NRNP 6635: Assignment Assessing and Diagnosing Patients With Mood Disorders

Mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder, present unique challenges in terms of diagnosis and treatment. The cyclical and sometimes episodic nature of these disorders, combined with various stressors and cultural factors, can make it difficult for healthcare providers to accurately assess and diagnose these conditions. For mental health practitioners, understanding the specific criteria and conducting thorough assessments is crucial to providing effective care. Below is a sample NRNP 6635 assignment we have solved, which demonstrates how to assess and diagnose mood disorders in patients. We also have options for buying custom nursing answers.

NRNP 6635: Assignment Assessing and Diagnosing Patients With Mood Disorders

Given their periodic and, perhaps, cyclical nature, depressive illnesses can be difficult to accurately diagnose. Some of these diseases are brought on by stressors, and a client’s decision to seek therapy may be influenced by their cultural background. Additionally, bipolar disorders can be challenging to accurately diagnose. Clients with bipolar disorder or a related disorder will probably have to deal with it forever, but many find that using medication and evidence-based therapy has positive results.

To Get Ready:

• Review the learning resources for this week. Think about the information they offer for assessing and identifying mood disorders.
• To complete this assignment, download the Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Template. For a sample of a finished evaluation document, look at the Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Exemplar as well.
• Choose a specific video case study from the Video Case Selections options in the Learning Resources by Day 1 of this week to use for this Assignment. View the video case you were given and look over the “Case History Reports” document’s extra information, keeping in mind the evaluation template’s requirements.
• Think about the information you would need to get from this patient’s history.
• Think about the questions you would need to ask this patient during an interview.

Choose three different diagnoses that could apply to the patient. Assessment and Diagnosis of Patients with Mood Disorders for NRNP 6635

By Day 7 of Week 3

Complete and submit your Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation, including your differential diagnosis and critical-thinking process to formulate a primary diagnosis. Incorporate the following into your responses in the template:

• Subjective: What details did the patient provide regarding their chief complaint and symptomology to derive your differential diagnosis? What is the duration and severity of their symptoms? How are their symptoms impacting their functioning in life?
• Objective: What observations did you make during the psychiatric assessment?
• Assessment: Discuss the patient’s mental status examination results. What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses with supporting evidence, listed in order from highest priority to lowest priority. Compare the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for each differential diagnosis and explain what DSM-5 criteria rules out the differential diagnosis to find an accurate diagnosis. Explain the critical-thinking process that led you to the primary diagnosis you selected. Include pertinent positives and pertinent negatives for the specific patient case.
• Reflection notes: What would you do differently with this client if you could conduct the session over? Also include in your reflection a discussion related to legal/ethical considerations (demonstrate critical thinking beyond confidentiality and consent for treatment!), health promotion and disease prevention taking into consideration patient factors (such as age, ethnic group, etc.), PMH, and other risk factors (e.g., socioeconomic, cultural background, etc.).

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK3Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 3 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 3 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK3Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission. NRNP 6635 Assignment Assessing and Diagnosing Patients With Mood Disorders

Grading Criteria

Week 3: Mood Disorders 

While most people experience the sadness or grief at some point in their lives, it is typically of short duration and may occur in response to some type of loss. Clinically significant depression, on the other hand, is more disruptive and serious. It lasts longer and has more symptoms that interfere with daily functioning.

This week, you will explore the differences among mood disorders such as depressive, bipolar, and related disorders, and you will examine challenges in properly differentiating among them for the purpose of accurately rendering a diagnosis. You also will look at steps that can be taken to increase the likelihood that patients who are diagnosed with these disorders benefit from treatment and refrain from physically harming themselves or others. NRNP 6635 Assignment Assessing and Diagnosing Patients With Mood Disorders

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Apply concepts, theories, and principles related to patient interviewing, diagnostic reasoning, and recording patient information
• Formulate differential diagnoses using DSM-5 criteria for patients with mood disorders across the lifespan

Learning Resources

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Bipolar and related disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.dsm03

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Depressive disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).

Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2015). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry (11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

• Chapter 8, Mood Disorders
• Chapter 31, Child Psychiatry (Section 31.12 only)

Document: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Template

Document: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Exemplar

Video Case Selections for Assignment

Select oneof the following videos to use for your Assignment this week. Then, access the document “Case History Reports” and review the additional data about the patient in the specific video number you selected.

• Symptom Media. (Producer). (2016). Training title 2 [Video]. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/watch/training-title-2
• Symptom Media. (Producer). (2016). Training title 8 [Video]. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/watch/training-title-8
• Symptom Media. (Producer). (2017). Training title 18 [Video]. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/watch/training-title-18
• Symptom Media. (Producer). (2016). Training title 28 [Video]. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/watch/training-title-28
• Symptom Media. (Producer). (2016). Training title 38 [Video]. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/watch/training-title-38
• Symptom Media. (Producer). (2016). Training title 43 [Video]. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/watch/training-title-43
• Symptom Media. (Producer). (2018). Training title 118 [Video]. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/watch/training-title-118
• Symptom Media. (Producer). (2018). Training title 144 [Video]. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/watch/training-title-144
• Symptom Media. (Producer). (2018). Training title 150 [Video]. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/watch/training-title-150

Document: Case History Reports

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE EXEMPLAR AND TEMPLATE—READ CAREFULLY

If you are struggling with the format or remembering what to include, follow the Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Template AND the Rubric as your guide. It is also helpful to review the rubric in detail in order not to lose points unnecessarily because you missed something required. Below highlights by category are taken directly from the grading rubric for the assignment in Weeks 4–10. After reviewing the full details of the rubric, you can use it as a guide.

In the Subjective section, provide:

• Chief complaint
• History of present illness (HPI)
• Past psychiatric history
• Medication trials and current medications
• Psychotherapy or previous psychiatric diagnosis
• Pertinent substance use, family psychiatric/substance use, social, and medical history
• Allergies
• ROS
• Read rating descriptions to see the grading standards!

In the Objective section, provide:

• Physical exam documentation of systems pertinent to the chief complaint, HPI, and history
• Diagnostic results, including any labs, imaging, or other assessments needed to develop the differential diagnoses.
• Read rating descriptions to see the grading standards!

In the Assessment section, provide:

• Results of the mental status examination, presented in paragraph form.
• At least three differentials with supporting evidence. List them from top priority to least priority. Compare the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for each differential diagnosis and explain what DSM-5 criteria rules out the differential diagnosis to find an accurate diagnosis. Explain the critical-thinking process that led you to the primary diagnosis you selected. Include pertinent positives and pertinent negatives for the specific patient case.
• Read rating descriptions to see the grading standards!

Reflect on this case. Include: Discuss what you learned and what you might do differently. Also include in your reflection a discussion related to legal/ethical considerations (demonstrate critical thinking beyond confidentiality and consent for treatment!), health promotion and disease prevention taking into consideration patient factors (such as age, ethnic group, etc.), PMH, and other risk factors (e.g., socioeconomic, cultural background, etc.).

(The comprehensive evaluation is typically the initial new patient evaluation. You will practice writing this type of note in this course. You will be ruling out other mental illnesses so often you will write up what symptoms are present and what symptoms are not present from illnesses to demonstrate you have indeed assessed for all illnesses which could be impacting your patient. For example, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, bipolar symptoms, psychosis symptoms, substance use, etc.)

EXEMPLAR BEGINS HERE

CC (chief complaint): A brief statement identifying why the patient is here. This statement is verbatim of the patient’s own words about why presenting for assessment. For a patient with dementia or other cognitive deficits, this statement can be obtained from a family member.

HPI: Begin this section with patient’s initials, age, race, gender, purpose of evaluation, current medication and referral reason. For example:

N.M. is a 34-year-old Asian male presents for psychiatric evaluation for anxiety. He is currently prescribed sertraline which he finds ineffective. His PCP referred him for evaluation and treatment.

Or

P.H., a 16-year-old Hispanic female, presents for psychiatric evaluation for concentration difficulty. She is not currently prescribed psychotropic medications. She is referred by her therapist for medication evaluation and treatment.

Then, this section continues with the symptom analysis for your note. Thorough documentation in this section is essential for patient care, coding, and billing analysis.

Paint a picture of what is wrong with the patient. First what is bringing the patient to your evaluation.  Then, include a PSYCHIATRIC REVIEW OF SYMPTOMS.  The symptoms onset, duration, frequency, severity, and impact. Your description here will guide your differential diagnoses. You are seeking symptoms that may align with many DSM-5 diagnoses, narrowing to what aligns with diagnostic criteria for mental health and substance use disorders.

Past Psychiatric History: This section documents the patient’s past treatments. Use the mnemonic Go Cha MP. 

General Statement: Typically, this is a statement of the patients first treatment experience. For example: The patient entered treatment at the age of 10 with counseling for depression during her parents’ divorce. OR The patient entered treatment for detox at age 26 after abusing alcohol since age 13.

Caregivers are listed if applicable.

Hospitalizations: How many hospitalizations? When and where was last hospitalization? How many detox? How many residential treatments? When and where was last detox/residential treatment? Any history of suicidal or homicidal behaviors? Any history of self-harm behaviors?

Medication trials: What are the previous psychotropic medications the patient has tried and what was their reaction? Effective, Not Effective, Adverse Reaction? Some examples: Haloperidol (dystonic reaction), risperidone (hyperprolactinemia), olanzapine (effective, insurance wouldn’t pay for it)

Psychotherapy or Previous Psychiatric Diagnosis: This section can be completed one of two ways depending on what you want to capture to support the evaluation. First, does the patient know what type? Did they find psychotherapy helpful or not? Why? Second, what are the previous diagnosis for the client noted from previous treatments and other providers. Thirdly, you could document both.

Substance Use History: This section contains any history or current use of caffeine, nicotine, illicit substance (including marijuana), and alcohol. Include the daily amount of use and last known use. Include type of use such as inhales, snorts, IV, etc. Include any histories of withdrawal complications from tremors, Delirium Tremens, or seizures.

Family Psychiatric/Substance Use History: This section contains any family history of psychiatric illness, substance use illnesses, and family suicides. You may choose to use a genogram to depict this information. Be sure to include a reader’s key to your genogram or write up in narrative form.

Social History: This section may be lengthy if completing an evaluation for psychotherapy or shorter if completing an evaluation for psychopharmacology.  However, at a minimum, please include:

• Where patient was born, who raised the patient
• Number of brothers/sisters (what order is the patient within siblings)
• Who the patient currently lives with in a home? Are they single, married, divorced, widowed? How many children?
• Educational Level
• Hobbies:
• Work History: currently working/profession, disabled, unemployed, retired?
• Legal history: past hx, any current issues?
• Trauma history: Any childhood or adult history of trauma?
• Violence Hx: Concern or issues about safety (personal, home, community, sexual (current & historical)

Medical History: This section contains any illnesses, surgeries, include any hx of seizures, head injuries.

Current Medications: Include dosage, frequency, length of time used, and reason for use. Also include OTC or homeopathic products.

Allergies: Include medication, food, and environmental allergies separately. Provide a description of what the allergy is (e.g., angioedema, anaphylaxis). This will help determine a true reaction vs. intolerance.

Reproductive Hx: Menstrual history (date of LMP), Pregnant (yes or no), Nursing/lactating (yes or no), contraceptive use (method used), types of intercourse:  oral, anal, vaginal, other, any sexual concerns

ROS: Cover all body systems that may help you include or rule out a differential diagnosis.  Please note: THIS IS DIFFERENT from a physical examination!

You should list each system as follows: General: Head: EENT: etc. You should list these in bullet format and document the systems in order from head to toe.

Ace Your Mental Health Diagnosis Assignments

Successfully diagnosing mood disorders requires careful assessment, understanding of clinical tools, and the ability to make informed decisions based on the patient's history and symptoms. Here's how we can support you in completing your assignments on mood disorders:

1. Comprehensive Approach: We help you review and understand key resources for assessing mood disorders, ensuring you grasp all necessary aspects of patient evaluation.
2. Practical Application: Our guidance helps you apply theoretical knowledge to real-world case studies, allowing you to properly assess and diagnose patients using relevant templates.
3. In-depth Evaluation: We ensure you understand the psychiatric evaluation process, from gathering patient history to asking the right questions during interviews.
4. Clarity in Diagnosis: With our assistance, you’ll be able to make well-informed, evidence-based diagnoses and recommendations for treatment.
5. Expert Writing Support: We assist with organizing your assignment clearly, ensuring your paper meets academic standards while presenting your findings professionally.

With our expert help, you’ll be well-prepared to diagnose mood disorders accurately and provide effective treatment recommendations for your patients.