Nurs-6670-wk-9-ASSIGNMENT. Management of Schizophrenic Patient.

Management of Schizophrenic Patient
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Managing a patient with a Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder marked by a spectrum of symptoms, including delusions, hallucinations, deranged speech and behavior, and impaired cognitive ability. The early onset of the disease and its chronicity is disabling for many patients and their families due to negative symptoms and cognitive symptoms. Managing schizophrenia requires multi-strategy approaches that entail psychotherapy, psychotherapy and effective referral, and collaborative health systems.
Case Scenario
James, a 38-year older adult, was brought to the psychiatric unit with his friends following exacerbation of psychosis-related symptoms. He reports hearing voices for the last 11 months, roaming around urban areas, being abusive, and often perceives his friends and relatives as enemies, and three incidents of attempted suicides. He lives in the city with his wife and one child, but he is not working. He was dismissed from his teaching job, following unusual behavioral patterns and difficulties fitting in a social environment. The family relies on his wife for house needs and upkeep. James’ past medical history included a history of paranoid delusions with an introverted personality. There is no known family history of mental illness. Upon mental status examination and observation, James looked weak, showed apprehensive behavior, had silly laughter, appeared depressed, look uneasy with others marked by an increased sense of suspicion, and depicted hallucinatory patterns.
Case Management
Health assessment and mental health evaluations are a critical foundation for effective therapy amongst schizophrenic patients. When dealing with schizophrenia, mental experts should be concerned with specific health idiosyncrasies, including weight gain, obesity, and metabolic disorders such as diabetes, prolactin increase, sexual dysfunction, and cardiovascular disease (Montejo, 2010). The author notes other health-related challenges, including recreational drug use, sedation, physical inactivity, adverse drug effects, and poor self-care, which may influence the patient’s well-being, adherence to therapy, and life expectancy. At this stage, the therapist needs to make a differential diagnosis, create social rapport, and treat comorbid disorders like drug abuse (Stahl et al., 2013). Then, get the baseline findings, including vital signs, body mass index, tardive dyskinesia, cognition, diabetes risk assessment, ECG and serum potassium, and magnesium, ocular exam, screen for vision changes, consider brain imaging for patients with a new onset of psychosis or atypical clinical presentation Stahl et al.,2013).
Managing schizophrenic patients is not an easy task. It requires a comprehensive, collaborative, and integrative interventional approach. The risk of suicide presents a critical challenge to therapists. Compared with the general population, a schizophrenic patient has an 8.5-higher risk of suicide (Kasckow, Felmet & Zisook, 2011). The treatment of patients with schizophrenia required an integrated psychosocial and pharmacological approach to managing this disorder. Even though there is insufficient evide...