Assignment Instructions:
You will create 7 entries for your Reflective Journal about a patient encounter. In the 7th entry, you will review the previous 6 entries and evaluate your progress in reflective practice over the course of the term. Each journal should be a minimum of 800 words.
The purpose of this reflective journal is self-reflection regarding the role in the process of self-reflection as a PMHNP provider. Through reflective practice, the student will evaluate their own emotional health and recognize one's own feelings as well as one's ability to monitor and manage those feelings. The point of the exercise is to learn yourself, your triggers, the types of cases you end up getting overly involved with, and those you'd rather refer to someone else. The idea is to be able to personally reflect on your behaviors/thoughts/decisions and how those impact you in the role of PMHNP.
Address the following items:
1. Describe your past experience in mental health or with someone with mental illness.
2. What are the reasons you have chosen to work with this population?
3. Discuss any concerns you have regarding this specific clinical course and population Pediatric/Adolescent.
4. Identify personal and academic/professional goals for the clinical course and population Pediatric/Adolescent.
All work should be original and submitted as a Word document unless otherwise indicated in the assignment instructions. ALL assignments need to be APA 7 format and accompanied title page in APA 7th edition format in order that the work would be properly identified for the student, the course, and the assignment.
Psychiatric Mental Healthcare (NU673-7A):
For this encounter I met a female patient, thirty-two years old, who has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. Her presenting complaints included; generalized body fatigue, restlessness, poor concentration, excessive worries, and muscle tension. My role in this patient as her nurse was first to emphasize and establish rapport and gain trust from the patient. My role involves listening actively to the patient's history, considering the patient's experience, and collaborating with relatives, elatives, and other medical practitioners on her treatment plan.
Psychiatric Screening Measures for this patient includedGAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7): Score 18 (indicating severe anxiety). PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9): Score 10 (indicating moderate depression) and DASS-21 (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales): Anxiety subscale score 12 (severe),Stress subscale score 14 (severe), Depression subscale score 8 (mild). Differential Diagnoses include Major Depressive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder and Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety.
My preceptor assisted me in gaining insights on this patient's encounter and to gain a deeper understanding of generalized anxiety disorder signs and symptoms and how the patients present. The persuasive nature of generalized anxiety disorder was based on persistent worries. This led me to conduct a thorough examination and assessment to identify any negative impact of generalized anxiety disorder on her life. To strengthen my provider-patient relationship, I created a safe environment for my patient to express her symptoms without fear of judgment. Interacting with this patient led to my personal realization of my strengths as I empathized deeply with her, which helped me gain her trust. However, as a nurse, I realized I tend to be overly involved emotionally, which limits my professional practice. From this patient, I learned the importance of creating a therapeutic alliance from the first time I met a patient. I will prioritize this in my future practice.