Mental Illness Assessment Paper

emotionally capable of making an informed decision regarding participation in this study. Of the participants, 250 were male and 300 were female. Participants were selected from general

Darby, S. Marr, J. Crump, A Scurfield, M (1999) Older People, Nursing & Mental Health. Oxford: Buterworth-Heinemann.

31 y/o AA male patient seen today for psychiatric-mental health assessment. He is awake, alert and oriented x4. He is calm, cooperative and follows commands during assessment. The patient reports he is depressed, difficulty sleeping and nightmares at night. The patient explained his depression is as a result of deep thinking from a news he received two days ago from his elder brother that his mother is ill. Stressors identified by the patient include losing his job a week ago before the news about his mother; his wife is 6-months pregnant with their first child, who currently works part-time at her present job; patient relates difficulty paying monthly bills and inability to provide adequately for his family as a man. The patient denies mood swings, suicidal/homicidal thoughts and ideation. Patient reports his spouse is at work at the moment and he does not want to put stress on his wife due to her current condition. Patient denies been hospitalized for depression or psychiatric illness; and denies family history of mental illness. Patient reports he is seeking help because he does not like feeling this way using terms of “helpless and loss of worth from his spouse”. Patient reports he needs help with his depression and nightmares before his current condition get out of hands and ruined his marriage.

It is estimated that about 20% of older adults will be diagnosed with a mental health disorder. The number may in fact be much lower than in the general population, because of the high probability of

Anne, P and Katherine, N (2011) described the need practice nurse in mental health education. They used statistics and content analysis for open questions. They concluded that education and support specifically designed to meet their identified needs in mental health to help improve care to patients. This will require collaboration between secondary mental health services, primary mental health nurses and tertiary institutions. With targeted education these nurses should become more confident and competent in their dealings with people who present to their practice with a mental health

Nursing care to the old is an initiative that has been less emphasized on in the nursing career. Recently it has become quite significant that as one age, one develops the propensity to illnesses. While taking care of these elderly patients, not all nurses can manage the task since not every nurse learnt these type skills in school. The duty requires a specialist nurse who has enough skills as well as compassion and understanding. The need for a specialist nurse is the fact that older adults suffer from depression, which acts as the platform for breeding other illnesses (Anderson & Braun, 2009). This paper will give insight on the ways and strategies that nurses should follow in administering

Many older people seek mental health professionals for several reasons including health changes, stresses, lack of support, and even coping difficulties.

It is clear that especially with the new administration soon to come health care in the United States is going to change. As a new nurse I can try to get my colleagues on board with taking an interest in the mental health sector. I can attempt to teach them to be nonjudgmental of those with a mental health issue and to help push for more available treatments in that area of health care. Knowing that medications are not always the best treatment, as holistic nurses my fellow nurses and I can help to find other ways to treat people and make sure their quality of life is the best it can be. There is no real way to know where I will end up in nursing in the future but because of my new background in abnormal psychology I will always advocate for improvements in the mental health

Growing up I had always enjoyed caring for my younger siblings. Their well being had always mattered to me, physically and emotionally. I noticed, however when they were treated for any conditions they were only tended to physically but not mentally. So whenever they were not feeling well, I made it my duty to talk to them about their feelings, and deal with any emotions they may be having. Consequently they felt a sense of relief because they spoke about their concerns with me, and it helped lift a burden off of their shoulders. My interest in the mental well being of my siblings, highlighted to me that a career in psychiatric nursing was suited for me. But foremost, before starting to work as a nurse, I would need a bachelor’s degree. So,

There is a great deal of literature concerning the issue of nursing shortages of in-patient, psychiatric settings, and much of it says the same thing: psychiatric nursing has a bad rap, and the best way to combat it is with exposure of nursing students. Works by M. Cleary, S. Matheson, & B. Happell; K. A. Karlowicz and M. P. Ternus; M. Nadler-Moodie and J. Loucks; B. Happell and C. J. Gaskin; S. M. Valente and I. Wright; J. Curtis; and finally P. J. Morrissette all cite education and exposure to be essential to the recruitment and retention of licensed nurses to the psychiatric field.

There are several factors that can increase the risk of mental illness in patients suffering from cancer. Risk factors include age, education level, other medical conditions, income level, and marital status (Naughton). Using this information, doctors and other hospital staff can be more observant of patients who are at a higher risk of mental illness, and get those who are in need of help the assistance they need as soon as possible. Awareness of the risk factors can make it easier to identify when a patient is suffering from a mental illness, and then be able to treat them promptly. Patients will be better off if they can begin receiving treatments as soon as possible, making it important for doctors and other hospital staff to be able to quickly and accurately diagnose them. If doctors and hospital staff are aware of the signs of increased chance of mental illness in patients they will be able to respond sooner and treat patients as

According to the American Psychiatric Association “Studies show that seniors are at greater risk of some mental disorders and their complications than younger people, and many of these illnesses can be accurately diagnosed and treated.”(American Psychiatric Association, 2015, para. 1). Although many of the illnesses can be treated, many go undiagnosed due to the fact that many individuals do not understand mental illnesses and some seniors are reluctant to seek psychiatric care due to being ashamed or believing that their symptoms are a part of aging that everyone experiences. It is not just the seniors and their family or friends that fail to recognize symptoms of mental illness, even their doctors may mistake a symptom of mental illness for another illness or problem associated with older adults.

On average, one out of five children from ages 9 to 17 and one out of four adults 18 years and older are affected by a mental disorder (Kaakinen, J., 2010). Not only does mental illness effect the patient, their families are also greatly impacted by their relative’s illness (Kaakinen, J., 2010). Nurses have certain roles to undertake with the families of someone who is suffering from a mental illness. In this paper, I will be discussing how mental illness effects the family, the challenges family nurses face and the family nurse’s role.

Men and women aged 65 years or older are referred to as the geriatric population. This population is the fastest growing population in the world; in fact, the current number of seniors in the U.S. exceeds 40 million. As people live longer, the elderly population is expected to reach 72 million by 2030. Medical professionals receive very little training when it comes to the mental health of seniors, which is concerning since the age group with the highest rate of suicide is the geriatric population. Caregivers and medical professionals know the signs that indicate depression. While medication may be necessary, there are other ways a caregiver can assist a patient who is experiencing depression until his or her medication takes effect.

Mental illness seems to be a recurring factor with the elderly and a cause for suicide. A study done by Ildri Kjølsetha, Øivind Ekebergbc and Sissel Steihaug examined cases of patients 65 years or older who had committed suicide and examined their contact to health services leading up to their death. They examined home health workers, family members and general practitioners who had contact with the deceased two months before their death (Kjølsetha, 2010). The results of this study concluded a theme that many of the elderly expressed distrust of health services once their health and overall wellbeing started to diminish (Kjølsetha, 2010). They expressed a fear of losing their independence thus leading them to refuse help (Kjølsetha, 2010). I think that having a positive and optimistic outlook on their quality of life that still remains is a necessary emotion that needs to be portrayed from all. This starts with the health care workers, family members and other parties that the patient comes in contact with. Implementing a positive attitude no matter the situation can give a scary