Assignment: Assessing and Treating Adult and Geriatric Clients With Mood Disorders

Assignment: Assessing and Treating Adult and Geriatric Clients With Mood Disorders

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.