Assignment 1: Short Answer Assessment

As a psychiatric nurse practitioner, you will
likely encounter patients who suffer from various mental health
disorders. Not surprisingly, ensuring that your patients have the
appropriate psychopharmacologic treatments will be essential for their
overall health and well-being. The psychopharmacologic treatments you
might recommend for patients may have potential impacts on other mental
health conditions and, therefore, require additional consideration for
positive patient outcomes. For this Assignment, you will review and
apply your understanding of psychopharmacologic treatments for patients
with multiple mental health disorders.



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To Prepare

• Review the Learning Resources for this week.
• Reflect on the psychopharmacologic treatments that you have covered
  up to this point that may be available to treat patients with mental
  health disorders.
• Consider the potential effects these psychopharmacologic treatments
  may have on co-existing mental health conditions and/or their potential
  effects on your patient’s overall health.

To complete:

Address the following Short Answer prompts for
your Assignment. Be sure to include references to the Learning Resources
for this week.

1. In 3 or 4 sentences, explain the appropriate drug therapy for a
   patient who presents with MDD and a history of alcohol abuse. Which
   drugs are contraindicated, if any, and why? Be specific. What is the
   timeframe that the patient should see resolution of symptoms?
2. List 4 predictors of late onset generalized anxiety disorder.
3. List 4 potential neurobiology causes of psychotic major depression.
4. An episode of major depression is defined as a period of time
   lasting at least 2 weeks. List at least 5 symptoms required for the
   episode to occur. Be specific.
5. List 3 classes of drugs, with a corresponding example for each class, that precipitate insomnia. Be specific.

Assignment 2: Assessing and Treating Patients With Sleep/Wake Disorders

Sleep disorders are conditions that result in
changes in an individual’s pattern of sleep (Mayo Clinic, 2020). Not
surprisingly, a sleep disorder can affect an individual’s overall
health, safety, and quality of life. Psychiatric nurse practitioners can
treat sleep disorders with psychopharmacologic treatments, however,
many of these drugs can have negative effects on other aspects of a
patient’s health and well-being. Additionally, while psychopharmacologic
treatments may be able to address issues with sleep, they can also
exert potential challenges with waking patterns. Thus, it is important
for the psychiatric nurse practitioner to carefully evaluate the best
psychopharmacologic treatments for patients that present with sleep/wake
disorders.

_Reference: Mayo Clinic. (2020). Sleep disorders.