Walden NURS6630 2022 September Complete Course Latest (Full)

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 2 Discussion

Foundational Neuroscience

As a psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner, it is essential for you to have a strong background in foundational neuroscience. In order to diagnose and treat patients, you must not only understand the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders but also how medications for these disorders impact the central nervous system. These concepts of foundational neuroscience can be challenging to understand. Therefore, this Discussion is designed to encourage you to think through these concepts, develop a rationale for your thinking, and deepen your understanding by interacting with your colleagues.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Cultura RF

For this Discussion, review the Learning Resources and reflect on the concepts of foundational neuroscience as they might apply to your role as the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in prescribing medications for patients.

By Day 3 of Week 2

Post a response to each of the following:

Explain the agonist-to-antagonist spectrum of action of psychopharmacologic agents, including how partial and inverse agonist functionality may impact the efficacy of psychopharmacologic treatments.

Compare and contrast the actions of g couple proteins and ion gated channels.

Explain how the role of epigenetics may contribute to pharmacologic action.

Explain how this information may impact the way you prescribe medications to patients. Include a specific example of a situation or case with a patient in which the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner must be aware of the medication’s action.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6 of Week 2

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days in one of the following ways:

If your colleagues’ posts influenced your understanding of these concepts, be sure to share how and why. Include additional insights you gained.

If you think your colleagues might have misunderstood these concepts, offer your alternative perspective and be sure to provide an explanation for them. Include resources to support your perspective.

 

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 7 Discussion

Treatment for a Patient With a Common Condition

Insomnia is one of the most common medical conditions you will encounter as a PMHNP. Insomnia is a common symptom of many mental illnesses, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and ADHD (Abbott, 2016). Various studies have demonstrated the bidirectional relationship between insomnia and mental illness. In fact, about 50% of adults with insomnia have a mental health problem, while up to 90% of adults with depression experience sleep problems (Abbott, 2016). Due to the interconnected psychopathology, it is important that you, as the PMHNP, understand the importance of the effects some psychopharmacologic treatments may have on a patient’s mental health illness and their sleep patterns. Therefore, it is important that you understand and reflect on the evidence-based research in developing treatment plans to recommend proper sleep practices to your patients as well as recommend appropriate psychopharmacologic treatments for optimal health and well-being.

Reference: Abbott, J. (2016). What’s the link between insomnia and mental illness? Health. https://www.sciencealert.com/what-exactly-is-the-link-between-insomnia-and-mental-illness#:~:text=Sleep%20problems%20such%20as%20insomnia%20are%20a%20common,bipolar%20disorder%2C%20and%20attention%20deficit%20hyperactivity%20disorder%20%28ADHD%29

For this Discussion, review the case Learning Resources and the case study excerpt presented. Reflect on the case study excerpt and consider the therapy approaches you might take to assess, diagnose, and treat the patient’s health needs. 

Case: An elderly widow who just lost her spouse.

Subjective: A patient presents to your primary care office today with chief complaint of insomnia. Patient is 75 YO with PMH of DM, HTN, and MDD. Her husband of 41 years passed away 10 months ago. Since then, she states her depression has gotten worse as well as her sleep habits. The patient has no previous history of depression prior to her husband’s death. She is awake, alert, and oriented x3. Patient normally sees PCP once or twice a year. Patient denies any suicidal ideations. Patient arrived at the office today by private vehicle. Patient currently takes the following medications:

Metformin 500mg BID

Januvia 100mg daily

Losartan 100mg daily

HCTZ 25mg daily

Sertraline 100mg daily

 Current weight: 88 kg

Current height: 64 inches

Temp: 98.6 degrees F

BP: 132/86

By Day 3 of Week 7

Post a response to each of the following:

List three questions you might ask the patient if she were in your office. Provide a rationale for why you might ask these questions.

Identify people in the patient’s life you would need to speak to or get feedback from to further assess the patient’s situation. Include specific questions you might ask these people and why.

Explain what, if any, physical exams, and diagnostic tests would be appropriate for the patient and how the results would be used.

List a differential diagnosis for the patient. Identify the one that you think is most likely and explain why.

List two pharmacologic agents and their dosing that would be appropriate for the patient’s antidepressant therapy based on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. From a mechanism of action perspective, provide a rationale for why you might choose one agent over the other.

For the drug therapy you select, identify any contraindications to use or alterations in dosing that may need to be considered based on ethical prescribing or decision-making. Discuss why the contraindication/alteration you identify exists. That is, what would be problematic with the use of this drug in individuals based on ethical prescribing guidelines or decision-making?

Include any “check points” (i.e., follow-up data at Week 4, 8, 12, etc.), and indicate any therapeutic changes that you might make based on possible outcomes that may happen given your treatment options chosen.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6 of Week 7

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days in one of the following ways:

If your colleagues’ posts influenced your understanding of these concepts, be sure to share how and why. Include additional insights you gained.

If you think your colleagues might have misunderstood these concepts, offer your alternative perspective and be sure to provide an explanation for them. Include resources to support your perspective.Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days and

 

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 1 Assignment

Short Answer Assessment

As a psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner, before you can recommend potential pharmacotherapeutics to address a patient’s condition or disorder, you must understand the basic function and structure of the neuron and central nervous system. For this Assignment, you will review and apply your understanding of neuroanatomy by addressing a set of short answer prompts.

To Prepare:

Review the Learning Resources for this week in preparation to complete this Assignment.

Reflect on the basic function and structure of the neuron in relation to the central nervous system.

Reflect on the inter-connectedness between neurons and the central nervous system, including the pathway and distribution of electrical impulses.

Reflect on how neurons communicate with each other and review the concept of neuroplasticity.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Science Photo Libra

To complete:

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

 

In 4 or 5 sentences, describe the anatomy of the basic unit of the nervous system, the neuron. Include each part of the neuron and a general overview of electrical impulse conduction, the pathway it travels, and the net result at the termination of the impulse. Be specific and provide examples.

Answer the following (listing is acceptable for these questions):

What are the major components that make up the subcortical structures?

Which component plays a role in learning, memory, and addiction?

What are the two key neurotransmitters located in the nigra striatal region of the brain that play a major role in motor control?

In 3 or 4 sentences, explain how glia cells function in the central nervous system. Be specific and provide examples.

The synapse is an area between two neurons that allows for chemical communication. In 3 or 4 sentences, explain what part of the neurons are communicating with each other and in which direction does this communication occur? Be specific.

In 3–5 sentences, explain the concept of “neuroplasticity.” Be specific and provide examples.

 

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 4 Assignment

Assessing and Treating Vulnerable Populations for Depressive Disorders

To prepare for this Assignment:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the Medication Resources indicated for this week.

Reflect on the psychopharmacologic treatments you might recommend for the assessment and treatment of pediatric patients requiring antidepressant therapy.

The Assignment: 5 pages

For this assignment, you will develop a patient medication guide for treatment of depressive disorders in a vulnerable population (your choice for one vulnerable patient population to choose from: children, adolescents, older adults, dementia patients, pregnant women or one not listed of your choice!). Be sure to use language appropriate for your audience (patient, caregiver, parent, etc.). You will include non-copyright images and/or information tables to make your patient medication guide interesting and appealing. Limit your patient medication guide to 5 pages. You will create this guide as an assignment; therefore, a title page, introduction, conclusion, and reference page are required. You must include a minimum of 3 scholarly supporting resources outside of your course provided resources.

In your patient guide, include discussion on the following:

Depressive disorder causes and symptoms

How depression is diagnosed for the vulnerable population of your choice, why is this population considered vulnerable

Medication treatment options including risk vs benefits; side effects; FDA approvals for the vulnerable population of your choice

Medication considerations of medication examples prescribed (see last bullet item)

What is important to monitor in terms of labs, comorbid medical issues with why important for monitoring

Special Considerations (you must be specific, not general and address at least one for EACH category; you must demonstrate critical thinking beyond basics of HIPPA and informed consent!): legal considerations, ethical considerations, cultural considerations, social determinants of health

Where to follow up in your local community for further information

Provide 3 examples of how to write a proper prescription that you would provide to the patient or transmit to the pharmacy.

Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of five academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement. You should be utilizing the primary and secondary literature.

Reminder : The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293632).All papers submitted must use this formatting.

 

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 5 Assignment

Assessing and Treating Patients With Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a unique disorder that causes shifts in mood and energy, which results in depression and mania for patients. Proper diagnosis of this disorder is often a challenge for two reasons: 1) patients often present as depressive or manic but may have both; and 2) many symptoms of bipolar disorder are similar to other disorders. Misdiagnosis is common, making it essential for you to have a deep understanding of the disorder’s pathophysiology. For this Assignment, as you examine the patient case study in this week’s Learning Resources, consider how you might assess and treat patients presenting with bipolar disorder.

To prepare for this Assignment:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the Medication Resources indicated for this week.

Reflect on the psychopharmacologic treatments you might recommend for the assessment and treatment of patients requiring bipolar therapy.

The Assignment: 5 pages

For this assignment, you will write a 5–6-page paper on the topic of bipolar and bipolar and related disorders. You will create this guide as an assignment; therefore, a title page, introduction, conclusion, and reference page are required. You must include a minimum of 3 scholarly supporting resources outside of your course provided resources.

In your paper, you will choose one of the following diagnoses: Bipolar I, Bipolar II, Cyclothymic Disorder, Substance/Medication-Induced Bipolar and Related Disorder, Bipolar and Related Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition. Your paper will include discussion for your chosen diagnosis of bipolar and related disorder on the following:

Prevalence and Neurobiology of your chosen disorder

Discuss the differences between your chosen disorder and one other bipolar and related disorders in relation to the diagnostic criteria including presentation of symptoms according to DSM 5 TR criteria

Discuss special populations and considerations (children, adolescents, pregnancy/post-partum, older adult, emergency care) for your chosen bipolar and related disorder; demonstrating critical thinking beyond basics of HIPPA and informed consent with discussion of at least one for EACH category:  legal considerations, ethical considerations, cultural considerations, social determinants of health

Discuss FDA and/or clinical practice guidelines approved pharmacological treatment options in relation to acute and mixed episodes vs maintenance pharmacological treatment for your chosen bipolar and related disorder

Of the medication treatment options for your chosen disorder discuss side effects, FDA approvals and warnings.  What is important to monitor in terms of labs, comorbid medical issues with why important for monitoring

Provide 3 examples of how to write a proper prescription that you would provide to the patient or transmit to the pharmacy.

Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of five academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement. You should be utilizing the primary and secondary literature.

 

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 6 Assignment

Assessing and Treating Patients With Anxiety Disorders

Common symptoms of anxiety disorders include chest pains, shortness of breath, and other physical symptoms that may be mistaken for a heart attack or other physical ailment. These manifestations often prompt patients to seek care from their primary care providers or emergency departments. Once it is determined that there is no organic basis for these symptoms, patients are typically referred to a psychiatric mental health practitioner for anxiolytic therapy. For this Assignment, as you examine the patient case study in this week’s Learning Resources, consider how you might assess and treat patients presenting with anxiety disorders.

To prepare for this Assignment:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the Medication Resources indicated for this week.

Reflect on the psychopharmacologic treatments you might recommend for the assessment and treatment of patients requiring anxiolytic therapy.

The Assignment: 5 pages

Examine Case Study: A Middle-Aged Caucasian Man With Anxiety. You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the medication to prescribe to this patient. Be sure to consider factors that might impact the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes.

At each decision point, you should evaluate all options before selecting your decision and moving throughout the exercise. Before you make your decision, make sure that you have researched each option and that you evaluate the decision that you will select. Be sure to research each option using the primary literature.

Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).

Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Decision #2 (1 page)

Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).

Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Decision #3 (1 page)

Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).

Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Conclusion (1 page)

Summarize your recommendations on the treatment options you selected for this patient. Be sure to justify your recommendations and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of five academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement. You should be utilizing the primary and secondary literature.

Reminder : The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293632). All papers submitted must use this formatting.

 

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 7 Assignment

Study Guide for Medication Treatment Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychosis Disorders

Psychosis and schizophrenia greatly impact the brain’s normal processes, which interfere with the ability to think clearly. When symptoms of these disorders are uncontrolled, patients may struggle to function in daily life. However, patients often thrive when properly diagnosed and treated under the close supervision of a psychiatric mental health practitioner. For this Assignment, you will develop a study guide for an assigned psychotropic agent for treating patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders. You will share your study guide with your colleagues. In sum, these study guides will be a powerful tool in preparing for your course and PMHNP certification exam.

To prepare for this Assignment:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the Medication Resources indicated for this week.

Reflect on the psychopharmacologic treatments you might recommend for  treatment of patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders.

Research your assigned psychotropic medication agent using the Walden Library. Then, develop an organizational scheme for the important information about the medication.

Review Learning Resource: Utah State University. (n.d.). Creating study guides. https://www.usu.edu/academic-support/test/creating_study_guides

The Assignment

Create a study guide for your assigned psychotropic medication agents. Your study guide should be in the form of an outline with references, and you should incorporate visual elements such as concept maps, charts, diagrams, images, color coding, mnemonics, and/or flashcards. Be creative! It should not be in the format of an APA paper. Your guide should be informed by the FDA-approved and Evidenced-Based, Clinical Practice Guidelines Research but also supported by at least three other scholarly resources.

Areas of importance you should address, but are not limited to, are:

Title page

Description of the Psychopharmacological medication agent including brand and generic names and appropriate FDA indication uses

Any supporting, valid and reliable research for non-FDA uses

Drug classification

The medication mechanism of action

The medication pharmacokinetics

The medication pharmacodynamics

Mechanism of Action

Appropriate dosing, administration route, and any considerations for dosing alterations

Considerations of use and dosing in specific specialty populations to consider children, adolescents, elderly, pregnancy, suicidal behaviors, etc.

Definition of Half-life, why half-life is important, and the half-life for your assigned medication

Side effects/adverse reaction potentials

Contraindications for use including significant drug to drug interactions

Overdose Considerations

Diagnostics and labs monitoring

Comorbidities considerations

Legal and ethical considerations

Pertinent patient education considerations

Reference Page

Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of five academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement. You should be utilizing the primary and secondary literature.

Reminder : The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293632). All papers submitted must use this formatting.

By Day 7

You will need to submit your Assignment to two places: the Week 7 Study Guide discussion forum as an attachment and the Week 7 Assignment submission link. Although no responses are required in the discussion forum, a collegial discussion is welcome. You are encouraged to utilize your peers’ submitted guides on their assigned psychotropic medication agent for study.

 

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 8 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.

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?

List 4 predictors of late onset generalized anxiety disorder.

List 4 potential neurobiology causes of psychotic major depression.

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.

List 3 classes of drugs, with a corresponding example for each class, that precipitate insomnia. Be specific.

 

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 8 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. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sleep-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20354018

To prepare for this Assignment:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the Medication Resources indicated for this week.

Reflect on the psychopharmacologic treatments you might recommend for the assessment and treatment of patients with sleep/wake disorders.

The Assignment: 5 pages

Examine Case Study: Pharmacologic Approaches to the Treatment of Insomnia in a Younger Adult. You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the medication to prescribe to this patient. Be sure to consider factors that might impact the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes.

At each decision point, you should evaluate all options before selecting your decision and moving throughout the exercise. Before you make your decision, make sure that you have researched each option and that you evaluate the decision that you will select. Be sure to research each option using the primary literature.

Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).

Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Decision #2 (1 page)

Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).

Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Decision #3 (1 page)

Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).

Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Conclusion (1 page)

Summarize your recommendations on the treatment options you selected for this patient. Be sure to justify your recommendations and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of five academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement. You should be utilizing the primary and secondary literature.

 

NURS6630 Psychopharmalogical Approaches to Treat Psychopathology

Week 9 Assignment

Assessing and Treating Patients With ADHD

Not only do children and adults have different presentations for ADHD, but males and females may also have vastly different clinical presentations. Different people may also respond to medication therapies differently. For example, some ADHD medications may cause children to experience stomach pain, while others can be highly addictive for adults. In your role, as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, you m

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