MHTP Training Module #4

Training was held last weekend at the brand new UMKC School of Nursing in Kansas City. Beautiful building! My certification program isn't associated with the university per say; however, the local MHTP Area Coordinator is married to one of the professors. The two of them have graciously seen to it that our group has had classroom space for each module. (Thank you, Sandra!)

Our teacher this time was a lovely lady named Carole Glenn. She sings and plays guitar. A very, very pink guitar ... with a heart-shaped opening on the sound board, no less! I'll admit that it took me awhile to get past her gear ... I felt the cheese factor rising in the room; however, she proved to be an incredibly genuine person. I began to see how the guitar truly matched her personality. By the time we left on Sunday, I had gotten over it.

Yes. I can definitely be a snob.

The focus for Module 4 was on 1) Etiquette/Internship and 2) Profession of the CMP.

Etiquette and Internship
We covered ...

• "rules of conduct" for clinical situations in which we will be playing/singing live music at the bedside,
• how to assess a patient's condition and knowing what to play/sing,
• understanding the protocol and expectations of a CMP in clinical settings, and
  
• how to write patient logs and progress notes.

As soon as our teacher uttered the words "role play," my heart sank. Honestly, when have role plays EVER been effective? For me, they represent an exercise in futility. Little did I know that I was about to be really surprised.

The teacher had a list of real-life experiences that various CMPs have gone through. When it was my turn to play the CMP, I drew a number and another classmate got to read the scenario to which my number corresponded. That person proceeded to act out their patient role while I "entered the room," completely in the dark about what would take place. (Real life, right?)

Are there Academy Awards presented for acting CMPs? After last weekend, there should be. Everyone really put themselves out there for each other. We had dying patients, fighting family members, people battling Alzheimer's disease, disruptive medical personnel ... let me tell ya, these people just may be able to give up their day jobs and move to Hollywood. It made for very realistic experiences -- and watching how the other class members handled their situations was as beneficial as going through it myself.

I have now experienced effective role playing. Who knew?

Profession of Music Practitioner

Because this is a fairly new profession, many of us will be attempting to break into our local medical communities. We discussed:

• the basics of business with the goal of employment as a CMP,
• understanding where CMPs fit into the healthcare community,
• liability insurance,
  
• what to include in letters to prospective clients and employers, as well as ideas for marketing brochures, business cards, stationery, etc. and
  
• national/regional pay scales.

More role playing. [SIGH] But once again, I was surprised at how effective it was. We practiced making cold calls to potential employers and had to write out scripts for ourselves. There was a lot of "phrase trading" between classmates and honest-to-goodness feedback from the group.

I came away with details, details, details. My head has been swimming all week.

The next and final module is in November. This is the weekend we venture out into a hospital and play for patients for the first time (with supervisor in attendance). I'm excited, nervous, scared. After all this time, it's actually going to happen.

I'm shakin' in my boots. But in a good way ...