PSYCHIATRIC AND MENTAL HEALTH NURSING:

POST-DIPLOMA (RN) CERTIFICATE IN Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing is the specialty of nursing that cares for people of all ages with mental illness or mental distress, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychosis, depression or dementia. Nurses in this area receive more training in psychological therapies, building a therapeutic alliance, dealing with challenging behavior, and the administration of psychiatric medication.

Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Roles:

Registered Nurse health nurse who successfully completes specialist post-qualification education in Psychiatric and mental health nursing program enables them, in addition to her/his generalist role, to work in a specialist role with individuals and families experiencing and/or affected by mental illness, in whatever setting they may be, i.e. hospitals or the community. The mental health nurse seeks to enable the individual and/or family to adapt to their altered health state, especially those who have an enduring mental health illness, and helps them to learn how to cope with a range of problems, such as altered perceptions and altered beliefs.

Program:

Psychiatric and Mental health Nursing requires adequate training and knowledge. American International University West Africa has developed a program to fulfill the Psychiatric Nursing Certificate program to meet the needs in this specialty. The educational needs are met as per the standards and core curriculum recommended by World Health Organization.

The aims of the course and of the curriculum are to:

1. Provide a challenging educational experience which will develop the student's intellectual and imaginative abilities in order to facilitate the development of independent judgment and problem-solving skills;
2. Provide an educational framework that will encourage the student to develop her/his skills of analysis and critical awareness in order to stimulate an enquiring and creative approach to both the theory and practice of mental health nursing;
3. Develop the student's ability to respond to changing needs in mental health care in an analytical way;
4. Develop the student's critical awareness of relevant research findings and facilitate integration of these findings into mental health nursing practice;
5. Develop her/his knowledge and understanding of health policies and systems relevant to the development and provision of mental health services of the country and their impact for the population;
6. Provide leadership which is appropriate in the context of mental health nursing and which is underpinned by knowledge and understanding of relevant nursing and social theories and conceptual frameworks;
7. Contribute to the evaluation of the mental health nursing services being provided to the population of the country.

The curriculum is structured in three trimesters which combine both theory and practice elements. The length of the course is sufficient to enable the student, on successful completion, to achieve the specified competencies or learning outcomes, the academic award and the specialist nurse qualification relevant to the course,

This program includes theory content from nursing, sciences and the humanities. The focus is on individualized, patient-centered care. The program focuses on the fundamental knowledge of the sciences (4 months), theory and practicum (8 months) followed by 6 months of internship at the hospitals. Clinical assignments are designed to provide the learner with opportunities to apply perioperative registered nursing theory to practice. Using a unique knowledge base and utilizing the nursing process.

Admissions Requirements:

Students wishing to enroll in this program must provide official transcripts from a basic nursing program. Students must submit a letter from supervisor verifying at least one full year of full-time experience in nursing practice. If students do not have one full year of full time experience, their application may be considered on an individual basis.