PRAC 6635: Psychopathology and Diagnostic Reasoning Practicum course syllabus

Student Support and Calendar Information

So you have all key information available to you off-line, it is highly recommended that you print the following items for your reference:

• This Syllabus
• Course Calendar
• Support Resources

Credit Hours

• 2 credits in 11 weeks

Walden University assigns credit hours based on the number and type of assignments that enable students to achieve the course learning objectives. In general, each semester credit equals about 42 hours of total student work and each quarter credit equals about 28 hours of total student work. This time requirement represents an approximate average for undergraduate work and the minimum expectations for graduate work. The number and kind of activities estimated to fulfill time requirements will vary by degree level and student learning style, and by student familiarity with the delivery method and course content.

Course Description

Advanced practice psychiatric-mental health nurses need to have the knowledge and ability to provide safe, competent, and comprehensive mental health assessments to patients in mental health settings across the lifespan. Students in this course apply assessment skills to include psychiatric interviewing, history taking, and examination to gather patient data to inform diagnosis. They also apply knowledge of psychopathology and diagnostic reasoning in clinical settings for health promotion, psychiatric assessment, and to develop differential diagnosis for patients with psychiatric and substance use disorders across the lifespan. Students synthesize their knowledge from previous coursework and professional experiences to develop advanced communication and documentation skills. Note: Students with catalog years before Spring 2018 must complete a minimum of 144 practicum hours; those with catalog years beginning Spring 2018 must complete a minimum of 160 practicum hours. A minimum of 80 patient encounters are required.

Requirements: 160 hours; A minimum of 80 patient encounters are required; (these are minimums, not maximums, you must log every hour and every patient encounter for PRAC for accountability and legal reasons)

Note: Students must complete a minimum of 80 clinical encounters, encompassing a diverse patient population across the lifespan. These encounters should include children (ages 0–12), adolescents (ages 13–17), adults (ages 18–64), and older adults (ages 65+). The distribution of visits should provide meaningful exposure to each age group, enhancing the student’s learning experience. Additionally, students are required to spend a minimum of 8 weeks in the practicum setting to ensure a comprehensive and varied clinical learning experience.

*Students must be able to see patients across the lifespan to include children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. If the primary preceptor only sees adult clients, a secondary preceptor will be needed in order to complete the requirements for children and/or adolescent experiences. Sometimes this can be another provider in the same office as the primary preceptor. Or multiple sites may be required to see the types of patients and services required for this course. Students would need each preceptor and/or field site approved applications.

PRAC 6635: Psychopathology and Diagnostic Reasoning Course Specific Requirements

• Types of Patients: Patients receiving care for psychiatric and substance use disorders across the life span to include children, adolescents, adults, and older adults.*
• Types of Services: Assessment and diagnosis of children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with acute and chronic psychiatric and substance use disorders.
• Possible Preceptor Choices: PMHNP or Board Certified Psychiatrist.
• Possible Site Choices: Private practice, community psychiatric and/or counseling center, crisis centers, drug/alcohol rehabilitation center, college counseling center, employee assistance program (EAP) sites, or assisted living/Alzheimer’s facility, hospital or specialty care facility, jails/prison, or any other site where psychiatric assessment and diagnosing takes place (to be determined on an individual basis).
• Nonacceptable Sites: Any form of community and/or home visits.
• Nonacceptable Preceptors: FNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP, PMHCNS, or any other NP other than a board-certified psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner. No PAs. No psychotherapists, psychologists, or MSWs.
• Any schedule for more than 8 hours per day must be verified through preceptor email to faculty as preceptor working a condensed schedule AND approved by faculty.

Course Prerequisites

NURS 6501, NURS 6521, NURS 6512, NURS 6052, NURS 6630

Course Learning Outcomes

By the conclusion of this course, you should be able to:

• Assess psychiatric-mental health advanced practice nursing skills for strengths and opportunities 
• Develop professional plans in advanced nursing practice for the practicum experience
• Apply advanced practice nursing assessment and diagnosis skills in mental health settings
• Analyze cases involving advanced care of patients across the lifespan in mental health settings
• Formulate differential diagnoses for patients across the lifespan

College of Nursing Alignment of Learner Outcomes

Click on the following link to access the Alignment of Learner Outcomes:

Document: PRAC 6635 Alignment of Learning Outcomes

Download PRAC 6635 Alignment of Learning Outcomes (PDF)

Course Materials

Please visit the university bookstore via your Walden student portal to ensure you are obtaining the correct version of any course texts and/or materials noted in the following section. When you receive your materials, make sure that all required items are included.

Course Text

Required texts:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://go.openathens.net/redirector/waldenu.edu?url=https://dsm.psychiatryonline.org/doi/book/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787 Note: This required text is available for purchase. It is also accessible through the Walden Library.
• Carlat, D. J. (2024). The psychiatric interview (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

Recommended textS:

• Boland, R. Verdiun, M. L. & Ruiz, P. (2022). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry (12th ed.). Wolters Kluwer. 
• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Author. Note: If the print edition of these books are referenced here, electronic versions also may be available and may be acceptable for use in this course. If an electronic version is listed, no print version is available. 

Other readings (journal articles, websites, book excerpts, etc.) are assigned throughout the course and may be found within each Module.

Media

Assigned course media elements may be found in one or more modules of the course and are available via a streaming media player or a hyperlink to the individual item.

Primary and Secondary Sources

Review the following information prior to selecting resources for assignments.

Primary: A primary source is an original document that is the first account of what happened. A research report is primary, and you can tell because it includes materials and methods demonstrating how the research was done. Some creative work is also primary, such as poetry, novels, and interviews of people who experienced something firsthand. In nursing, which is an evidence-based discipline, we strive to use primary research that is published in scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.

Scholarly, peer-reviewed journal: Scholarly journals publish papers by professional authors and experts in the field using a peer-review process to review the work and assure quality before publishing. The focus of a scholarly journal is to provide accurate information for scholars and other researchers. The focus is on content rather than advertising, a direct contrast to popular media. Scholarly journals publish both primary and secondary papers, the former usually noted as original research and the latter as reviews and commentaries. Letters to the editor may also be published but should be recognized as opinion pieces.

Note: When selecting articles for course assignments, you are advised (unless you are referencing seminal information) to focus on work published within the past five years.

Secondary: A secondary source is one step removed from the original source. This work interprets and often compiles other work, and it includes review articles, textbooks, fact sheets, and commentaries about a topic. It also includes news reports of original research. Secondary work is more prone to error and bias than primary work because it is being filtered through an additional person or persons. Review papers can be useful to glean information about a topic and to find other sources from the reference list, but it is the original, primary research that should be relied on most heavily in demonstrating scholarship, depth, and validation of factual information.

Course Assignments

Assignments: The Assignments provide you with the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge gained through the Learning Resources and at your practicum site. See specific weeks for detailed descriptions of the assignments. In grading some of the required Assignments, your Instructor will be using rubrics located in the submission area.

Note: The course Assignments will require that you completely and accurately demonstrate critical thinking via assimilation and synthesis of ideas when using credible outside and course-specific resources (i.e., video, required readings, textbook), when comparing different points of view, highlighting similarities, differences, and connections, and/or when lending support to your Assignment responses.

This Practicum course contains several different types of Assignments: 

Self-Assessment and Journal

A student self-assessment and a reflective journal occur at the beginning and end of the course as a means to consider strengths, opportunities for improvement, guiding goals, and growth. 

Clinical Hour and Patient Logs

Students may start logging practicum hours within each course on the second day of the course provided that they have received a practicum approval from the Office of Field Experience and their practicum instructor approves.

Students are required to keep a log of the time spent related to their practicum experience and enter every patient they see each day. Students can access their logs from the Welcome Page in their Meditrek account. Students will track time individually for each patient they work with. Students are required to continuously input their hours throughout the term. You must log hours spent and patient encounters within 48 hours of being in the practicum setting during your weekly modules of 7 days. Your patient logs must be completed as final submission within the 48-hour time frame requirement and may not be edited after the 48 hour time requirement, or they will be considered late. Logs are reviewed and evaluated by instructors each week to track student progress. Failure to keep clinical hours and patient logs current may hinder success in the class and may result in point deductions from the weekly assignment 10 points. Please print and keep your completed patient log at the end of your clinical experiences for future use as a component of your portfolio.

Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation and Patient Case Presentations

In the Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation and Patient Case Presentation assignments, students complete documentation on a patient from their practicum. They then record themselves presenting an analysis of the case. Videos should be created in Kaltura, support for which may be found in the Canvas classroom.

Note: An 8-hour scheduled Practicum day does not mean all 8 hours may be eligible for documented hours in Meditrek! Please review the approved practicum activities and unapproved practicum activities below.

The following activities count toward the required practicum hours:

• Direct patient care
• Shadowing the preceptor (maximum of 8 hours per quarter); shadowing is defined as the hours spent orienting to the facility policies, procedures, and staff with no direct patient care.
• Attendance at rounds or meetings that specifically discuss patient care and coordination (multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary teams).
• Documentation in the patient’s medical record

The following activities are not included as practicum hours:

• Travel time to and from practicum activities
• Continuing education offerings or staff meetings
• Extensive chart review
• Requirements such as orientation or required training mandated by health care agencies
• Communication (e.g., emails, phone calls), unless conferencing about patients
• Assignments related to the didactic portion of the course
• Meal breaks
• Preceptor directed reading, research, or assignments
• Entering patient encounters or time logs into Meditrek^®
• Downtime when students are sitting waiting to assess patients, and/or no-show patient appointment times unless spent conducting appropriate practicum activities listed above.

Academic Integrity Originality Policy

Walden encourages students to use critical thinking to produce original thoughts in discussion posts, assignments, and other scholarly work. This “…will require that you completely and accurately demonstrate critical thinking via assimilation and synthesis of ideas when using credible, outside and course specific resources (i.e., video, required readings, textbook); when comparing different points of view, highlighting similarities, differences, and connections; and/or when lending support to your responses.” Using too many direct quotes or ineffective paraphrasing does not demonstrate originality. 

To demonstrate originality requires the use of paraphrasing. According to the Walden Writing Center (n.d.), “Paraphrasing in academic writing is an effective way to restate, condense, or clarify another author’s ideas while also providing credibility to your own argument or analysis” (“Introduction to Paraphrasing”). “As you discuss those sources, paraphrasing allows you to use your own words and sentence structure to talk about the information you gleaned from those sources.” (Walden Writing Center, n.d., “Introduction to Paraphrasing”).

“Ineffective paraphrasing occurs when authors paraphrase a source but do not use their own sentence structure or vocabulary to effectively reword that source. The issue here is often that the student’s paraphrase simply uses synonyms for the source’s original wording and is not different enough from the original source’s wording. Ineffective paraphrasing can occur when an author does not use his or her own wording or voice to paraphrase entire paragraphs or individual sentences.” (Walden Writing Center, n.d., “Examples of Paraphrasing,” slide 10).

For more information, refer to the Writing Center’s Introduction to Plagiarism & Intellectual Property at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/modules/plagiarism#s-lg-box-8548804

Links to an external site. 

Assignments, discussion posts, or other scholarly work that does not demonstrate originality and/or lacks proper citation to credit original sources/authors will receive a grade reduction amounting up to 10%.

Grading Criteria and Total Components of a Grade

Course grades will be based on participation (postings) and completion of assignments listed below.

Note: All assignments must be completed to pass the course.

Letter grades will be assigned as follows:

89.5%–100% = A
79.5%–89.4% = B
69.5%–79.4% = C
< 69.5% = F

Please see below for the policy on Incomplete (I) grades.

Assignment	Total Points	Percentage (Weighted)
Practicum Site Information Form	S/U	0%
Practicum Application Assignment	S/U	0%
Self-Assessment (100 pts.) Practicum Experience Plan (100 pts.) Journal (100 pts.)	300	12%
Weeks 1–10 Clinical Hour and Patient Logs (10 pts. x 10)	100	10%
Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation and Patient Case Presentations (100 pts. x 2)* *Presentation Assignments in Weeks 5 & 7 are divided into two parts, Part 1 = 75 pts and Part 2 = 25pts	200	20%
Week 9 Paper: Reflections on Evidence-Based Practice, Clinical Practice Guidelines, and Standards of Care	100	8%
Midterm Evaluation (100 pts.) Final Clinical Evaluation (100 pts.)	200	50%
Total	900	100%

• Dismissal from your clinical site for any academic concern or unprofessional behavior will result in failure of this practicum course.
• A video conference call must be completed between the clinical instructor and the preceptor during the midterm evaluation period. 
• If a midterm conference call and midterm evaluation is not completed by Week 7, student cannot return to practicum site until its completion.

Incomplete Policy

Walden strongly discourages grades of “I” (Incomplete). However, Walden understands that there are certain circumstances under which a grade of “I” (Incomplete) is appropriate.

Grades of “I” (Incomplete) are given at the discretion of the instructor, but normally are granted only if students have acceptably completed the majority of the coursework, including discussions and assignments, prior to the last day of the class. Students must request a grade of “I” (Incomplete) prior to the last day of the course. Such a request should include a list of missing assignments and a date and plan for submission of missing assignments no later than 80 calendar days from the last date of the course. Discussion assignments may not be made up after the last date of class. Coursework submitted within the allowed time period, not to exceed 80 calendar days from the last day of classes, will be graded and included in the computation of an overall course grade that will replace the “I” grade. Failure to complete the specified coursework within the allowed time will cause the grade of “I” to default to an “F” (Fail) or “U” (Unsatisfactory), depending on the course grading scheme.

Instructor Feedback Schedule

The Instructor will log in to the course during the week to monitor the Discussion area in those weeks when a Discussion is assigned. Feedback will be provided via the Grades area, the Discussion area, and/or the Announcements page.

You can expect your assignment grades to be posted within 10 calendar days of a due date. Instructor feedback and explanation is provided whenever full credit is not achieved. Depending on the nature of the feedback, Instructor responses may be posted to the Discussion area or included in the Grades area. The goal of your Instructor is to act as a learning facilitator rather than a lecturer. Please feel free to ask your Instructor if you would like some personal feedback on a particular assignment posting or any time you have any questions regarding your assignments or your grade.

Course Procedures

• You are encouraged to post course-related questions to the Class Café area as they may be of interest to all; however, if your question is urgent, it is often best to email the Instructor. If your emailed question is thought to be of benefit to all, it may be responded to by the Instructor via email to all or posted as an announcement. Include your course number and section in your email or your faculty is not required to respond back to you. 
• Instructor feedback on content and writing issues that is thought to be of benefit to the entire class may be posted to the Class Café area; however, most personal critique will be done privately in the Grade Center. Be sure to check the Grade Center for comments every week even if you received full credit.
• Please feel free to use the Class Café to initiate and participate in conversations not directly related to the course. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know other students better or develop study groups. The Instructor will browse the Class Café occasionally but generally will not respond to conversations posted there unless students have specific questions for him or her.
• Check the email account you use for official Walden University business on a regular basis. The expectation is that you are checking this email account daily during the week. If you experience difficulty sending or receiving Walden email, please contact the Customer Care Team right away. Contact information for the Student Support Team is located in the Student Support area.
• Review all materials in the Start Here area, as well as the materials contained under each of the weekly buttons. 
• Review all information in the MSN College of Nursing Practicum Manual and The College of Nursing Handbook (both may be located on the Walden University Field Experience: Nursing website). Students in this course will be upheld to all the policies and procedures located in these documents.
• If a midterm conference call and written evaluation are not completed by week 7, student cannot return to clinical site until its completion.
• Note on Assignment Attempts: Students are expected to review their work and submissions of work carefully prior to due dates. Unless otherwise approved by the faculty, students are allowed one submission of graded work per assignment. While the classroom allows for multiple submissions, once an assignment is graded, submissions will no longer be accepted unless approved by the faculty. If an assignment is submitted prior to the assignment deadline and has not yet been graded, then students may submit a revised assignment prior to the assignment deadline. However, once the deadline has passed or the assignment has been graded, resubmission is not permitted unless approved by the faculty member.

Note: There are Recommended Readings located within the Learning Resources section of each week in the course. You are encouraged to explore these readings, as needed, in order to enhance your understanding of the course content.

Preferred Methods for Delivering Assignments

1. Clinical Hour and Patient Logs, as well as the Midterm and Final Clinical Evaluations, are completed in Meditrek. The link to Meditrek is provided in the classroom.
2. Assignments are submitted to the SafeAssign link and named according to the week in which the Assignment is submitted. Directions for naming each Application Assignment are included in each week’s Assignment area. Please be sure that all written Application Assignments are saved and submitted as a “.doc” file.
3. All email correspondence must contain the subject line “PRAC 6635-XX-NAME” (XX is the section number) followed by a brief description of the subject. This subject line convention ensures that your email will be easily identified and responded to in a timely manner. It is required that the email contain a signature that matches the official name used in the course.
4. Faculty will not grade assignments (notes/videos/discussions) submitted through email.  All assignments must be submitted to the assignment area for grading within the course room.
5. All Kaltura assignment videos will be submitted through the assignment submission area by students for grading.  Faculty will not pull student videos from the “MyMedia” section to grade. This is a course requirement, not a preference. 

Late Assignment Policy

Students are expected to submit assignments by the due dates noted in the course. In extenuating circumstances, such as illness, the student must contact the Instructor as soon as possible to discuss the situation. In those circumstances, Faculty will determine the appropriate course of action for the student. Depending on the situation, these actions may include recommendations to drop the course (if within the university drop/withdrawal period), acceptance of some or all of the overdue assignments with or without penalties, or failure to accept assignments.

Assignments submitted late without the prior agreement of the Instructor, outside of an emergency absence, or in violation of agreements for late submission, will receive a grade reduction for the assignment amounting up to 20%. Each day late with result in a 4%-point deduction up to day 5. After 5 days, the assignment will be graded a zero. Students should be aware that late assignments may not receive the same level of written feedback as do assignments submitted on time.

Discussion Board, Midterm Exam, and Final Exam Late Policy

The late policy applied to discussion boards, midterms exams, and final exams are different than course assignments and are as follows. Students are expected to complete discussion boards,  midterms exams, and final exams by the due dates noted in the course. If students do not complete the discussion boards or initiate exams by the due date, the grade will result in a zero.  In the event of an extenuating circumstance, students must let the instructor know prior to the due date. If the student is unable to do so, he or she needs to notify the instructor as soon as possible and those circumstances will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Any exam that is permitted to be taken late or permitted a retake may be subject to proctoring with audio and video technology.

Keeping Your Coursework

You will have access to the course and your coursework from the course start date until 60 days after the course ends. After this time, you will no longer be able to access the course or related materials. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you retain copies of your completed assignments and any documents you wish to keep. The university is not responsible for lost or missing coursework.

Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching 

Two weeks before the end of the course, you will receive an invitation to submit an online evaluation of the course and instruction. Each submitted Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching is confidential, and only aggregate data and comments will be shared with the Instructor and Program Director. Your feedback is vitally important to Walden University in its efforts to continuously improve programs. 

OFFICE OF STUDENT DISABILITY SERVICES (OSDS)

The OSDS are committed to providing equal access to educational opportunities for qualified students with disabilities in accordance with government, state, and local laws as applicable to the student’s program and location. All accommodations requested are reviewed on an individual basis to determine what is reasonable and appropriate. The student should understand the process is an interactive one that takes time.

If you are looking to receive services through the OSDS, we want to support you. To start the process, email  disability@mail.waldenu.edu. You may also reach the office by phone to schedule an appointment at 855-229-0848.  International students may request a meeting through Teams. You may also fax your request to 630.596.1651.

If you require other accessibility needs to experience the call, please indicate that in your email.

Classroom Participation

In accordance with U.S. Department of Education guidance regarding class participation, Walden University requires that all students submit at least one of their required Week 1 assignments (which includes posting to the Discussion Board) within each course(s) during the first 7 calendar days of class. For courses with two-week units, posting to the Discussion Board by Day 7 meets this requirement. The first calendar day of class is the official start date of the course as posted on your myWalden academic page. 

Assignments submitted prior to the official start date will not count toward your participation. 

Financial Aid cannot be released without class participation as defined above. 

Students who are taking their first class with Walden and do not submit at least one of their required Week 1 assignments (or at least one Discussion post) by the end of the 7th day will be administratively withdrawn from the university. 

Students who have already taken and successfully completed at least one or more class(es) with Walden, and who do not participate within the first 7 days, will be dropped from that class. 

If you have any questions about your assignments, or you are unable to complete your assignments, please contact your Faculty Member.

Time Zone

For complete details on discussions and assignments, please refer to each week of the course. Walden University has established 10:59pm Central Time (CT) as the official submission time for all courses. All assignments and discussions are due by 10:59pm CT on the day indicated in the assignment or discussion instructions.  

The time stamp in Canvas will show Central Time as the default. You may choose to adjust the settings in Canvas to reflect your local time zone for submission time. For example, if you reside in Pacific Time (PT), you can adjust the settings in Canvas to show what time in your local area the assignment or discussion is due. If the discussion is due Wednesday at 10:59pm CT, then you can adjust your settings to show the discussion is due Wednesday at 8:59pm PT. 

Course Summary:

Date	Details	Due
Sun Dec 1, 2024	Assignment Week 1: Assignment 1	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 1: Assignment 2	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 1: Assignment 3	due by 10:59pm
Sun Dec 8, 2024	Assignment Week 2: Assignment 1	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 2: Assignment 2	due by 10:59pm
	Page Week 2: Orientation Communication	to do: 10:59pm
Sun Dec 15, 2024	Assignment Week 3: Assignment	due by 10:59pm
Sun Dec 22, 2024	Assignment Week 4: Assignment	due by 10:59pm
Sun Dec 29, 2024	Assignment Week 5: Assignment 1	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 5: Assignment 2, Part 1	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 5: Assignment 2, Part 2	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 5: Assignment 3	due by 10:59pm
Sun Jan 5, 2025	Assignment Week 6: Assignment	due by 10:59pm
Sun Jan 12, 2025	Assignment Week 7: Assignment 1	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 7: Assignment 2, Part 1	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 7: Assignment 2, Part 2	due by 10:59pm
Sun Jan 19, 2025	Assignment Week 8: Assignment	due by 10:59pm
Sun Jan 26, 2025	Assignment Week 9: Assignment 1	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 9: Assignment 2	due by 10:59pm
Sun Feb 2, 2025	Assignment Week 10: Assignment 1	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 10: Assignment 3	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Week 10: Assignment 2	due by 10:59pm
Sun Feb 9, 2025	Assignment Week 11: Assignment	due by 10:59pm
	Assignment Turnitin Drafts