I feel that after viewing this footage I understand better how the interaction would’ve gone, had we been able to attend in person simulation. I feel that this experience really does benefit us because it allows us to practice tough situations instead of just being thrown into them in the workplace. All of the conversations can be hard to have so having this experience and being able to “mess up” relieves some stress and now I feel that I have a better understanding on how I would converse with specific patients. 

Having a therapeutic conversation is so important to allow the client to feel able to express all of their feelings without judgement. As a nurse it is important to look into many aspects of a clients overall being, and be able to have tough conversations. I learned from these videos what it is like to have a therapeutic conversation with a client who is struggling. I had previously completed the simulation worksheet with the questions I’d ask and while I watched the videos I looked at the questions and thought about how they were worded and how I would ask them, once I had seen the patient. I feel that from watching these videos I now know better how to perform during a mental health assessment. Watching the videos made me realize that you may not know what to say next or what the patient is thinking, but creating conversation is super helpful and will lead to the proper care of the client. Thinking back to the videos specifically, I felt that there were definitely certain parts that stuck out to me, but overall I felt that just the communication and education aspects were very strong and my classmates worked well together to make sure that the assessment was looking at all aspects of the patient. This group did well discussing what to do next during the “break” period and when the patient returned they stayed on topic of what else needed to be completed to finish up the assessment. 

During the interviews I felt that it was helpful for the students to bounce ideas off of each other and create a smooth flowing conversation. I know that not every interaction will allow for multiple people to be there, but knowing that there are so many nurses and also other teams that can help create a safe environment for a patient is helpful. As a future nurse I need to always remember the resources that I have in order to be successful and use them to my advantage. Using team members to consult a client is never a bad idea and getting opinions from others can help with client care.