Nursing Interventions For Urgent Risk Areas And Mental Health Concerns

Identifying Urgent Risk Areas

Question 1a

Being a community nurse, I am undertaking a post-natal visit to Harriet for her wound care due to caesarean delivery of a child. While visiting the patient I noticed, Chung, her husband looked extremely sad as well as unmindful and his physical appearance also revealed that he was frustrated somehow. As a healthcare professional, I talked to him and managed to obtain some information during the conversation and the main risk was disclosed, when Chung presented his self-harm thought and he stated that he is aware of high lethality medications which he could take to overdose as he wants to die. Many cases are there where a frustrated person commits suicide, to get over all the tragedies of life which is extremely dangerous (Ferrey et al., 2016).  

Question 1b

Suicide is a common concern for the patients with mental disorder due to stress or frustration (Dunster-Page, Haddock, Wainwright & Berry, 2017). Building a close relationship with the suicidal patient is the main duty of the nurses (Hagen, Knizek & Hjelmeland, 2017). Establishing a therapeutic interpersonal relationship during a stressful period of the patient can be extremely useful intervention in this case (Kornhaber, Walsh, Duff & Walker, 2016). This is generally embedded in a safe environment which helps to provide a supportive, caring as well as non-judgemental behaviour to the patient (Kornhaber, Walsh, Duff & Walker, 2016). Listening carefully to the patient’s problem is helpful in the development of interpersonal alliance (Kornhaber, Walsh, Duff & Walker, 2016).

Question 2a

Considering the case study of Chung, the main mental health concern has been found and it is low mood with hopelessness. He was frustrated due to the failure in his work life and also he considers himself worthless. Mental health disorder affects the physical well-being of a person (Supnet, Crow, Stutzman & Olson, 2016). This stress is affecting the health of Chung as well. He is developing insomnia and also cardiac disease. During past couple of months he has been feeling extreme anxiety also. Apart from that, he lost weight, suffering from breathlessness and other physical hazards due to this. He also thinks that medical treatment will not help him to overcome the issue.

Question 2b

Nurses’ intervention works well in managing the mood fluctuation of a patient. Here in this case, nurses can encourage Chung to express his feeling of sadness and come up with some alternative and useful ways such as listening music to handle the frustration (Supnet, Crow, Stutzman & Olson, 2016). They should build trustworthy relationship and provide support to Chung to talk freely about the reason of his sadness (Hagen, Knizek & Hjelmeland, 2017). While being open during the discussion with nurses, Chung will be able to throw out the disappointment. This will help the patient in learning the alternative ways in order to deal with the emotions as well as to gain a sense of self-control.

Question 3

While dealing with the client, nurses might face some ethical as well as professional issue. It is very common to face ethical issues while working with mental patients (Preshaw, Brazil, McLaughlin & Frolic, 2016). Asking many personal questions to the patient for the purpose of mental health assessment, can be difficult as patient might feel it distressing and he will try to avoid saying all the facts in detail. Professional issue is also a barrier while dealing with mental patient (Preshaw, Brazil, McLaughlin & Frolic, 2016). Keeping the confidentiality as well as maintaining the safety of the patient is quite challenging. Nurse can face these two issues while dealing with the issues of Chung.

References

Dunster-Page, C., Haddock, G., Wainwright, L., & Berry, K. (2017). The relationship between therapeutic alliance and patient’s suicidal thoughts, self-harming behaviours and suicide attempts: A systematic review. Journal of affective disorders, 223, 165-174. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.07.040 

Ferrey, A. E., Hughes, N. D., Simkin, S., Locock, L., Stewart, A., Kapur, N., … & Hawton, K. (2016). The impact of self-harm by young people on parents and families: a qualitative study. BMJ open, 6(1), e009631. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009631 

Hagen, J., Knizek, B. L., & Hjelmeland, H. (2017). Mental health nurses’ experiences of caring for suicidal patients in psychiatric wards: an emotional endeavor. Archives of psychiatric nursing, 31(1), 31-37. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883941716301480 

Kornhaber, R., Walsh, K., Duff, J., & Walker, K. (2016). Enhancing adult therapeutic interpersonal relationships in the acute health care setting: an integrative review. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare, 9, 537. Doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.2147%2FJMDH.S116957 

Preshaw, D. H., Brazil, K., McLaughlin, D., & Frolic, A. (2016). Ethical issues experienced by healthcare workers in nursing homes: Literature review. Nursing ethics, 23(5), 490-506. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733015576357 

Supnet, C., Crow, A., Stutzman, S., & Olson, D. (2016). Music as medicine: the therapeutic potential of music for acute stroke patients. Critical care nurse, 36(2), e1-e7. Doi: https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2016413