In Nurs 279, I Had The Privilege Of Caring For A Patient

Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that places considerable burden on the individuals who have it, their families, and society (Eack 2012). Someone who has schizophrenia may have the following symptoms, but not all: faulty perceptions, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation (Oxford Dictionary). The two most commonly used interventions are drug and family intervention. Often times patients with a

Felicia Allen is a 32 year old woman, who was initially brought into therapy after an attempt to steal a bus. Due to her reported “emotionally disturbed” nature, this consult became a priority. The police report states that Ms. Allen pulled out a knife, and threatened the driver after the driver declined her dollar bills. She then took control of the bus, and crashed it across the street. Upon our meeting, Ms. Allen was fidgety, and swayed back and forth all the while mumbling to herself. If she were questioned, she would look up and say “Sorry, sorry.” As far as patient history goes, Ms. Allen started hearing voices when she was 5 years old. These auditory hallucinations were mostly composed of critical, disparaging voices that made comments on her actions and behaviors. Her severe symptoms led her to be hospitalized fairly consistently since she was 11. Ever since she was young, she has been driven to please, and has a strong desire to be independent. Felicia has been prescribed clozapine for 1 calendar year, which helped her auditory hallucinations a great deal. Given the above symptoms and information, I have diagnosed Felicia Allen with schizophrenia.

How is schizophrenia treated? What symptoms would we see with someone who is schizophrenic? What nursing interventions would we put in place? Treatment would include antipsychotic medications such clozapine a second-generation antipsychotic, it may take at least 6 weeks for full effect. Psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy and assertive community treatment and supportive therapy may be provided. Symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and catatonia may be noted. Interventions would include keeping environment quiet and as free of stimuli as possible, use simple words and keep direction simple, introducing tactics that can lower anxiety and minimize voiced and worrying

The primary schizophreniform disorder treatment is medication; however, compliance is a major problem. People with schizophreniform disorder often go off their medication for long periods during their lives and ensuring that the patient continues with medication is the key to successful treatment. Martin is a typical patient with schizophreniform disorder in that he does not have insight into his condition and, as a result, does not believe he is sick. Martin’s parents have tried to get him to go with them to a psychiatrist for an evaluation, but Martin refuses. This contributes to his non-compliance with medication. The medication can help control a patient 's hallucinations and delusions, but it cannot help them to learn to

It was believed that patients who suffered symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and behaviour, and other symptoms that cause social or occupational dysfunction; characterised as Schizophrenia in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM–5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), were said to be suffering from demonic possession, mental retardation, or from exposure to poisonous materials. During this time there was no social support systems such as community based treatment like we have today. In addition, treatments that where available where barbaric and ineffective in helping the

Along with the symptoms of schizophrenia, these individuals are often homeless and lack support from family and friends (Townsend, 2012, p. 513-525). When this combination of mental and social disturbances is exacerbated, involuntary hospitalization is often required. During hospitalization the goal is to stabilize the patient, often with antipsychotics and at times with the refusal of the patient. Even though the patients’ symptoms with antipsychotics may decrease, the patient has not been autonomous in this decision (Vuckovich, 2010, p 80). Vuckovich explains that this lack of autonomy can cause the patient to simply agree with taking medications in order to be discharged but this simple compliance during hospitalization does not lead to adherence outside of the hospital (2010, p 81).

In my lifetime, I have spent months with my Grandmother, Florence Ernstead, who is a diagnosed paranoid delusional schizophrenic. During this time I have realized that schizophrenics have difficulty realizing the seriousness of their disorders. This inability to acknowledge a problem is known by psychiatrists as lack of insight.

It is not hard to find depictions of people living with poorly treated schizophrenia. The first treatment for schizophrenia was discovered 50 years ago by accident and treatment has remained largely unchanged since then (Moghaddam & Javitt, 2012). The documentary film from 1996, “Back from Madness: A struggle for sanity” in part depicts a woman named Naomi, who in many ways exhibits the traditional onset of symptoms and subsequent treatment. She was a college aged woman at the time, who seemingly randomly began “hearing voices from the sky”. She chose to seek help and was prescribed clozapine, which is considered to be the most effective antipsychotic currently on the market (Moghaddam & Javitt, 2012). When this treatment was shown to be uneffective, Naomi

There are many reasons for this medical dilemma, not the least of these, the disease process itself. Even in the most severe episode the schizophrenic patient doesn’t truly understand their need for treatment or their illness because 97% of schizophrenia patients suffer from extreme lack of insight. This symptom, in and of

Schizophrenia is a disease that has plagued societies around the world for centuries, although it was not given its formal name until 1911. It is characterized by the presence of positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are so named because of the presence of altered behaviors, such as delusions, hallucinations (usually auditory), extreme emotions, excited motor activity, and incoherent thoughts and speech. (1,2) In contrast, negative symptoms are described as a lack of behaviors, such as emotion, speech, social interaction, and action. (1,2) These symptoms are by no means concrete. Not all schizophrenic patients will exhibit all or even a majority of these symptoms, and there is some

N.G. was a 43-year-old Russian female who was admitted to Palomar’s Downtown Behavioral Unit (BHU) on Monday 10/10/16. The patient’s reason for admission was that she was brought in by the San Diego Police Department on a 5150. She was being held on a 72-hour psychiatric hold for being a danger to others where she was making threats to hurt her mom. She has had a long history of treatment for her Schizophrenia that she was diagnosed with as a child. When she arrived to the BHU she had symptoms of a mood disturbances, including decreased sleep, increased energy, agitation, anxiety, and aggression.

PhD Bruce Levine says “schizophrenia, an often frightening phenomenon characterized by hallucinations, delusions, incoherent speech, and bizarre behaviors” shows that this is what schizophrenia is like without any medicine helping control these symptoms. He also says “Many mental health professionals, myself included, have seen psychotic relapse among diagnosed schizophrenics who have been ‘medication noncompliant’ ” meaning there are several times where schizophrenics

Schizophrenia is a long-term, psychotic disorder that affects approximately 1% of the world’s population (Dourish and Dawson, 2014). The condition is characterised by a ‘fundamental disturbance of personality’, as a person suffers from hallucinations (either hearing voices or seeing things that do not exist), delusions, altered perceptions and an overall, quite dramatic, change in behaviour (Tsuang and Faraone, 1997; Roberts, et al. 1993:14.1). The specific signs of schizophrenia can be divided into positive and negative symptoms and cognitive impairment (Köster LS et al., 2014). The positive symptoms are those that are obvious indicators of the disorder and are often seen as the most dramatic, as they become extremely visible to the relatives of a patient, pursuing distressing effects on the sufferer (Tsuang and Faraone, 1997). They are referred to as positive as they are a result of the disease producing an abnormal event, such as the creation of intense thoughts the patient cannot control (Tsuang and Faraone, 1997). However, the negative symptoms and cognitive impairments are just as serious and express the deterioration of normal mental and behavioural manners, such as poverty of speech (Tsuang and Faraone, 1997). Therapeutic treatment for schizophrenia therefore needs to target both of these symptomatic areas, to manage both the mental and behavioural traits. However,

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by a variety of symptoms and the disorganization of feeling and thought. It is an incurable disease whose causes are unknown, yet whose effects are mind and body crippling. (Young, 1988, p.13-14) This topic was chosen because it is interesting to study a disorder that worldwide, is viewed as a classic example of madness and insanity. Another reason of interest is because unlike many illnesses, schizophrenia doesn't have a noticeable pattern and its difficulty to be diagnosed as a disease makes the collection of statistics difficult. It is important to learn more about schizophrenia because a significant numbr of people are affected everyday

In most cases, the physical health needs of the schizophrenic are often overlooked, with the mental health physician often assuming that the physical needs of the patient are met elsewhere. Schizophrenics also face challenges when trying to access health care. They are refused by practitioners as they are considered disruptive to their practices. This can cause some stigma on them, which can make schizophrenics shy away from seeking healthcare. The provision of universal healthcare is a great step as schizophrenics can easily access treatment. An increase in the number of mental hospitals and institutions has led to increased awareness, and more people are open to seeking help and