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
Practicum Experience Plan
Part 1: Quarter/Term/Year and Contact Information
Section A
Quarter/Term/Year:
Student Contact Information
Name:
Street Address:
City, State, Zip:
Home Phone:
Work Phone:
Cell Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Preceptor Contact Information
Name:
Organization:
Street Address:
City, State, Zip:
Work Phone:
Cell Phone:
Fax:
Professional/Work E-mail:
Part 2: Individualized Practicum Learning Objectives
Objective 1: <By the end of the course, I should be able to selecting the appropriate evidence based clinical practice guidelines in prescribing medications for different health conditions>
As a masters prepared psychiatric health nurse practitioner, we need to possess the skills to offer prescriptions using evidence-based guidelines. This is a mandatory skill that goes a long way to promote the quality and safety of care patients receive, more so through prevention of medication errors. Before prescribing medications, there are different patient factors that one needs to consider, otherwise, there are likely to be some negative repercussions resulting from the created treatment plans (Salar et al., 2020).
Similarly, one has to adhere to ethical and legal guidelines when it comes to selecting best pharmacotherapeutic approaches for their patients. In line with the mentioned objective, I intend to learn how to formulate treatment plans based on recommended evidence-based guidelines, evaluate patient responses to the treatment plans, and modify them accordingly to promote best patient outcomes, and document any adverse reactions arising from prescribed treatment plan, with proper understanding on the possible causes of the adverse reactions.
The following are some of the planned activities I intend to engage in to achieve my objective.
Planned Activities:
Through the course work, I intend to interact with research articles on best practice guidelines on prescribing different psychiatric medications. I also intend to learn and understand the rationale behind certain prescriptions for patient health issues. I also plan to interact with my peers, including my perception and instructor to understand some of the evidence-based approaches they use when prescribing medications. The interactions will also help me learn what to do and what not to when prescribing medications.
Mode of Assessment: (This data will be verified by evaluating the proposed treatment plans in the patient logs documented in Meditrek).
PRAC Course Outcome(s) Addressed:
- To develop pharmacotherapeutic skills.
Objective 2: <By the end of the course, I should be able to select and implement appropriate screening instrument(s), interpreting results, and making recommendations and referrals>
Before formulating any treatment plan, it is crucial to apply the appropriate screening tools that will help reach a substantive diagnosis on the patient’s condition. Likewise, using the right screening instruments without knowledge on how to interpret the results will not be of any help to the nurse practitioner.
Using the right screening approaches will a not only allow the nurse to understand the condition of the patient but will also place her in apposition where she can recommend an effective plan of action, which at times means referring the patient to a specialized physician (Waldrop & McGuinness, 2017) In this regard, there are areas where I still have insufficient knowledge or skills to effectively screen patients for different psychiatric conditions.
One of the areas include accurately interpreting results for screening instruments, developing appropriate plan of care based on screening results, identifying the appropriate scenario where a patient referral to another specialty provider is necessary, and accurately documenting recommendations for psychiatric consultations when applicable. Therefore, to gain the listed skills and competencies, I intend to do the following;
Planned Activities:
I intend to learn from my peers how and when to apply the different psychiatric screening tools and interpreting the results. I also intend to learn through practical application of the screening tools on patients with fairly simple conditions as I build up to more complex ones.
Mode of Assessment: (The progress of this assessment will be identified from the diagnostic tests performed and quality of diagnosis in the Meditrek patient logs)
PRAC Course Outcome(s) Addressed: Selecting and implementing appropriate screening instrument(s), interpreting results, and making recommendations and referrals:
Objective 3: <By the end of the course, I should be able to create effective treatment plans across the lifespan of patients>
One of the roles of a psychiatric nurse practitioner is to create treatment plans for patients with different conditions and across different stages in their lifespans (Soltis-Jarrett et al., 2017). A treatment plan that is effective for a younger generation may end up having catastrophic results for older patients.
Therefore, one needs to have the skills to recognize the concepts of therapeutic modalities across the lifespan. Some of the areas I am weak at when it comes to psychotherapeutic treatment planning include; selecting the most appropriate evidence based clinical practice guidelines for psychotherapeutic plan by assessing the risk/benefit, considering patient preference, developmental, considerations, financial, symptom management, and modality appropriate for the presented situation.
I am also not very skilled in applying age appropriate psychotherapeutic counseling methods with individuals,
families, and/or groups. Similarly, I am still trying to learn how to develop an age appropriate individualized plan of care and providing effective psychoeducation to individuals, family, and/or groups. To achieve my objective in this regard I intend to do the following tasks.
Planned Activities: I intend to interact with evidence-based guidelines on developing psychotherapeutic plans for patients across different stages in life. I also intend to observe from more experienced nurses their communication approach in delivering effective psychotherapeutic counseling and individualized psychoeducation for different kinds of patients.
Mode of Assessment: (Progress on this objective will be verified by evaluating the proposed treatment plans in the patient logs documented in Meditrek).
PRAC Course Outcome(s) Addressed: Developing effective psychotherapeutic treatment plans
Part 3: Projected Timeline/Schedule
I intend to complete the 144 or 160 Practicum hours (as applicable) according to the following timeline/schedule. I also understand that I must see at least 80 patients during my practicum experience. I understand that I may not complete my practicum hours sooner than 8 weeks. I understand I may not be in the practicum setting longer than 8 hours per day unless pre-approved by my faculty.
| Number of Clinical Hours Projected for Week | Number of Weekly Hours for Professional Development | Number of Weekly Hours for Practicum Coursework | |
| Week 1 | |||
| Week 2 | |||
| Week 3 | |||
| Week 4 | |||
| Week 5 | |||
| Week 6 | |||
| Week 7 | |||
| Week 8 | |||
| Week 9 | |||
| Week 10 | |||
| Week 11 | |||
| Total Hours (must meet the following requirements) | 144 or 160 Hours |
Part 4 – Signatures
Student Signature (electronic): Date:
Practicum Faculty Signature (electronic)**: Date:
** Faculty signature signifies approval of Practicum Experience Plan (PEP)
Submit your Practicum Experience Plan on or before Day 7 of Week 2 for faculty review and approval.
Once approved, you will receive a copy of the PEP for your records. You must share an approved copy with your Preceptor. The Preceptor is not required to sign this form.
References
Salar, A., Kiani, F., & Rezaee, N. (2020). Preventing the medication errors in hospitals: A qualitative study. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 13, 100235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2020.100235
Soltis-Jarrett, V., Shea, J., Ragaisis, K. M., Shell, L. P., & Newton, M. (2017). Integrated behavioral healthcare: Assumptions, definition and roles: Position paper from the International Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 31(5), 433-439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2017.06.002
Waldrop, J., & McGuinness, T. M. (2017). Measurement-based care in psychiatry. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 55(11), 30-35. https://doi.org/10.3928/02793695-20170818-01
