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.



Photo Credit: Getty Images/Collection Mix: Sub

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.