Mental Health Nursing I
NURS 1300
Unit I
Basic Concepts of Mental
Health
Objective 1
Define mental health
Dynamic process in which a person’s
physical, cognitive, affective, behavioral,
and social dimensions interact
functionally with one another and the
environment
Objective 2
Define mental illness
Abnormal mental condition or disorder
that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling,
mood, ability to relate to others, and
daily functioning
Objective 3
Discuss current attitudes about mental
illness



Continued stigma
Mental health parity
Impetus for research
diagnostic studies
 medications

Objective 4
Describe sociocultural influences on
mental health

Racism and discrimination



misinterpretation of symptoms
misdiagnosis or inappropriate treatment
Fears of stigmatization and breaches in
confidentiality
Objective 5
Discuss the data collection of the
client with a mental health alteration
Mental Status Examination (MSE)


description of all areas of the client’s mental
functioning
includes assessment of appearance, mood
and affect, speech and language, thought
content, perceptual disturbances, insight and
judgment, sensorium, memory and attention,
and general intellectual level
Objective 6
Discuss diagnostic tests as they relate
to the client with a mental health
alteration





Basic metabolic profile
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
CT scan
PET scan
MRI
Objective 7
Define the DSM-IV-TR


Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM)
Handbook for mental health professionals
that lists different categories of mental
disorder and the criteria for diagnosing
them
Objective 8
Compare voluntary and involuntary
commitment

Voluntary admission



similar to medical hospitalization
patient may leave at any time
Involuntary commitment


client is hospitalized without consent
becomes necessary when mental
illness/condition manifested by symptoms
that make it impossible for affected client to
understand need for treatment
Objective 9
Describe patient rights as they relate
to the client with mental health
alterations
Mental Health Systems Act of 1980:
Universal Bill of Rights for Mental Health Patients
 Right to least restrictive treatment alternative
 Right to informed consent
 Right to refuse treatment
 Right to confidentiality
 Right to keep personal items
Right to the least restrictive treatment
alternative:
Less restrictive measures should be
attempted before seclusion and restraints
are used
Right to informed consent:
Physician must explain treatment in terms
the client fully understands
Responsibility is with the physician, not the
nurse
Right to refuse treatment:
Except in the cases in which the refusal is
the result of a mental or cognitive
impairment, or the client’s disease process is
such that it is impossible for him or her to
understand the need for medical intervention
Right to confidentiality:
Limits access to a client’s information
Those individuals involved in care are the
only ones with rights to access medical
information
Right to keep personal items:
People in a hospital or other treatment
facility retain the right to keep their
personal possessions unless those belongings
pose a serious threat to themselves or
others
Items that may be dangerous would be held
in a secure place during the individual’s
hospitalization
Objective 10
Describe basic measures when caring
for the client with a mental health
alteration

24-hour therapeutic milieu management






therapeutic milieu involves a manipulation of the
environment in an effort to create behavioral
changes and to improve the psychological health and
functioning of the individual
goal is for the client to learn adaptive coping,
interaction, and relationship skills that can be
generalized to other aspects of his or her life
Provision of ongoing assessment of client’s
mental and physical condition
Administration of medications
Assistance of client with therapeutic activities
as needed
Focus on one-to-one relationship development
and maintenance
Objective 11
Identify basic treatment modalities for
the client with a mental health
alteration




Therapies
Medication
Hospitalization
Electroconvulsive therapy
Therapies:

Psychotherapy (“talk therapy”)

Group therapy

Family therapy

Hypnotherapy
Medication:
 Antipsychotics

Anxiolytics

Antidepressants

Antimanics

Anticonvulsants
Hospitalization:

ensures safety of self and others
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT):

electrical shock delivered to the brain to
induce seizures
Objective 12
Identify legal and ethical concepts
specific to the client with a mental
health alteration

Patients hospitalized voluntarily retain
their civil rights (except right to bear
arms)

Confidentiality and privacy

Defamation of character

occurs when the sharing of information is
detrimental to client’s reputation