| Course | NU 673 Psychiatric Mental Healthcare I |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Community resource pathway |
| Length | About 570 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | MSN Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU 673 Unit 2
Community Resource Pathway: What Could Stop a Workable Plan for a Man With Depression and Alcohol Use Disorder Who Just Lost His Job and His Insurance
Student Name
Department of Nursing, Herzing University
NU 673: Psychiatric Mental Healthcare I
Instructor Name
January 30, 2026
Community Resource Pathway: What Could Stop a Workable Plan for a Man With Depression and Alcohol Use Disorder Who Just Lost His Job and His Insurance
The Plan and the Person
Mr. T. is a composite 47-year-old man seen at a community clinic's walk-in psychiatric service after his sister brought him in. He has a major depressive episode and moderate alcohol use disorder, drinking about a fifth of whiskey over two days. He was laid off from a machine shop six weeks ago, lost his employer insurance with it, has no car since the lease was returned, and lives alone in a small city with a limited bus system. He has no current suicidal thoughts and agreed to a safety plan. The clinical plan is sound: an antidepressant; weekly therapy; an intensive outpatient program for alcohol use; mutual support meetings; blood tests for liver function; and a primary care visit. The question is what would stop each element, and how to route around it.
Element by Element
The table records each element of the plan with what stands in the way and the route found.
| Element | Obstacle | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Health coverage | Employer coverage ended; continuation coverage costs more than his unemployment benefit | Losing job-based coverage opens a special enrollment period of 60 days for marketplace plans; with his income now very low, he appears eligible for Medicaid in his state, which expanded coverage. The clinic's enrollment counselor helped him apply the same day. |
| Antidepressant | Cost before coverage starts | Generic sertraline is on the low-cost generic list at a pharmacy on his bus line, about $10 a month without insurance |
| Weekly therapy | Private therapists near him have waiting lists of 6 to 10 weeks, and most do not accept Medicaid | The county's certified community behavioral health clinic serves people regardless of ability to pay and must offer an initial evaluation promptly (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2023); first appointment in 8 days |
| Intensive outpatient program for alcohol | The nearest program meets three mornings a week, 25 minutes by bus with one transfer; mornings conflict with job interviews | The same clinic runs an evening intensive outpatient track, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.; the last bus home leaves at 9:15 |
| Mutual support meetings | Does not want to attend meetings where he might see former coworkers | SMART Recovery online meetings, and an in-person meeting in the next town reachable by bus on Saturdays |
| Blood tests | Laboratory is across town; he does not want to spend bus fare twice | Drawn at the clinic during the same visit |
| Primary care visit | No primary care clinician | Federally qualified health center with sliding fees; appointment scheduled for the week after Medicaid approval, with the clinic's shared record |
| Transportation overall | No car; buses hourly after 6 p.m. | Monthly bus pass through the clinic's transportation assistance program; Medicaid transportation benefit once coverage starts |
The Obstacles That Are Not Logistical
Research on why people with mental health conditions do not get treatment has found that structural barriers such as cost and transport matter, but that attitudinal barriers, such as wanting to handle the problem alone or thinking it will go away, are often more common (Mojtabai et al., 2011). Mr. T. said two things that fit this pattern: "I should be able to fix this myself," and he did not want anyone at his old job to know. The route for these barriers is conversation, not referral. He was told that depression and heavy drinking often feed each other and that treating both at once works better than willpower alone; the evening program and online meetings were chosen partly because they protect his privacy.
Sequence and Timing
Day 1, today: Medicaid application submitted; blood drawn; sertraline started with a low-cost prescription; safety plan written; bus pass issued. Day 8: first therapy appointment at the behavioral health clinic. Day 10: intake for the evening alcohol program. Days 15 to 30: expected Medicaid approval; then primary care visit and switch of prescription to coverage. Throughout: weekly check-in call from the clinic's care coordinator for the first month.
Where the Pathway Could Still Break
Three weak points remain. If Medicaid is delayed or denied, the evening program's sliding fee will apply, and the coordinator will help with an appeal. If he finds a job with evening hours, the alcohol program will conflict; the clinic has a weekend group as an alternative. And the bus: the last bus home after the evening program leaves at 9:15, 45 minutes after the program ends, which is manageable, but any schedule change would strand him. Transportation problems are a common reason for missed and delayed care (Syed et al., 2013), so the coordinator will check the bus schedule each month and arrange a ride through the Medicaid benefit if it changes.
What the Pathway Achieved
Each element of the plan now has a route that he can afford, reach, and attend at hours that fit his life, and each route was arranged before he left the building rather than handed to him as a list of phone numbers. The plan did not change; what changed is that it can now actually happen.
References
Mojtabai, R., Olfson, M., Sampson, N. A., Jin, R., Druss, B., Wang, P. S., Wells, K. B., Pincus, H. A., & Kessler, R. C. (2011). Barriers to mental health treatment: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Psychological Medicine, 41(8), 1751-1761. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291710002291
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2023). Certified community behavioral health clinic (CCBHC) certification criteria. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Syed, S. T., Gerber, B. S., & Sharp, L. K. (2013). Traveling towards disease: Transportation barriers to health care access. Journal of Community Health, 38(5), 976-993. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-013-9681-1
What the NU 673 Unit 2 instructions ask for
Unit 2 asks you to map the community resources a patient needs to follow a treatment plan and identify barriers. Expect to describe the plan and patient, list each element with its obstacles and the route found, address non-logistical barriers, set a sequence and identify where the pathway could break. Many versions ask about cost, transport and insurance. Check whether your section expects real local agencies or allows realistic composites. Cost should be described with programs such as sliding fees, Medicaid or manufacturer assistance rather than invented figures. Transport is part of the clinical plan, because a missed appointment ends the treatment as surely as a wrong prescription. Plan for what happens if a step fails, such as a delayed insurance application.
How the NU 673 Unit 2 example is put together
The pathway opens with the plan and the person, giving enough context to understand his barriers. The table is the core, with each element, obstacle and route in its own row. The non-logistical section explains that shame and a belief he should handle it himself could stop him even with every route in place, and describes how the plan addresses that. The sequence section sets day 1 actions and later steps with dates. The weak points section names three risks and a fallback for each. The final section summarizes what the pathway achieved: every element has a route he can afford, reach and attend. Each route is described in practical terms, such as bus lines and evening hours, not just program names.
Where the points sit in the NU 673 Unit 2 rubric
Herzing's rubric for a resource pathway typically covers the plan and patient context, identification of barriers, the routes found, attention to non-logistical barriers, sequencing and contingency planning. Routes found decide much of the grade: graders want each element of the plan matched to a resource the patient can afford, reach and attend. Barrier points reward cost, insurance, transport and schedule. Non-logistical criteria look for attitudes and stigma addressed with evidence. Sequencing earns credit for dated steps. Contingency points go to fallbacks for weak points. A readable table helps. Mojtabai's study of treatment barriers and the SAMHSA treatment locator belong in the APA 7 list.
NU 673 Unit 2 help before you submit
Resource pathways in Unit 2 often fall short by listing agencies without checking whether the patient can use them. Another frequent problem is ignoring cost or describing it as affordable without explanation. Students often leave out transport. Non-logistical barriers, such as shame, are missed. There is no sequence, so the patient faces every step at once. Weak points and fallbacks are absent. The pathway forgets the patient's schedule, such as job interviews. Finally, describe each route concretely, because graders reward a pathway that a patient could follow from the clinic door rather than a list of program names.
Get a NU 673 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 2 instructions and the rubric from your NU 673 classroom, and describe the setting and the patient the pathway should serve. We write a custom example with the preferred plan stated first, barriers written as quantities, services matched to each one, fallbacks attached and a minimum plan at the end. First custom sample free, returned in 24 to 48 hours.
More NU 673 papers and PMHNP samples
- NU 673 Unit 1: Presenting problem profile
- NU 673 Unit 3: Psychoeducation session outline
- NU 673 Unit 4: Consent and confidentiality brief
- NU 673 Unit 5: Medication and cognition review
- NU 673 Unit 6: Follow-up interval rationale
- NU 673 Unit 7: Interdisciplinary consultation note
- NU 673 Unit 8: Serial encounter record
- NU 671 Unit 2: Mental status examination record
- NU 672 Unit 2: Boundary and self-disclosure review
- NU 674 Unit 2: Chronic illness trajectory review
- NU 670 Unit 2: Clearance pathway table
NU 673 Unit 2 questions, answered
Do I need to name real local agencies?
Only if the instructions ask, and then verify what you write against the service itself rather than a search result, since hours, eligibility and waiting times change constantly. Many sections accept categories of provider with a note that the writer would confirm availability locally, and that framing is more honest than a specific claim about a program you have not called.
How do I handle cost without inventing figures?
Describe the structure rather than the number: whether a service uses a sliding scale, whether coverage typically applies, whether a program is grant funded. Invented amounts date immediately and are easy to dispute. Where the instructions require a budget, say where each figure came from and treat it as illustrative unless you have taken it from something published.
Is transport really part of a clinical plan?
In outpatient work it decides whether the plan happens at all, which is why this unit puts it in the document rather than in a footnote. A course of visits requiring three transfers on a route that stops early is a course of visits the person will miss. Writing that down turns an unexplained absence into a design problem you can solve.
Where can I find a free NU 673 Unit 2 sample paper?
Read the complete NU 673 Unit 2 resource pathway here at no charge, every plan element with its barrier and route. A pathway for another patient or community can be prepared on request.
How can a patient without insurance get psychiatric treatment?
Options include applying for Medicaid, sliding fee programs at community clinics, low-cost generic prescriptions and manufacturer assistance. This sample builds a pathway for a man who lost his insurance with his job, with a fallback if Medicaid is delayed.