to think that this is inappropriate

[fluffydressinggown]

Went to see the psychiatrist at my community mental health team today. Prior to going in my CPN (who also came to the meeting) said that he had two sixth formers with him who were applying for medicine next year and did I mind if they stayed. I refused and she was very nice about it all and agreed it was not really appropriate for them to be in my meeting.

I think it is hugely hugely inappropriate to have 17 year olds sitting in on appointments in the CMHT. To get a referral into this team you have to have severe, complex or enduring mental health issues, so people attending may be really very unwell or have a difficult history.

I know that experience is important in getting into medical school, but 17 year olds have no training on confidentiality, probably no CRB check, no training on dealing with the things they might hear. They have not even got into medical school so there is no guarentee (as you may have if it was a medical student) that they are even suitable to be listening into such things.

And I think it puts potentially vulnerable people into a difficult situation, I felt confident saying no but maybe other people might not. And waiting to see a psychiatrist is stressful enough without being called into a room before to be asked about that, I was really worried she was telling me the meeting was cancelled or delayed which made it more stressful for me.

In this meeting we planned an admission, discussed in detail a suicide plan, and discussed some distressing thoughts - not things I want to share and things that children maybe should not hear. And I know I refused to have them there but really I don't think I should have ever been in a position where I was asked about it.

AIBU to think they should not have been there at all, I feel like it was a completely inappropriate place for work experience.

Oh and maybe I feel like that because my MH is poor but so is the MH of most of the people that psychiatrist was seeing that day!

YANBU, very inappropriate!

Bloody hell yabu. I was once asked at the breast clinic whether I would allow a student in. Out of interest I asked what year, assuming yr 5 medicine...he was a work experience student from a school.

Can you imagine what a 16 yr old boy would be saying to his friends about his day at the breast clinic? Er, no. I could not believe they had even asked me.

I meant yanbu of course! sorry OP.

YANBU, I'm a CPN and I would not dream of allowing 2 lay people observe an appointment like the one you describe, let alone asking the person attending if it was ok to be observed in that way. It is too many people in the room for one, there are not many who would find it easy to open up about their thoughts and feelings to four other people, two of whom they have never met before. There are many other ways to get experience in this setting. I agree that your CPN should indeed be reflecting on whether it was appropriate.

However, I have to agree that age is irrelevant. I was doing my mental health nurse training at age 18, running a small caseload under supervision at 20 during my last placement and qualified and in charge of shift on an adult acute ward at age 21.

To be clear, they were with the psychiatrist, it was my CPN that asked me if it was ok and agreed it was not really appropriate.

I understand that, but your CPN could have said it wasn't appropriate to the psychiatrist before approaching you to ask IYSWIM, although I do work with a particularly assertive non-hierarchical team and I appreciate its not the same everywhere.