regretpint34

Mental Health Nursing – Assessing Mental Health Mental health assessments typically include a physical exam to rule out physical problems. This may include blood tests and urine tests as well as brain scans. Psychologists also use a wide range of tools to evaluate mental health. These tools range from paper and pencil test forms to in depth interviews or self-completed questionnaires via mail. Affect and mood The doctor will first observe the patient's mood and emotional state. They are the most accurate indicators of a patient's emotional tone. This could vary from joy to sadness or irritability and anger. The degree of affect can be determined by looking at facial expressions and demeanour as well as the reactivity to internal or external stimuli (e.g. You can express your emotions by smirking at an absurd joke, or crying when you lose a loved one. Affect is a feeling that lasts only a few minutes while mood is a more sustained emotional state. It is usually described as euthymic, normal, or dysphoric (meaning depression). However, psychiatric specialists must be careful not to misunderstand the terms since they have different definitions and are influenced by a variety of factors. While the MSE is a valuable diagnostic tool but it can be difficult to interpret based on a subjective patient report. It is therefore important to ask patients how they've been feeling in the last few weeks, instead of using only the observation of a physician. private psychiatry assessment showed that the assessment tools differed in their ability to identify a significant portion of symptoms. This included those that were classified under the same disorder. This can be due to the differing emphasis on cognitive, emotional or physical symptoms as and also the different the duration and frequency of reporting symptom reports. It is also possible that the MSE relies on self-report which is susceptible to bias. A patient who has anxiety and a headache is likely to have a lower score compared to a patient reporting only a migraine. Additionally there is an inclination for patients to minimize negative emotions and overestimate the severity of positive ones. Affect and mood can have a direct impact on thought content. This can affect decision-making, interpersonal behavior, and physical functioning. They are affected by stress, fatigue and social interactions, as well as world events, hormones and the weather. In actual fact positive moods have been proven to boost thinking and creativity. A negative mood can cause confusion and lower concentration. A thorough and thoughtful mental health assessment must consider the patient's mood as well as affect as well as the other factors. Thought content Examining the way a patient thinks is among the most important aspects of a mental state exam. Particularly, it is assessing thought process and thoughts. The thought process is the coherence, logic, and organization of a patient's thoughts. Normal thought processes are logical and focused on goals. Thought processing may be altered in a variety of mental health conditions. Examples include delusions, hallucinations and loose associations. Insight and judgement are also assessed during a mental state test. Insight is being able to identify the presence of a problem. Judgement is the process to make a rational decision after receiving information. Both are affected by several mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and depression. If a patient has impaired judgment or insight in any way, they are at a higher chance of harming themselves or others. For instance when they are in danger of burning their house down, sensible judgement would tell them to leave the building immediately. However, a patient with impaired judgment may suggest staying in the building and trying to put out the fire. Thought content refers to the topics, subjects and beliefs that a patient has. Generally, examiners comment on the clarity, relevance and quality of a patient's thinking. They will also note any thoughts that are tangential or circumstantial and also whether the patient is having flashes of thoughts (digressions from the subject of conversation). They will also comment on the pace of a person's thoughts, such as whether they seem to be fast or slow. It is also important to determine if the patient's mood is similar to their environment. Patients suffering from depression may hear angry voices, whereas someone suffering from schizophrenia may have a hallucination that a soothing voice is speaking. The patient should also be asked about any suicidal or homicidal ideation. They are not common, but they can be life-threatening and should be considered during every mental health assessment. Observation The observation skills of nurses play an important role in the mental health assessment. They include a careful review of appearance, behaviour as well as any unusual beliefs or perceptions (such as hallucinations or delusions) mood, as well as aspects of cognition (including attention, orientation, memory). A mental state examination for nurses also involves observing mobility, which includes any physical movement such as eating drinking, eating, brushing teeth using the toilet and putting on shoes. The observation component of the mental status exam is an essential element of determining whether the patient is posing an imminent risk to themselves or others. This is done by assessing whether the patient appears to be acting in a deliberate way that suggests they're about harm themselves or another person. In addition, a detailed assessment of the content of thoughts is conducted by keeping track of the patient throughout the interview and determining their preoccupations. It is crucial to determine whether the patient has suicidal, homicidal or delusional thoughts. Global assessment of functioning (GAF) which is a numerical rating between 0 and 100, combines the ability of the person to function in daily life with their ability of dealing with stressors. The GAF is a crucial part of the mental status examination and helps to guide treatment decisions. It is crucial to be aware of the fact that observing a patient's behaviour can cause distress and it is crucial that the procedure is carried out in a manner that does not cause anxiety for the patient and doesn't feel intrusive. It is also vital that the patient is fully informed about the purpose of the observation and the amount of time it will last. Nursing observation is a crucial ability and should be a central part of the nursing process. However, it must be remembered that patients may disagree with the level of observation and if they are unable to reach an agreement with the staff, they should have access to an advocate service which can represent their needs and help them in any discussions regarding their care. This should be part of the local policy and practice, with the involvement and participation of groups of users. Questioning Many people are reluctant to talk about their mental health issues, but family members can often detect if something is not right. They can also assist the person to obtain an assessment. These assessments can be very broad and cover a range of topics including appearance, mood and memory, thought process and many more. In addition to these tests, the mental health professional will also ask the individual questions regarding their personal life, including what's happened lately and what their feelings have been like. The test also includes a cognitive test, which focuses on the ability of the individual to think clearly and recall information. The person may be asked to complete simple tasks, like focusing their attention on a list of words or objects, memorizing simple lists or solving math problems. The test can be used to test the individual's judgment and ability to make informed choices. The assessment determines a patient's perception, which is their knowledge of their illness and how it affects them. The person's attitude towards others, himself and the illness is also an important aspect of a mental evaluation. The tone of voice, the facial expressions, and body expressions of a patient could indicate depression, anger or a sense of helplessness. It is important to check whether the patient appears to seek help or accepting their condition. In more serious instances, an assessment of mental health could include a thorough examination of the patient's thoughts which could include hallucinations or illusions. These conditions can be harmful and even deadly. A mental health assessment must be comprehensive and look at the person's interactions with their social world. A health professional could use art, music, photos or a variety of electronic assessment tools to help the person understand themselves and their unique perspective on the world around them. They should also speak to the person about the difficulties that caused them to seek assistance and reassure them that there is nothing wrong with seeing an expert in mental health.