Assignment: Treating Geriatric Clients

Assignment: Treating Geriatric Clients
Assignment: Treating Geriatric Clients
Week 3 assignment
Assignment: Assessing and Treating Adult and Geriatric Clients With Mood Disorders
Advances in genetics and epigenetics have changed the traditional understanding of mood disorders, resulting in new evidence-based practices. In your role as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, it is essential for you to continually educate yourself on new findings and best practices in the field. For this Assignment, you consider best practices for assessing and treating adult and geriatric clients presenting with mood disorders.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Assess client factors and history to develop personalized plans of antidepressant therapy for adult and geriatric clients
Analyze factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in adult and geriatric clients requiring antidepressant therapy
Evaluate efficacy of treatment plans
Analyze ethical and legal implications related to prescribing antidepressant therapy to adult and geriatric clients
Learning Resources
Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
Note: All Stahl resources can be accessed through the Walden Library using this link. This link will take you to a log-in page for the Walden Library. Once you log into the library, the Stahl website will appear.
Stahl, S. M. (2013). Stahl’s essential psychopharmacology: Neuroscientific basis and practical applications (4th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Note: To access the following chapters, click on the Essential Psychopharmacology, 4th ed tab on the Stahl Online website and select the appropriate chapter. Be sure to read all sections on the left navigation bar for each chapter.
Chapter 6, “Mood Disorders”
Stahl, S. M. (2014b). The prescriber’s guide (5th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Note: To access the following medications, click on the The Prescriber’s Guide, 5th ed tab on the Stahl Online website and select the appropriate medication.
Review the following medications:
amitriptyline
bupropion
citalopram
clomipramine
desipramine
desvenlafaxine
doxepin
duloxetine
escitalopram
fluoxetine
fluvoxamine
imipramine
ketamine
mirtazapine
nortriptyline
paroxetine
selegiline
sertraline
trazodone
venlafaxine
vilazodone
vortioxetine
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Note: Retrieved from Walden Library databases.
Montgomery, S. A., & Asberg, M. (1979). A new depression scale designed to be sensitive to change. British Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 382-389. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marie_Asberg/publication/22697065_A_New_Depression_Scale_Designed_to_be_Sensitive_to_Change/links/09e41513f85c708fee000000.pdf
Required Media
Laureate Education. (2016g). Case study: An elderly Hispanic man with major depressive disorder [Interactive media file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Note: This case study will serve as the foundation for this week’s Assignment.
To prepare for this Assignment:
Review this week’s Learning Resources. Consider how to assess and treat adult and geriatric clients requiring antidepressant therapy.
The Assignment
Examine Case Study: An Elderly Hispanic Man With Major Depressive Disorder. You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the medication to prescribe to this client. Be sure to consider factors that might impact the client’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes.
At each decision point stop to complete the following:
Decision #1
Which decision did you select?
Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #1 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
Decision #2
Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #2 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
Decision #3
Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #3 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
Also include how ethical considerations might impact your treatment plan and communication with clients.