Psychiatric Nursing Essay

According to Laukkanen et al. (2019), psychiatric nurses play a vital role in administering psychiatric care and treatment. Nurses serving in this field will work alongside medical doctors who specialize in mental disorders ranging from anxiety and depression to personality disorders and schizophrenia. Nurses working together with these psychiatrists assist in developing treatment plans while utilizing their skills for the provision of a range of options to not only patients but also their families. Advanced practice registered nurses working in psychiatric mental health also offer primary care services to patients suffering from mental health issues spanning from diagnosis of mental to the administration of physiotherapy. Advanced practice nurses combine nursing theories with counseling theories to achieve ethics above end, as this response will illustrate using Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory of nursing and the Cognitive Theory of counseling. Psychiatric Nursing Essay.

Dorothea E. Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory resulted from her work in improving the quality of nursing care in her state’s general hospitals. The theory is based on an interrelating model concept such that they create a different way of observing a phenomenon. This theory is greatly applied due to its relative simplicity and the fact that it can be generalized to apply to various patients. This theory is applicable by nurses looking to improve and guide their practice. However, it must be consistent with other laws, theories, and principles that have been validated (Younas, 2017).

Several assumptions are consistent with this theory. The first and most central is that all people desire to become self-reliant and responsible for their care and the care of other family members that might need it. The theory assumes that people are distinct individuals. The theory views nursing as a course of action involving the interaction of two people or more. Another assumption of this theory is that it is important to equip a person with knowledge of potential health problems to promote their self-care behavior. Finally, the theory assumes that dependent care and self-care are behaviors that are taught and learned within sociocultural contexts (Younas, 2017).

In the 1960s, Aaron Beck, a psychotherapist, would develop the cognitive theory. The counseling theory in question focuses on how individuals’ thinking can change their feelings and behaviors as well. Therapy based on this theory, unlike psychodynamic theory, is brief and oriented towards solving problems (Beck, 2019). A cognitive therapist will focus on the client’s present situation and distorted thinking rather than the past. Psychiatric Nursing Essay. Behavioral and cognitive theorists are often combined as a single form of therapy practiced by therapists and counselors known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT. Research has shown CBT helps with different mental illnesses such as anxiety, eating, personality, and substance abuse disorders.

The above theories have been chosen due to their compatibility. As stated above, Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory has the assumption that behaviors of care can be learned within sociocultural contexts. The Cognitive theory agrees with this to some extent as the therapists will work to teach the client positive thinking, which will, in turn, affect feelings and their behaviors. Combined, these theories are based on a pillar of self-care, where the patient is equipped with the skills to alter their behavior to facilitate positive mental health outcomes.

The Self-Care Theory has been seen to provide a competitive base to advanced practice nursing. The theory is functional in many different nursing fields, whether in clinical settings, administration, psychiatry, and education. Furthermore, the theory is just as applicable by an advanced practice nurse as by a beginning practitioner. Another significant strength of this theory that makes it applicable to this case is its’ advocacy for the use of the Nursing Process. Dorothea Orem specifically outlined the steps of this process while also mentioning that the nursing process involved practical and intellectual processes. One aspect through which this theory can enhance a patient’s ability to care from them is by overcoming negative aspects of their personality as Beck believed that cognition will always precede emotion and behavior and therefore changing a person’s thoughts will lead to a change in the other two above (Beck, 2019). Psychiatric Nursing Essay.

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Goal setting is an important part of advanced nursing practice. For this practicum, the goals set are as follows.

• Develop knowledge in mental health/psychiatric adjunctive therapies.
• Demonstrate an ability to work with others while working as a member of a mental health care team.
• Both develop and implement nursing care plans meeting the needs of all assigned mental health/psychiatric clients.

While developing knowledge for psychiatric adjunctive therapies is a continuous process, the timeline for this activity is to last for the first six months of the practicum. This is to run simultaneously with the second objective of demonstrating an ability to work as part of a team to take two months. Once these objectives are successfully achieved, the final objective is to take the practicum experience’s final six months.

References

Beck, A. T. (2019). A 60-year evolution of cognitive theory and therapy. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(1), 16-20.

Laukkanen, E., Vehviläinen‐Julkunen, K., Louheranta, O., & Kuosmanen, L. (2019). Psychiatric nursing staffs’ attitudes towards the use of containment methods in psychiatric inpatient care: An integrative review. International journal of mental health nursing, 28(2), 390-406.

Younas, A. (2017). A foundational analysis of Dorothea Orem’s self-care theory and evaluation of its significance for nursing practice and research. Creative nursing, 23(1), 13-23. Psychiatric Nursing Essay.

Journal Entry 1

As a future advanced practice nurse, it is important that you are able to connect your classroom experience to your practicum experience. By applying the concepts you study in the classroom to clinical settings, you enhance your professional competency. Each week, you complete an Assignment that prompts you to reflect on your practicum experiences and relate them to the material presented in the classroom. This week, you begin documenting your practicum experiences in your Practicum Journal.

To prepare for this week’s journal

Analyze nursing and counseling theories to guide practice in psychotherapy*

Summarize goals and objectives for personal practicum experiences*

Produce timelines for practicum activities*

Address the following in your Practicum Journal:

Select one nursing theory and one counseling theory to best guide your practice in psychotherapy.

Explain why you selected these theories.

Support your approach with evidence-based literature.

Develop at least three goals and at least three objectives for the practicum experience in this course.

Create a timeline of practicum activities based on your practicum requirements. Psychiatric Nursing Essay.