Mental health articles
OF mental health care and mentally ill
Our responsibility in relation to restraint
Our responsibility in relation to restraint The nurse has a duty of care to the older person, The Nursing and Midwifery Councils Code of Professional Conduct states that in the care of a professional nurse, ‘clients should be safe and respected as individuals whose interest and dignity are respected’. The use of restraint should be […]
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Rights,risks and responsibilities related to restraint
Rights,risks and responsibilities related to restraint Guidance from the Royal College of Nursing gives us the opportunity to open up some discussions about the use of restraint. Issues arise when we try to keep people safe while retaining their independence and maintaining a therapeutic alliance with them. Restraint is an emotive issue for all, and […]
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Typical antipsychotics :Evidence of effectiveness
Typical antipsychotics :Evidence of effectiveness There is now more than 50 years of clinical experience treating psychosis with typical antipsychotics and an equivalent quantity of research. Typical antipsychotics are all equally effective at treating the positive symptoms of psychosis and overall approximately 80% of people will respond to treatment. Detailed summaries of the effi cacy […]
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New ways of prescribing
Recent policy developments have enabled the introduction of new ways to prescribe medication, for example non-medical prescribing and patient group directions. Non-medical supplementary prescribing was introduced in 2003 and has been defi ned by the DH as: ‘a voluntary prescribing partnership between an independent prescriber (doctor) and supplementary prescriber (nurse or pharmacist) to implement an […]
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Personal development and learning
Personal development and learning The continuous fl ow of evidence concerning the effi cacy of pharmacological interventions, new drugs and interventions regarding management, require mental health practitioners to be proactive in maintaining their knowledge and skills. Practitioners also need to be able to refl ect on their practice and values in dynamic and changing mental […]
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Promoting safety and positive risk taking
Promoting safety and positive risk taking Being honest with service users about not only the positive aspects of pharmacological treatment but also the negative, especially the most serious adverse effects, is a crucial part of enabling self-management and an important part in developing the therapeutic relationship. For a number of people the positive aspects of […]
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Making a difference in medication self-management
Making a difference in medication self-management The skills and interventions that enable service users to evaluate and develop skills in medication self-management have a wide evidence base. There are key skills, a range of strategies and interventions that are available to engage the person in developing a dialogue that facilitates the service user’s understanding and […]
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Providing service user centred care
Service user opinions regarding the place of medication in their mental health management can show wide variation dependent on the effectiveness of the medication, the benefi t the drugs confer and the person’s health beliefs. An additional dimension in this area is the extent to which a person wishes to be involved in his or […]
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Identifying people’s strengths and needs
Enabling service users to become effective in managing their mental health and developing an understanding of the role that medication plays in this process depends on working with the person’s strengths and also his or her assets and supports. Skilled and timely assessments can identify areas that further empower service users to control their […]
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Promoting recovery
Recovery from mental illness is an individualised and personal journey that is dependent on a variety of factors, central to which is empowerment and self-determination. The attitudes and interaction style of mental health practitioners in this context has the aim of generating hope and an appreciation that developing a medication strategy which the person fi […]
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