I expected that simulation would be an exercise that would make me feel more comfortable interacting with psychiatric patients and expose me to the different types of conversations that I could potentially have with a patient of that population. After going through my virtual simulation experiences, my observation hours at midcoast, a lot of my clinical for NSG 315 and my rotations at the student health center, I have developed a greater understanding for communication with patients. I knew I would be comparing a lot of the methods that I use to communicate with patients on a med-surg floor with the methods that are to be used when communicating with a psychiatric patient. For example, I try to find a lot of common ground with patients on med-surg floors in order to establish a rapport with them. With psychiatric patients, I know that I must have tighter boundaries and resist from sharing personal experiences as well as interests with them to foster a positive therapeutic relationship. This experience helped me to dip my feet into different methods to establish rapport with psychiatric patients through making it known that we, as nurses care for the patients well-being, as well as convey that we are there to help the patient instead of acting as if we are there simply to check boxes off in a chart so that we can get paid through rushing through questions.  Some challenges we faced were that it was slightly awkward for us to work as a team during the first interaction but as the simulation went on, our synergy as a team slowly improved.  As a result of this simulation as well as my other experiences, I feel more ready than I started out on the Portland Campus to address mental health problems in a clinical setting. I feel like I have a tool set that I would be able to focus on and draw from should anything arise.