SKOMPPRA20 Nursing Persons with Mental Health Problems Course description

In this course, students will learn about mental health work, relational skills and factors that promote and harm the mental health of individuals and groups. People's resources and opportunities, but also their vulnerabilities as individuals, are areas of focus. The significance of close relationships and society's influence are important for mental health and are emphasised in the course. This includes patient phenomena such as hope and hopelessness, pain and pain relief, exhaustion and energy. You will complete 7 weeks of practical training in this course.

Admission to the programme.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can present mental health work in a historical perspective
• can reflect on factors that inhibit and promote mental health at individual and group level
• can s discuss how psychosis, personality disorders, anxiety, mood disorder and drug addiction can influence the patients’ fundamental needs and self-understanding
• can describe mental health and psychosocial challenges among refugees and immigrants and how for example stigma, exclusion, discrimination, and racism can influence mental health and psychosocial health
• can describe strategies for mastery and concepts such as improvement processes, user participation, recovery, and empowerment
• can account for various mental disorders and the consequences for person-centered nursing
• can explain how framework factors such as current legislation and compulsory regulations can be of significance to the practice of nursing in mental health work
• can discuss the special needs of children and young people related to trauma, neglect, violence, abuse and drug and socio-economic problems

Skills

The student

• can apply key milieu therapeutic principles related to patients with mental disorders
• can apply knowledge about the main groups of psychotropic drugs and integrate knowledge from disease theory in assessing the effects and side effects of drugs
• can apply communication and interaction skills when encountering people with mental health issues and their next-of-kin and can establish, maintain, and terminate relationships
• can map symptoms of various mental and drug-related disorders and conditions and use relevant mapping tools in the practice of nursing
• is capable of continuously assessing situations that entail a risk for patients and/or staff and preventing unwanted incidents

General competence

The student

• can reflect on his/her own professional practice and power structures when encountering people with mental health issues and drug addictions and and receive guidance and feedback
• can reflect on existing procedures and methods, and taking the initiative to engage in dialogue about the implementation of new knowledge and new work methods in person-centred nursing and in interdisciplinary collaboration

Language of instruction: Norwegian/English

Under supervision, the students will conduct an independent research or development project, or a literature summary. Students can choose to write the master’s thesis individually or in pairs. On application, large, interdisciplinary innovation projects can be written in groups of up to four students. Students can also apply to write the master’s thesis with students from other specialisations if they so wish, provided that the scope of the master’s thesis is the same. If more than one student work on the master’s thesis together, each student’s contributions must be documented. The thesis can be written as a monograph or as a scientific article on a specialised topic.

Development of the project description in preparation for the master’s thesis is part of the course MAVIT4070 Research Design and Project Description, 10 ECTS credits.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can give an account of the health-promoting, preventive, rehabilitating and alleviating function of nurses, including knowledge about palliative care
• can explain ageing processes and the special needs of the elderly
• can explain clinical assessment processes in nursing for the purpose of addressing the patient’s basic needs and improving his/her own resources in the course of the illness
• can explain the concept of patient-centred nursing
• can give an account of the management and organisation of the health service
• is familiar with tools and methods for running innovation processes, implementation and continuous improvement work
• can elaborate on challenges relating to information security in nursing practice

Skills

The student can

• provide nursing care that attends to the patient’s basic needs and resources, with a focus on patients with permanent or recurring medical conditions
• organise, manage and coordinate nursing care for a group of patients
• use relevant medical/technical equipment og sykepleieprosedyrer
• apply infection control measures to prevent the spread of unwanted microbes
• apply mapping, assessment, documentation and communication tools in nursing practice
• reflect on and handle ethical issues, and adjust his/her practices in the performance of duties
• provide drug administration and consider relationships between multi-diagnoses, polypharmacy and the patient’s condition
• use knowledge of legislation with particular focus on user participation and competence to give consent, internal control, the right to immediate assessment and treatment
• inform, teach and provide guidance to patients and next of kin about problems that arise in connection with illness, suffering and death
• use technology and digital solutions to support patients’ and next-of-kin’s resources, mastering possibilities and participation
• use knowledge about cultural competence and cultural literacy in the assessment, planning, provision and evaluation of nursing care
• adapt communication to the target groups’ special needs
• can apply knowledge-based practice

General competence

The student

• can engage in cooperation across disciplines, professions, sectors, enterprises and levels, and initiate such cooperation
• can exchange points of view and experience with others in the field and in this way contribute to developing good practice
• can plan and carry out communication and interaction with patients and next of kin based on the principles of respect, co-determination and integrity
• can plan and carry out targeted cooperation processes with patients, next of kin and other practitioners, and can prevent and resolve conflicts
• can reflect on his/her own professional practice and power structures when working with elderly people

The following must have been completed and approved in order for a student to take the exam:

• Simulation in drug administrations.
• Multiple choice assignment, qualifying arithmetic problems (100 % correct).

Work and teaching methods used in the course are self-study, three to six master’s seminars with presentations, and an offer of 20 hours’ supervision per thesis, regardless of whether it is written individually or in a group.

The seminars are an arena for sharing experience from all stages of the project work. Students will take part in academic discussion and practise structuring and wording academic argumentation and communicating constructive criticism. Presenting their work, giving feedback to fellow students, and receiving feedback from fellow students and teachers, are important parts of the seminars.;

The supervision agreement is signed by the students and supervisors at the start of the supervision.

When a group of students work together, an overview of each student’s individual contribution must be enclosed with the assignment.

Assessment of clinical training

The assessment takes its point of departure in given criteria based on learning outcomes for the course, criteria for failing the practical training, criteria for suitability assessment and compulsory activities carried throughout the practical training. Students’ practical training can only be assessed if their attendance is sufficiently high (90%). For more information, see the general part of the programme description about the assessment of practical training.

If the student has failed the practical training, the whole practical training course must be retaken. This includes associated requirements.

Pass-fail.

• 2 ECTS overlap with SYKK/SYKP1300 Pharmacology and Administration of Medicine, 5 ECTS.
• SYKK1310, SYKP1310 og SKOMP1100 are fully overlapping.