ABSTRACT
When assessing a client, avoid abstract questions, instead ask concrete, open-ended questions. All clients should be assessed for risk of suicide, elopement, or a danger to self or others. Be aware of underlying causes or confounding variables that may affect a client's mental status.
Subject(s)
Intellectual Disability/psychology , Interview, Psychological/methods , Nursing Assessment/methods , Adult , Behavioral Symptoms/diagnosis , Communication Barriers , Humans , Interview, Psychological/standards , Male , Mental Status Schedule , Neurobehavioral Manifestations/classification , Nursing Assessment/standardsABSTRACT
The authors describe sleep automatism as it pertains to forensic nursing. A plea of sane automatism may result in an acquittal and, as a defense, creates a very interesting medical legal circumstance. A case study is presented to illustrate the necessity for nursing to know how to assess for this dissociative state, to understand the legal implications, and to identify nursing issues relevant to sleep automatism defenses. The clinical and personality characteristics on which evaluations should be based are also outlined.
Subject(s)
Automatism , Dissociative Disorders/psychology , Forensic Medicine , Sleep Wake Disorders/psychology , Adult , Homicide , Humans , Male , Sleep Stages/physiology , Sleep, REM/physiologyABSTRACT
1. Music can be an effective treatment modality for low-functioning clients. With psychiatric clients, music can strengthen ego, increase socialization, decrease psychotic symptoms, and increase activity. 2. In general, music was applied to manage the clients' focal, contextual, or residual stimuli. By directing the use of music at the influencing stimuli, the stimuli was removed, increased, decreased, or altered, thereby changing the clients' ineffective behavior or ability to cope. 3. The music program has proved most effective with clients diagnosed with organic brain damage, mild to moderate mental retardation, and schizoaffective disorder. It is difficult, however, to measure improvement exclusively related to the music program.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/therapy , Music Therapy/standards , Psychiatric Nursing/methods , Adaptation, Psychological , Humans , Mental Disorders/nursing , Mental Disorders/psychology , Models, Nursing , Music Therapy/methodsABSTRACT
A 37 item survey designed to assess health teaching needs of adult psychiatric inpatients is described. Data are collected from inpatients with the help of the primary nurse therapists. The design identifies health teaching deficits, optimal teaching methods, and need distribution. Nursing Administrators of psychiatric facilities will benefit from this baseline data for the design and implementation of their own programming.
