Mental illness, recovery and wellbeing Flashcards
What is distress?
= extreme anxiety, sorrow or pain
- Sometimes one emotion disguises another
- People expressing distress differently
- Distress is expected in HC settings
How do you recognise distress
- If someone one is acting not their normal
- Signs of deterioration
- Anger
- Self harm
- Stress
Ways of dealing with distress
- Empathic engagement Open body language, engaging voice, eye contact, using the persons own language, reflecting their statements back to them, trying not to fix or dismiss
- Mindful presence acknowledge and responding
- Speculative statements would you mind if …
- Tolerating silence calm your own inner panic
- Grounding I am here
- Directing without ordering how about we try….
- Introduce self
- No jargon
- Short sentences
How can rational mindfulness help nurses?
- Rational Mindfulness can help nurses through awareness of mindfulness which will allow yourself to Bring your focus back to the other person, yourself and the space in-between you
- Including what this means in clinical interactions accepting that your mind will wander and you will be preoccupied with your own thoughts and stresses but you need to keep bringing your mind back to the person in front of you
o Self-awareness: worried that I don’t know what I am doing
o Self compassion and self-care: I am doing my best and maybe next time I’ll try
Strategies of rational mindfeulness?
- Take a moment before you engage to put things aside
- Try to stay present in the interaction
- If you mind wanders bring it back
- Accept the moments you disconnect
- Being open
- Be aware of non-verbal and verbal expressions
Mental health assessment involves for the nurse?
Process = way the information is gathered, including the therapeutic relationship, observation, rating scales and formal/informal methods
Content = what information is gathered - the presenting problem, mental health history, mental state, physical health, substance use, strengths and goals
Interpretation = the meaning ascribed to the content
• Jointly understood by the consumer, nurse and treating team
• Informs treatment planning
Communication = the formulation and sharing of information, presentation at handover/clinical review, written documentation
Purpose of mental health assessment?
- Comprises purposeful professional enquiry and investigation to determine what events and factors have influenced or precipitated a person’s current mental state and health
- Aim: is to understand the mental health problems being experienced and how nursing interventions may assist
- Assessment in both initial and ongoing for mental health
What does a mental health assessment include?
- Demographic data/identifying information
- Reason for referral/who made referral
- Presenting issues/precipitating factors
- Previous and current mental health/medical/D&A history
- Developmental/psychosocial/relationship history
- Current functioning and supports
- Physical Assessment / Medical Assessment
- Risk Assessment
- Mental State Examination (MSE)
- Forensic History
What is the purpose of a MSE?
Mental state assessment provides a current assessment of a person’s mental state and functioning.
- Used to determine changes in patterns of thinking, feeling and behaviour (mental state) over a period of time
- Systematic method for organising data (acquired through observation and interaction) about a person’s current and present mental state/functioning
- Focuses on CURRENT signs and symptoms not history
What are the components of a MSE?
- Behaviour and appearance how do they look, and what are they doing
- Mood and effect how does the person describe their mood and facial expressions
- Speech and thought form how do they speak
- Thought content
- Perception
- Sensorium, orientation cognition
- Insight and judgement
- Memory
