Five Ways Nurses Can Improve Care for People with Severe Mental Illness

Nurses are responsible for providing holistic care to their patients, including individuals with severe mental illnesses. They work in collaboration with other medical professionals to provide the optimal outcomes for the patients in question. Mental illness can happen at any age to anyone regardless of socioeconomic status or ethnic origin. That’s why nurses may require workingwith people from diverse backgrounds. Their major role in mental health care settings is to provide care to their patients with mental, psychiatric, or behavioral issues. Most of the duties performed by these professional nurses are inclined towards psychiatry and include psychotherapy and diagnosis of mental disorders. Not every registered nurse has the knowledge of psychiatry or mental illnesses to help their patients efficiently. However, with advanced education and mental Healthcare training, these primary care providers can improve patient-oriented care related to severe mental illnesses.

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1. Table of Contents

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   Nurses With Psychiatric Education

In every healthcare setting, primary care providers are expected to have leadership skills, expertise, and compassion for helping patients at all times. Similarly, when dealing with patients with severe mental illnesses, nurses must bring the same level of excellence to obtain improved clinical outcomes. In these settings, nurses with advanced psychiatric education can be the best patient-oriented mental Healthcare providers.

Moreover, alongside their ongoing duties, professional nurses can get the opportunity to advance their careers in the mental healthcare sector. Nurses who don’t have these advanced psychiatric skills can opt for a nurse practitioner online program to excel in their career in mental healthcare. An online degree allows them to study at their own pace.Well-trained nurse practitioners can help diagnose mental disorders and do much more to improve a patient’s mental status.

2. Uncover Reasons for Mental Instability

Patients suffering from severe mental illnesses are often difficult to handle. While dealing with them, nurse practitioners shouldn’t judge them based on their behavior and provide them proper care with respect. Often, chronic health conditions and mental trauma can cause depression and anxiety in some patients. On the other hand, the effects of medications or certain diseases result in a patient’s mental distress. For instance, patients with thyroid disorders, Parkinson’s disease, or beta blocker’s side effects can cause symptoms that trigger depression. Professional nurse practitioners are better positioned to identify the reasons behind a patient’s mental instability and recommend it to a doctor.

3. Deal Patients with Severe Mental Illnesses

Many disorders are categorized as severe mental illnesses. Individuals with mental health issues struggle with their thoughts and behaviors, which affect their way of handling routine life obligations and overall situation. Abusive relationships, neglect, or consistent violence is a traumatic experiences that can lead to severe mental illness. Other factors like biochemical imbalances and genetic predisposition, along with heavy stress, can result from a devastating medical health condition. Nurse practitioners can provide better care in such situations and help these patients through psychotherapy sessions and different treatment plans. They may also come across patients with bipolar disorder, phobias, schizophrenia and manage symptoms associated with these mental disorders.

4. Treatment Plan

Improved treatments have proved beneficial for patients to recover from their mental illnesses. Recovery from a mental illness enables individuals to spend a profound life. It gives them the strength to cope with their stresses. Though people can recover from their mental health problems, there is a probability they can relapse anytime in their life. However, patients can seek professional therapies and assistance to strive back toward a better and healthy life. Nurses with knowledge of psychiatry can assist these patients in creating a suitable plan for them. Severe mental illnesses can have numerous triggers; even treatment therapy settings can also stimulate a negative response in these patients. Professional nurses can harmonize with such patients to identify their triggers and plan them according to the patients. After completing the sessions, these nurse practitioners gather all the patient’s detail and forward them to the doctor to recommend an effective and appropriate treatment plan.

5. Provide Therapies

It’s no surprise, that nurse practitioners are the best caregivers and communicate excellently with patients and their families. The nurses in any healthcare setting are skilled and trained enough to know their patient’s psyche and initiate communications accordingly. They help patients battling severe mental illnesses and guide their families to provide better home care for the sick. Mentally challenged patients are more vulnerable to triggers that happen to appear in different situations. For instance, a loud voice or any noise can disturb these patients. Nurses with expertise in psychiatry spending more time with these patients can build a healthy, trustworthy relationship with them. A consistent interaction between these psychiatric nurses and their patients can better position them to counsel the mentally ill patient according to their mental, physical, and emotional wellness.

Conclusion

Nurses are the best primary caregivers in the healthcare industry all over the globe. Along with providing care to physically ill patients, these nurses can help patients suffering from severe mental illnesses. Educational programs help nurses to provide better diagnostic skills for mental health issues. It can give nurse practitioners the expertise to guide their patients on recovering from their mental illnesses by developing trustworthy relationships with them. In addition, psychiatric nurses conduct group or family therapy sessions and educate patients’ families to give them proper home care.

Read more: Ways Nurses Can Improve Care for People with Severe Mental Illness