Potential Risks for Mental Patients - Essay Example

Dependence: People suffering from mental illnesses like “depression” or “anxiety” tend to develop dependence on smoking or alcohol. The dependence arises as a means of self-medication or as a coping strategy (Pederson & Soest, 2009, p.130).

The nurses who are in charge of treating mental patients need to have a thorough idea about how to treat the patients because the process is very “complex” and “demanding”. (Ford et.al, 2009, p.113). The following interventions can be suggested.

Intoxication: One has to monitor one physical and mental condition of Carol constantly. Any change in them can be crucial for her treatment. Documentation of the observations is necessary for future referencing and consultations.

Self-harm: an important element in therapeutic supervision is to focus on assisting the victim in developing self-awareness and goal setting (Buck & Lysaker, 2010, p.1). Carol’s mental condition can be attributed to her past and her lack of security in life. So here she needs to be motivated. As Carol has done this before so it’s important to supervise how much she intends to harm herself at present. Further, a part of the treatment should be the maintenance of a safe environment which is very crucial. Any sign of conflict or tension should be kept away from her else improvement would be negligible.

Dependence:  According to DSM, the problem of dependence is very severe (Hathaway et .al, 2009, p. 992). If dependence continues then the problem becomes more acute. In the case of Carol, one has to supervise to check signs of withdrawal. When Carol was brought to the hospital she was irritable, restless, and very anxious. She even complained of headaches. All these were there as she was dependent on alcohol and cannabis. If the above symptoms reduce over time then they are the signs of withdrawal. Maintenance of hydration level is very important for the smooth working of the body. At this time she mustn’t develop any physical illness. So thorough monitoring of all vital signs is important.

Mental patients cannot be made treated by simple intake of pills. They need constant supervision and care from those in charge of them. Reasons for mental disorders can vary from person to person but the method hardly differs.

Intoxication: Documentation is very vital in the case of mental patients. It’s very important to record the observations since the admission of the patient. The records reflect the care that was given and the accuracy of the patient’s condition. Documentation is also required for legal purposes (Importance of good record keeping for nurses, 2003). Such documentations are also vital for teaching medical students (Siegler, 2010, p.1).

Self-harm: Mental care patients are often not aware of their surroundings and end up doing something wrong. So supervision is very vital over here. The changes in the patient’s behavior and attitude over time can be very useful in the treatment progress. Through therapeutic supervision, there is an enhancement in the quality of care for the patients (Rice, 2007, p.1). The environment around us is very important for our development. Hence nurses need to keep the environment around such vulnerable patients as good as possible. The built-in setting has direct and indirect consequences on psychological health (Evans, 2003, p. 536).

Dependence: Treatment resistance, addiction to alcohol or drugs, etc. is a few of the vital signs in mental patients. Their progress to a certain extent depends on the improvements in these signs. So there is a need to supervise it. Maintenance of hydration level is required so that no other complications arise. As dependence is a very crucial problem so checking the progress of the patient and monitoring withdrawal signs is very important.