Action Plan for Case Study - Improving Communication Skills for Mental Health Nursing

This action plan outlines steps to improve communication skills for mental health nursing, including research, training, and feedback. The goal is to align care practices with person-centered approaches to care.

Running head: ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
Action plan for case study
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
Action Plan 1
1) What was the event/incident that influenced your learning objective?
I have been given the opportunity to conduct assessment of a mental patient who had been
suffering from schizophrenia for a few years and had been presented to the facility after a recent
schizophrenia episode. I have been ecstatic, however, the nervousness and lack of practical
knowledge had detrimental impact on my performance and I had been very unclear of my exact
roles and responsibilities while caring for the patient. In my confusion and excitement I had
proceeded with only introducing myself and commencing with the assessment procedure which
offended the patient and agitated her which led to her having another psychotic episode while in
the facility, for which my supervisors have to stepping and comfort the patient.
2) What have you learnt so far?
I have learnt that before commencing into practice with a patient that is suffering from mental
illness and also is exhibiting challenging behavior and all that cognitive functionality, it is very
important for the nursing professionals to have a thorough and sound understanding of the exact
roles and responsibilities.
3) What is your learning objective? (What do you want to achieve?)
In this case my learning objective is to clearly and succinctly understand the nursing roles and
responsibilities of a mental health nurse, especially in terms of proper therapeutic engagement
communication and prioritizing patient well being and comfort.
4) What steps will you take to achieve this (include literature and online resources you
may use)

2ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
In this case I would have to research the nursing databases and my facility’s policies to gain a
better understanding of the nursing associate apprenticeship standards and different practice
standard to understand my exact roles and responsibilities in terms of patient care and how to
approach a patient with challenging behavior characteristics (Richardson, Percy and Hughes
2015). Along with that I would also enroll myself and professional development programs that
help transitioning nurses understand their roles and responsibilities for theoretical and practical
so that the gap between the theoretical and practical knowledge can be reached effectively
(Mikkonen, Kyngäs and Kääriäinen 2015).
5) How do you know if you have been successful?
In order to better understand whether I have gained better understanding of five roles and
responsibilities as a nursing associate in the mental health sector, I would be approaching my
peers, the patient, and their families and my supervisors for regular feedback. I would also be
continuing a reflective practice so that I can keep track of my progress effectively and
systematically (Yoo and Park 2015).
6) What is your Timeline for these steps?
My possible timeline for the steps to be successful is up to 6 months.

3ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
Action Plan 2
1) What was the event/incident that influenced your learning objective?
I had been given the opportunity to address an elderly patient with severe schizophrenia and had
been provided the opportunity to perform an assessment to her. However, while approaching her
for the assessment I did not follow the proper communication approach and nonverbal
communication style as per the patient centred care and practice standards applicable for mental
patients with challenging behaviour. Among the various different aspects associated with
providing safe and effective care to mentally ill patients providing holistic and therapeutic
engagement with proper communication that is both respectful to the dignity and identity of the
patient is very important. In this case in my nervousness and there is lack of applicative practice
based knowledge regarding therapeutic engagement and handling patients are challenging
behavior or withdrawal symptoms, I have not been able to foster appropriate therapeutic
connection with the patient before commencing with the assessment which agitated her and led
her to another psychotic episode.
2) What have you learnt so far?
I have learnt that communication is a very important aspect of providing care to patients
especially of the patients are suffering from any mental or behavioral disorder. While associating
with the patients just introducing ourselves as their careers and the motive of conducting the
interview on assessment is not sufficient to attract the attention of the patient in a respectful
manner. It is very important to also consider whether the patient is contributing to the
introduction and whether therapeutic relationship or engagement has been established
successfully before commencing with any care activity or assessment. Nurses are the first point

4ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
of contact for any patients and it is one of the most fundamental roles and responsibilities of a
nurse to understand the exact care needs of a patient and respect their identity dignity and
choices over anything else. I believe surpassing the fact that the patient has not been contributed
to the exchange and just processing methodically with the theoretical knowledge of conducting
an assessment had been a very great mistake for me which lead to psychological distress and
good and challenging behavior of the patient. Hence, I need training and skill enhancement of
therapeutic engagement and nonverbal communication while dealing with mental patients so that
I do not commit such a mistake ever again and I also came better understanding of my roles and
responsibilities as a nurse.
3) What is your learning objective? (What do you want to achieve?)
Clear and succinct Understanding of relating care practices with domains of Nursing associate
apprenticeship standards
4) What steps will you take to achieve this (include literature and online resources you
may use)
In order to gain better understanding of the nursing roles and responsibilities of a mental health
nurse why engaging with patient of communicating with them, first and foremost I will approve
my supervisor for suggestions as to how I can improve my skills (Pehrson det al. 2016). Along
with that I would also enroll myself in professional development programmes to learn effective
therapeutic engagement and nonverbal communication skills and how to handle patients with
challenging mental behavior (Haso.skillsforhealth.org.uk 2018). The resources such as nursing
practice standards and the nursing associate apprenticeship standards search as a great guidance
Framework for the nurses to understand their exact roles and responsibilities and I will also be

5ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
researching these standards and memorizing them, so that I gain better understanding of the roles
and responsibilities of a nursing associate in a mental health care (Nmc.org.uk 2018).
5) How do you know if you have been successful?
In order to understand whether I have been successful I would be collecting peer feedback and
feedback from my supervisors after my practice so that it can be understood whether there is any
improvement in my practice and I would also be taking different workshops so that I can get
better understanding of my improvement.
6) What is your Timeline for these steps?
My possible timeline for the steps to be successful is up to 6 months.

6ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
Action Plan 3
1) What was the event/incident that influenced your learning objective?
I have been given the opportunity to provide assessment of a mental patient who had been
suffering from schizophrenia for quite a few years and had been presented to the facility after a
recent schizophrenia episode. I have been ecstatic however the nervousness and lack of practical
knowledge had detrimental impact on my performance. I have completely surpassed the
understanding of effective verbal and nonverbal communication and understanding the gestures
or facial expressions of a patient to Understand whether they are contributing to the therapeutic
engagement or not. A very important aspect of proper communication skills and its relation to
patient centred care is that the nursing associate understands with clarity the exact personality
traits and its impact on the responsiveness of the patient and quickly and effectively understands
whether they are agreeing or disagreeing into a particular activity. In this case I have been
nervous and lack practice oriented soft skills which restricted me from understanding from the
facial expression and responsiveness of the patient that she had not been participating in the
therapeutic engagement and therefore was not giving the consent for commencing the assessment
procedure.
2) What have you learnt so far?
This basic lack of understanding of communication skills and its relation with patient centred
care led to the patient becoming offended by my care fruits and the issues related to a point from
a supervisors had to intervene to come for the patient that have become extremely agitated it is
difficult to contain. Hence, from this experience it hence from this experience I have clearly

7ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
understood the fact that communication approve display a fundamental role in patient centred
practice and a nursing associate dealing with mental patient needs to master verbal and nonverbal
communication skills for that their care techniques are effectively aligning with the patient
centred care approach. Hence, I require training knowledge and skill enhancement in terms of
communication both verbal and nonverbal and its exact Association with patient centred care.
3) What is your learning objective? (What do you want to achieve?)
Clear understanding of communication skills and its relation to person centred approaches to
care.
4) What steps will you take to achieve this (include literature and online
resources you may use)
In this case as well I would have to take the assistance of the electronic databases for nursing
associates to exclude the existing evidence on communication and its importance in patient
centred care and how to improve the communication skills with respect to better understanding
challenging behavior of the mental patients and better addressing of their individualized and
specific care needs (Rathert et al. 2015). In this case I would enroll myself in different electronic
communication improvement programs for nurses and continuing professional development in
the terms of soft skill enhancement (Personcentredcare.health.org.uk 2018). I would also take
part in different workshops and seminars arranged for professional nurses to improve the
communication skills with patients and learn more about patient centred care (Tambuyzer,
Pieters and Van Audenhove 2014).

8ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
5) How do you know if you have been successful?
In this case is well I would be taking the assistance of feedback from both my tears and
supervisors and the patients in the families that I am caring for so that I understand the exact
improvement I have made in my verbal and nonverbal communication. I would also be
incorporating reflective practice in this case so that I can keep track of my progress and make
further planning for more improvement if needed in any sector.
6) What is your Timeline for these steps?
My possible timeline for the steps to be successful is up to 6 months.

9ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
References:
Haso.skillsforhealth.org.uk. 2018. Apprenticeship Standard for Nursing Associate – Approved
for delivery – HASO. [online] Available at:
https://haso.skillsforhealth.org.uk/news/apprenticeship-standard-for-nursing-associate-
apprenticeship-approved-for-delivery/ [Accessed 17 Nov. 2018].
Mikkonen, K., Kyngäs, H. and Kääriäinen, M., 2015. Nursing students’ experiences of the
empathy of their teachers: a qualitative study. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 20(3),
pp.669-682.
Nmc.org.uk. 2018. Revised Code for nurses and midwives. [online] Available at:
https://www.nmc.org.uk/news/news-and-updates/revised-code-for-nurses-and-midwives-/
[Accessed 20 Nov. 2018].
Pehrson, C., Banerjee, S.C., Manna, R., Shen, M.J., Hammonds, S., Coyle, N., Krueger, C.A.,
Maloney, E., Zaider, T. and Bylund, C.L., 2016. Responding empathically to patients:
Development, implementation, and evaluation of a communication skills training module for
oncology nurses. Patient education and counseling, 99(4), pp.610-616.
Personcentredcare.health.org.uk. 2018. The eight principles of patient-centred care | Person-
Centred Care Resource Centre. [online] Available at:
https://personcentredcare.health.org.uk/resources/eight-principles-of-patient-centred-care
[Accessed 17 Nov. 2018].

10ACTION PLAN FOR CASE STUDY
Rathert, C., Williams, E.S., McCaughey, D. and Ishqaidef, G., 2015. Patient perceptions of
patient‐centred care: empirical test of a theoretical model. Health Expectations, 18(2), pp.199-
209.
Richardson, C., Percy, M. and Hughes, J., 2015. Nursing therapeutics: teaching student nurses
care, compassion and empathy. Nurse Education Today, 35(5), pp.e1-e5.
Tambuyzer, E., Pieters, G. and Van Audenhove, C., 2014. Patient involvement in mental health
care: one size does not fit all. Health Expectations, 17(1), pp.138-150.
Yoo, M.S. and Park, H.R., 2015. Effects of case‐based learning on communication skills,
problem‐solving ability, and learning motivation in nursing students. Nursing & health
sciences, 17(2), pp.166-172.