Unit 1 Notes
Mental Health and Mental Illness – Chapter 1
Mental Health
• State of wellbeing
• Able to realize his/her own potential
• Cope with normal stressors of life
• Work productively
• Contribute to the community
Mental Illness
• All psychiatric disorders with definable diagnosis
• Significant dysfunction in mental functioning
o Developmental
o Biological
o Physiological Disturbances
• Culturally defined
Mental Health Continuum
• Mental Health versus Mental Illness
o A real middle ground exists: Stress and discomfort from everyday life
o Conceptualized as points along a mental health continuum
Individual Attributes and Behaviors
• Resilience
o Ability and capacity to secure resources needed to support well-being
o Characterized by
▪ Ability to secure needed resources
▪ Capacity for regulating one’s own emotions and overcoming
negative, self-defeating thoughts
o Essential to recovery
Risk and Protective Factors
• Social and economic circumstances
o Family, Schools and Peer Groups, Socioeconomic Status, and Educational
Advancement
• Environmental Factors
o Political Climate and Cultural Considerations
o Social and Economic Policies
Perceptions of Mental Health and Mental Illness
• Mental illness vs physical illness
, o Root of most mental disorders lies in intercellular abnormalities
• Nature vs Nurture
o Diathesis-stress model
Diathesis-Stress Model
• Diathesis – biological predisposition
• Stress – environmental stress or trauma
• Most accepted explanation for mental illness
• Combination of genetic vulnerability and negative environmental stressors
• Assertion – most psychiatric disorders result from a combination of genetic
vulnerability and negative environmental stressors
Epidemiology of Mental Health Disorders
• Study of the distribution of mental disorders
• Incidence – number of new cases in a given time
• Prevalence – number of cases regardless of when they began
• Lifetime Risk – risk that one will develop a disease in the course of a lifetime
Clinical Epidemiology
• Groups treated for specific mental disorders studied for
o Natural history of illness, diagnostic screening tests, and intervention
• Results used to describe frequency of
o Mental disorders
o Symptoms appearing together
Trends Affecting the Future
• Educational Challenges
• Demand for mental health professionals
• Aging population
• Cultural diversity
• Science, technology, and electronic healthcare
• Advocacy & legislative Involvement
Nursing Process and Standards of Care – Chapter 7
Standards of Practice
• Standard 1: Assessment
o Collect and synthesize pertinent patient data
▪ HIPAA guidelines
o Age considerations
▪ Children
• Consult caregiver; use interview, observation of play
▪ Adolescents
, • Explain the need to share some information with other adults
• Risk factors are priority
▪ Older adults
• Avoid dismissive stereotyping
• Identify and accommodate for physical defects up front
o Language barriers
▪ Interpreter or translator
• Standard 2: Diagnosis
o Analyze assessment data to determine diagnoses, problems, and areas of care
and treatment focus including level of risk
o Diagnostic Statement Components
▪ Problem/potential problem (unmet need)
▪ Probable cause (“due to”)
▪ Supporting Data (signs/symptoms, “as evidence by”)
• Standard 3: Outcomes Identification
o Outcome criteria
▪ Identify expected outcomes that reflect the maximal level of
patient health that can realistically be achieved through planned
nursing interventions
o Principles
▪ Reflect a measurable desired change
▪ Provide direction for continuity of care
▪ Written in positive terms
• Standard 4: Planning
o Prescribe strategies to assist patient in attaining expected outcomes
o Principle to consider when planning care
▪ Safe
▪ Compatible and Appropriate
▪ Realistic and Individualized
▪ Evidence-based
• Standard 5: Implementation
o Registered Nurse Interventions:
▪ Coordination of care
▪ Health teaching and health promotion
▪ Pharmacological, biological, and integrative therapies
▪ Milieu therapy
o Therapeutic Relationship and
Counseling
▪ Basis of nurse-patient interactions
▪ Providing presence and a sounding board
▪ Reinforce healthy behavior
▪ Help the patient to recognize maladaptive behaviors
▪ Help patient identify positive coping methods and try ou the new
coping methods
Mental Health and Mental Illness – Chapter 1
Mental Health
• State of wellbeing
• Able to realize his/her own potential
• Cope with normal stressors of life
• Work productively
• Contribute to the community
Mental Illness
• All psychiatric disorders with definable diagnosis
• Significant dysfunction in mental functioning
o Developmental
o Biological
o Physiological Disturbances
• Culturally defined
Mental Health Continuum
• Mental Health versus Mental Illness
o A real middle ground exists: Stress and discomfort from everyday life
o Conceptualized as points along a mental health continuum
Individual Attributes and Behaviors
• Resilience
o Ability and capacity to secure resources needed to support well-being
o Characterized by
▪ Ability to secure needed resources
▪ Capacity for regulating one’s own emotions and overcoming
negative, self-defeating thoughts
o Essential to recovery
Risk and Protective Factors
• Social and economic circumstances
o Family, Schools and Peer Groups, Socioeconomic Status, and Educational
Advancement
• Environmental Factors
o Political Climate and Cultural Considerations
o Social and Economic Policies
Perceptions of Mental Health and Mental Illness
• Mental illness vs physical illness
, o Root of most mental disorders lies in intercellular abnormalities
• Nature vs Nurture
o Diathesis-stress model
Diathesis-Stress Model
• Diathesis – biological predisposition
• Stress – environmental stress or trauma
• Most accepted explanation for mental illness
• Combination of genetic vulnerability and negative environmental stressors
• Assertion – most psychiatric disorders result from a combination of genetic
vulnerability and negative environmental stressors
Epidemiology of Mental Health Disorders
• Study of the distribution of mental disorders
• Incidence – number of new cases in a given time
• Prevalence – number of cases regardless of when they began
• Lifetime Risk – risk that one will develop a disease in the course of a lifetime
Clinical Epidemiology
• Groups treated for specific mental disorders studied for
o Natural history of illness, diagnostic screening tests, and intervention
• Results used to describe frequency of
o Mental disorders
o Symptoms appearing together
Trends Affecting the Future
• Educational Challenges
• Demand for mental health professionals
• Aging population
• Cultural diversity
• Science, technology, and electronic healthcare
• Advocacy & legislative Involvement
Nursing Process and Standards of Care – Chapter 7
Standards of Practice
• Standard 1: Assessment
o Collect and synthesize pertinent patient data
▪ HIPAA guidelines
o Age considerations
▪ Children
• Consult caregiver; use interview, observation of play
▪ Adolescents
, • Explain the need to share some information with other adults
• Risk factors are priority
▪ Older adults
• Avoid dismissive stereotyping
• Identify and accommodate for physical defects up front
o Language barriers
▪ Interpreter or translator
• Standard 2: Diagnosis
o Analyze assessment data to determine diagnoses, problems, and areas of care
and treatment focus including level of risk
o Diagnostic Statement Components
▪ Problem/potential problem (unmet need)
▪ Probable cause (“due to”)
▪ Supporting Data (signs/symptoms, “as evidence by”)
• Standard 3: Outcomes Identification
o Outcome criteria
▪ Identify expected outcomes that reflect the maximal level of
patient health that can realistically be achieved through planned
nursing interventions
o Principles
▪ Reflect a measurable desired change
▪ Provide direction for continuity of care
▪ Written in positive terms
• Standard 4: Planning
o Prescribe strategies to assist patient in attaining expected outcomes
o Principle to consider when planning care
▪ Safe
▪ Compatible and Appropriate
▪ Realistic and Individualized
▪ Evidence-based
• Standard 5: Implementation
o Registered Nurse Interventions:
▪ Coordination of care
▪ Health teaching and health promotion
▪ Pharmacological, biological, and integrative therapies
▪ Milieu therapy
o Therapeutic Relationship and
Counseling
▪ Basis of nurse-patient interactions
▪ Providing presence and a sounding board
▪ Reinforce healthy behavior
▪ Help the patient to recognize maladaptive behaviors
▪ Help patient identify positive coping methods and try ou the new
coping methods
