Assignment #3 Reflection of MHN

Amjad Ali

Sap ID: 70106462

Date: 20th January, 2021

Submitted To:

Mam Hajra Sarwar

Subject:

Mental Health Nursing (NUR-321)

LAHORE SCHOOL OF NURSING

THE UNIVERSITY OF LAHORE
(2018-2022)
Reflection Regarding Mental Health Nursing
Mental health is the level of psychological well-being or an absence of mental illness. It is the
state of someone who is "functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral
adjustment". From the perspectives of positive psychology or of holism, mental health may
include an individual's ability to enjoy life and to create a balance between life activities and
efforts to achieve psychological resilience. According to the World Health Organization (WHO),
mental health includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence,
intergenerational dependence, and self-actualization of one's intellectual and emotional potential,
among others". The WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is encompassed in
the realization of their abilities, coping with normal stresses of life, productive work, and
contribution to their community. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing
professional theories all affect how one defines "mental health".

Mental health nursing means working with people of all ages from children, teenagers,
adults and older people. Some conditions are more prevalent in certain age groups than others
such as dementia, which typically manifests in older people but other neurological and cognitive
disorders, like Huntington’s chorea which can affect younger people. I noticed that people that
are suffered from anxiety, stress and depression are suffering a lot in their lives infact not only
patient suffers from this critical situation but unfortunately his whole family suffers that problem.
There’s usually a reason behind such behaviour, which is often complex, and sometimes tragic,
and whilst such behaviour is not tolerated, we have to be compassionate in order to find a way
forward, and helping them to find a different way of dealing with things. This is a small aspect of
mental health care, given that services span the life course and are delivered in so many different
settings.

Mental health nursing:

Psychiatric nursing or mental health nursing is the appointed position of a nurse that
specializes in mental health, and cares for people of all ages experiencing mental illnesses or
distress. These include: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, mood disorders, anxiety
disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, paranoia, and self-
harm.

Nurses in this area receive specific training in psychological therapies, building a therapeutic
alliance, dealing with challenging behaviour, and the administration of psychiatric medication.

In most countries, a psychiatric nurse will have to attain a bachelor's degree in nursing to become
a Registered Nurse (RN), and specialize in mental health. Degrees vary in different countries,
and are governed by country-specific regulations. In the United States one can become a RN, and
a psychiatric nurse, by completing a diploma program, an associates (ASN) degree, or a
bachelors (BSN) degree.

Mental health nurses can work in a variety of services, including: Child and Adolescent Mental
Health Services (CAMHS), Acute Medical Units (AMUs), Psychiatric Intensive Care Units
(PICUs), and Community Mental Health Services (CMHS).

History of mental health nursing:

The history of psychiatry and psychiatric nursing, although disjointed, can be traced back
to ancient philosophical thinkers. Marcus Tullius Cicero, in particular, was the first known
person to create a questionnaire for the mentally ill using biographical information to determine
the best course of psychological treatment and care. Some of the first known psychiatric care
centers were constructed in the Middle East during the 8th century. The medieval Muslim
physicians and their attendants relied on clinical observations for diagnosis and treatment.

Globally in early history, mental illness was viewed as a religious matter. In ancient Greek,
Roman, Egyptian, and Indian writings, mental illness was viewed as a personal issue and
religious castigation. In the 5th century B.C., Hippocrates was the first pioneer to address mental
illness through medication or adjustments in a patient’s environment. Although his work was
greatly influential, views on religious punishment and demonic possession persisted through the
middle Ages.

Learning points:
• I learned that how to develop therapeutic communication with the clients.
• How to do group work with other team member.
• Implementing nursing care plans that meet the needs of assigned psychiatric/mental
health clients.
• Appropriate measures to ensure the safety of clients, myself, and others.
• Ethics and legalities related to mental health care.
• Therapeutic communication, including therapeutic use of self.
Strong points:
• When we study mental health nursing we became competitive, good thinker and best
performer.
• We improve our working skills, therapeutic communication and a good relationship with
the client.
• We become able to gain patient trust and confidence. Patient relies on his psychiatric
nurse.
Clinical exposure to its learning:
People who need care for mental health issues may suffer from a range of psychiatric
conditions, including depression, acute grief, drug or alcohol addiction, personality disorders
and psychoses. Psychiatric nurses meet the challenge of forming strong therapeutic relationships
with people who have mental illnesses and often with their families as well. As a mental health
nurse, I may be called upon to give verbal instructions to patients to help them feel more
empowered in situations where they may feel they have little control. Not only is it important to
know the right thing to say, but also the right tone of voice, volume, and body language
necessary to care for patients in a variety of situations. Therapeutic communication is part of
many mental health nursing tasks, including the teaching of problem-solving techniques.
Role of nurse in mental health nursing regarding ethical issue:
A 45 years old psychiatric patient was admitted in Mental Hospital Lahore 6 months ago
with substance abuse disorder. When he started getting hyper, aggressive both verbal and
physical and attacking people around him and abusing them. He tried to kill others and do self-
talk, self-cry and self-laugh. He has disturbed sleeping pattern. He used heroine 30 years back.
He has illness 30-35 years ago. He was admitted in PIMH hospital multiple times. He has visual
and auditory hallucinations. He has poor hygiene. During my visit in the hospital, one of the
staff members called other colleagues and students on the nursing station. She advised all
people which were around her to refrain from this patient because he is very aggressive. Then
she spoke loudly that this patient has no brain, he used to take heroine for 30-35 years, and he
could harm himself and you. But when this staff member was narrating one of the patient’s
histories to the students, amongst one of the staff nurse told to the other staff that it is ethically
wrong to tell someone’s private history to the others. Being staff members we must take care of
his private history and secrets safely.
Weak points of this subject:
As there is no mental hospital is concerned with our university and when we study our
mental health nursing subject we get burdened. We make reflections on our clinical duties of the
UOL Teaching hospital but there is no psychiatric patient for where we can make assessment.
Due to increased activity and greater workload of this activity students get pressurized and
stressed. All nursing students who read mental health nursing subject they face difficulty and
may feel stress.
Literature review:
There is plenty of evidence that nursing students are exposed to high levels of stress
during their preparation. Among the most frequently stressors mentioned in literature are
excessive workload, lack of time to accomplish academic assignments, test interaction with
patients, and negative interactions with peers and family. At the academic level, the stressors
can be the result of a gap between the academic preparation and the practical training or the
environments produced in the universities and hospitals. In this sense, the educational models
must contemplate simulations of the real life that the students will face at work. Such programs
must also include the development of social, emotional, coping, and buffering skills. Levels of
stress on nursing studies are enough to change secretion of cortical with potential deleterious
effects. Physical and psychosocial stress in nursing and healthcare students increased
susceptibility to develop some mental disorder, and social support network diminish the
susceptibility to the development of such disorders. Thus stress must be considered during the
formation of nursing students to optimize their academic performances and avoid deleterious
effects.
References:
• Vide beck, S. L. (2008). Psychiatric- Mental Health Nursing. Philadelphia:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkes.
• Kitson, Alison (2002). "Recognizing relationships: Reflections on evidence-based
practice". Nursing Inquiry. 9 (3): 179–86.
• Moyle, Wendy (2003). "Nurse-patient relationship: A dichotomy of
expectations". International Journal of Mental Health Nursing.