recent mental status exam; and current psychiatric diagnosis, including differentials that were ruled out.
Include at least five (5) scholarly resources to support your assessment and diagnostic reasoning.
Ensure that you have the appropriate lighting and equipment to record the presentation.
Assignment
Record yourself presenting the complex case for your clinical patient.

In your presentation:

Dress professionally and present yourself in a professional manner.
Display your photo ID at the start of the video when you introduce yourself.
Ensure that you do not include any information that violates the principles of HIPAA (i.e., don’t use the patient’s name or any other identifying information).
Present the full case. Include chief complaint; history of present illness; any pertinent past psychiatric, substance use, medical, social, family history; most recent mental status exam; and current psychiatric diagnosis including differentials that were ruled out.
Report normal diagnostic results as the name of the test and “normal” (rather than specific value). Abnormal results should be reported as a specific value.
Be succinct in your presentation, and do not exceed 8 minutes. Address the following:

Subjective: What details did the patient provide regarding their personal and medical history? What are their symptoms of concern? How long have they been experiencing them, and what is the severity? How are their symptoms impacting their functioning?
Objective: What observations did you make during the interview and review of systems?
Assessment: What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three (3) possible diagnoses. List them from highest to lowest priority. What was your primary diagnosis and why?
Reflection notes: What would you do differently in a similar patient evaluation? Reflect on one social determinant of health according to the HealthyPeople 2030 (you will need to research) as applied to this case in the realm of psychiatry and mental health. As a future advanced provider, what are one health promotion activity and one patient education consideration for this patient for improving health disparities and inequities in the realm of psychiatry and mental health? Demonstrate your critical thinking.
By Day 7
Submit your Video and Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation. You must submit two (2) files for the evaluation, including a Word document and scanned PDF/images of each page that is initialed and signed by your Preceptor.

Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “Wk7Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
Click the Week 7 Assignment 2 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
Click the Week 7 Assignment 2 link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “Wk7Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:

Week 7 Assignment 2 Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity
To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 7 Assignment 2 draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7
To participate in this Assignment:

Week 7 Assignment 2

What’s Coming Up in Week 8?

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Next week, you will continue your clinical hour and patient logs in Meditrek. You will also engage in reading selections to support your confidence in assessing and diagnosing substance-related disorders.

Next Week
To go to the next week:

Week 8

What do I have to do? When do I have to do it?
Review your Learning Resources. Days 1–7
Assignment: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs Record your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek.

Carlat (2017) suggested that an initial diagnostic interview for substance-related disorders should be limited in scope, seeking to establish whether the patient’s behavior meets DSM-5-TR criteria, and to generally assess severity and relationships with comorbidities. A full history of individual, genetic, social, and environmental factors may not be possible during the initial interview. Note that the DSM-5-TR does not use the term addiction, in order to avoid the negative connotation of the word and to reflect the range of use from mild to severe. The advanced practice nurse, too, should seek to avoid stigma and use a non-judgmental approach with patients.

This week, you will reinforce your knowledge of assessment and diagnosis of substance-related disorders through your reading selections. You will also continue to engage with Meditrek, recording your clinical hours and patient encounters.

Reference: Carlat, D. J. (2017). The psychiatric interview (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

Learning Objective
Students will:

Describe clinical hours and patient encounters
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Assignment: Clinical Hour and Patient Logs

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Clinical Hour Log

Each log entry must be linked with an individual practicum learning objective or a graduate program objective. You should track your hours in Meditrek as they are completed.

Your clinical hour log must include the following:

The patient log must include the following:

What’s Coming Up in Week 9?

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Next week, you will select a clinical patient that you examined during the last 2 weeks who has a disorder other than the ones covered in your Week 5 and Week 7 Assignments. With this patient in mind, you will complete a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and case presentation. Additionally, you will track your clinical hours and patient encounters in Meditrek. You will also engage in reading to bolster your confidence in assessing and diagnosing personality, paraphilic, and sexual disorders.

Looking Ahead: Final Evaluation

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This week, check that your Preceptor has received an email from Meditrek with instructions for your Final Evaluation. The Final Evaluation is completed in Week 10.

Next Week
To go to the next week:

Week 9

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