Nurses in Action: Unlocking Telemental Health for Nursing Students

APNA Annual Conference Presenter Gabrielle P Abelard, DNP, PMHNP, PMHCNS-BC, RN, BSn, shares her thoughts on this topic.

Why the urgency to bring student nurses up to speed on telemental health?  

There is a shortage of Advanced Practice Psychiatric-Mental Health Practitioners. The COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in an expansion of telehealth services while also intensifying the mental health care crisis and need for trained providers.

I’ve personally trained over 18 Nurse Practitioner (NP) student learners through a successful NP residency program at my Community Mental Health Clinic. The expansion of telehealth services has warranted a shift in approach to teaching and providing care in a virtual world.

What are some applications for telemental health?

Telehealth is used for all service lines at our Community Mental Health Clinic for training, medication management, family systems therapy, and group therapy

What are some factors to consider when starting to use telemental health?

I think it’s important to build a trusting relationship in a telehealth environment with preceptors, students, and clients.  There are best practices for engaging in telehealth supervision and observation of clinical virtual encounters and essential telehealth guidelines to follow.

Learn more in Abelard’s APNA Annual Conference session “Tips for Preceptor Success in a Virtual World: Preceptor and Student Pearls.”