NUR2200 Mental Health Nursing Care
Pre-requisite: NUR1140 and NUR1200 and Students must be enrolled in BNUR
Recommended prior study of NUR2099; BIO 1203 and NUR2000
This course enables students to acquire knowledge and to develop attitudes and skills relevant to a critical understanding of individuals and groups with mental health problems. Emphasis is placed on contemporary nursing and evidence based practice but students are expected to be able to evaluate current practices within an historical context. Several other themes are addressed in the course, including an ethical framework for decision-making and critical self-analysis to explore the concepts of prejudice and stigma. The students will explore the most common and pervasive mental illnesses burdening Australian society such as depression and suicide, substance-related disorders and anxiety. The nursing care of people with serious mental illness such as psychoses, affective disorders, thought disorders and eating disorders will be introduced. The mental health needs of special groups such as child and youth, older people, people from rural and isolated areas, Indigenous communities, Ethnic populations, the homeless and the incarcerated will also be addressed. The overall nursing care focus will be on understanding the experience of the person with the mental illness as well as the presenting condition. The clinical Course NUR2599 Clinical C: Nursing Care for Mental Health will provide opportunities for application of the theoretical material presented in this course.