Week 8 Forum

Decision Making When Treating Psychological Disorders

Psychological disorders, such as depression, bipolar, and anxiety disorders can present several complications for patients of all ages. These disorders affect patients physically and emotionally, potentially impacting judgment, school and/or job performance, and relationships with family and friends. Since these disorders have many drastic effects on patients’ lives, it is important for advanced practice nurses to effectively manage patient care. With patient factors and medical history in mind, it is the advanced practice nurse’s responsibility to ensure the safe and effective diagnosis, treatment, and education of patients with psychological disorders.

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For this Discussion, you will select an interactive media piece to practice decision making when treating patients with psychological disorders. You will recommend the most effective pharmacotherapeutic to treat the psychological disorder presented and examine potential impacts of pharmacotherapeuticson a patient’s pathophysiology.

To Prepare

Review this week’s interactive media pieces and select one to focus on for this Discussion.

Reflect on the decision steps in the interactive media pieces, and consider the potential impacts from the administration of the associated pharmacotherapeutics on the patient’s pathophysiology.

By Day 3 of Week 8

Post a brief explanation of the psychological disorder presented and the decision steps you applied in completing the interactive media piece for the psychological disorder you selected. Then, explain how the administration of the associated pharmacotherapeutics you recommended may impact the patient’s pathophysiology. How might these potential impacts inform how you would suggest treatment plans for this patient? Be specific and provide examples.NURS6521 All Weeks Forums – Advanced Pharmacology

By Day 6 of Week 8

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days who selected a different interactive media piece on a psychological disorder, and provide recommendations for alternative drug treatments to address the patient’s pathophysiology.

 

MORE INFO 

Decision Making When Treating Psychological Disorders

Introduction

When it comes to making a decision about how to treat a psychological disorder, typically there are 4 major factors involved. The first factor involves understanding the patient’s history and the nature of the specific disorder he or she is suffering from. The second factor involves the goals that the patient has for treatment. The third factor involves understanding what resources are available. And finally, fourthly (and finally), learning as much as you can about all your options before making any decisions about treatment options!

When it comes to making a decision about how to treat a psychological disorder, typically there are 4 major factors involved.

When it comes to making a decision about how to treat a psychological disorder, typically there are 4 major factors involved:

• The patient’s history. How long have they been experiencing symptoms? What symptoms have they had before? How severe were those symptoms? What other medical conditions do they have that might be contributing to the problem (e.g., diabetes)?

• The nature of the disorder itself. Is it an anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder or something else entirely? Do you need medications or therapy sessions with professionals who specialize in this type of treatment?

• The goals that you hope will be achieved through therapy/medication/etc., such as gaining confidence in public speaking skills or getting off Xanax altogether – these are things that could potentially help get your life back on track again after having dealt with this issue for so long!

The first factor involves understanding the patient’s history and the nature of the specific disorder he or she is suffering from.

The first factor involves understanding the patient’s history and the nature of the specific disorder he or she is suffering from. If you are aware of this, then it will help you determine how to treat him or her. Knowing how to treat them is important because it gives you an idea of what needs to be done next in order for them not only feel better but also improve overall quality of life.

The second factor involves the goals that the patient has for treatment.

The goals of treatment are important to the decision-making process. Goals should be realistic, specific and achievable. In addition, they should be measurable in some way (for example, by listing a number of times that you will attend therapy sessions). They also need to be time-bound—that is, they can only be accomplished at certain times over a given period of time (e.g., weekly).

It’s important that your therapist understands what kind of changes you want from your treatment plan so she can find ways for you both meet those needs while working together on achieving them together as a team!

The third factor involves understanding what resources are available.

The third factor involves understanding what resources are available. Resources include time, money and access to healthcare. Although these three factors may seem obvious, they can be difficult to assess when treating a psychological disorder. For example, if your patient has an appointment with you but is unable to pay for treatment or feels that he or she doesn’t have enough money to pay for it at this time in his life then you need to consider whether he or she should continue seeing you as an outpatient psychologist considering the fact that there are other options available such as group therapy sessions or individual therapy sessions (depending on the nature of your patient’s problem).

The fourth factor involves learning as much as you can about the different potential treatments.

The fourth factor involves learning as much as you can about the different potential treatments. This means talking to other professionals with experience treating the disorder, asking the patient what they want and trying to understand their goals for treatment.

It’s important to research all your options when treating a psychological disorder.

It’s important to research all your options when treating a psychological disorder. One of the most common questions people ask is, “Should I take medication?” The answer is that it depends on what type of medication you’re taking and how well it works for you. If your doctor recommends medication, he or she will explain why they think it would help improve your condition and how long it will take before these effects occur (if at all).

It’s also important to talk with other patients who have gone through this process before so that you can get an idea about how long things may take and how much money you might need for the treatment process itself.

Conclusion

Treating a psychological disorder can be a difficult process, but it doesn’t have to be. By taking the time to research all of your options and making sure that you understand each treatment before committing yourself to any one of them, you will be in a much better position to make an informed decision about how best to proceed.