Mental Health Rotation Analysis - Essay Example

The group meetings were more controlled than the different interventions with the patients, as the nurse maintained direction and had personal experience with those who exhibited inappropriate behaviours. She understood the dynamics of paranoid schizophrenia and the sometimes distorted commentaries that come along with it. The moderating nurse was a proverbial breath of fresh air. Group meetings were concentrating attention on the patients which seemed to satisfy their needs, or perhaps it was out of long-standing respect for the nurse that they maintained control.

I was changed personally not only in my sudden (and not pre-existing) apprehension around being near disturbed patients, but in how I view society and its diversity. In some households, these behaviours might be considered interesting or spontaneous, however in the clinical environment it was not an inviting experience. I have developed, to a small degree, much less trust for individuals after seeing this unusual social behaviour. Though I recognize these problems are inherent and out of the patient’s control, seeing such reckless behaviour as the self-poisoning scenario made me realize why quality nurses are needed.

My overall view of mental health is virtually unchanged. I realized that individuals with behavioural problems can be controlled if they have concentrated support and attention. Control was something desperately needed in this clinical environment. Elements of this rotation that could be considered reliable included memory games and trivia play to spark interest and maintain decorum. Anytime that mental health patients had attention focused directly on them, they seemed to be more docile and rational. In a future role, I would take these lessons and attempt to model them for an informal research study in terms of sustaining positive control through focused attention.