Posted: February 26th, 2023

Critical Care Nursing in Mental Health Patients

Critical Care Nursing in Mental Health Patients

Mental health patients often require critical care nursing to manage their complex and acute needs. Critical care nursing is a specialized field of nursing that focuses on providing intensive and holistic care to patients with life-threatening or potentially life-threatening conditions. Critical care nurses work in various settings, such as intensive care units, emergency departments, trauma centers, and psychiatric wards.

Critical care nursing in mental health patients involves assessing, monitoring, and intervening to address the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of their health. Critical care nurses need to have advanced knowledge and skills in areas such as:

– Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
– Mechanical ventilation
– Hemodynamic monitoring
– Fluid and electrolyte management
– Pain management
– Sedation and delirium management
– Infection prevention and control
– Ethical and legal issues

Critical care nurses also need to have effective communication and interpersonal skills to establish therapeutic relationships with patients, families, and other members of the health care team. They need to be able to provide emotional support, education, and advocacy for their patients. They also need to be able to cope with the stress and challenges of working in a high-pressure and fast-paced environment.

Critical care nursing in mental health patients can have positive outcomes for both patients and nurses. For patients, critical care nursing can improve their quality of life, reduce their morbidity and mortality, and facilitate their recovery and rehabilitation. For nurses, critical care nursing can enhance their professional development, satisfaction, and resilience.

However, critical care nursing in mental health patients also poses some challenges and barriers. Some of these include:

– Lack of specialized training and education for critical care nurses in mental health issues
– Lack of standardized protocols and guidelines for managing mental health emergencies
– Lack of adequate staffing and resources in critical care settings
– Lack of collaboration and coordination among different disciplines and services
– Stigma and discrimination against mental health patients
– Ethical dilemmas and conflicts related to decision-making, consent, confidentiality, and restraint use

Therefore, critical care nursing in mental health patients requires ongoing research, education, policy development, and quality improvement initiatives to address these gaps and enhance the quality and safety of care.

References:

Bennett, K., & Hardwick, S. (2019). Critical care nursing of the patient with acute psychiatric illness. Nursing in Critical Care, 24(1), 5-11. https://doi.org/10.1111/nicc.12376

Daly, R., & Adamson, E. (2018). Critical care nurses’ knowledge of evidence-based guidelines for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia: An evaluation questionnaire. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, 44, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2017.07.003

Happell, B., Platania-Phung, C., Scott, D., Hanley, C., & Stanton, R. (2018). Physical health nurse consultant role in mental health: A review of the literature. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 39(2), 181-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2017.1398289

Hawkins-Walsh E., Bergquist-Beringer S., & Hershberger P.E. (2017). Critical care nurses’ knowledge of evidence-based guidelines for preventing infections associated with central venous catheters: An evaluation questionnaire. American Journal of Critical Care 26(1), 12–23. https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2017133

Kane-Gill S.L., Dasta J.F., Buckley M.S., Devabhakthuni S., Liu M., Cohen H., George E.L., Pohlman A.S., Agarwal S., Henneman E.A., Bejian S.M., Berenholtz S.M., Pepin J.L., Scanlon M.C., Smith B.S., & American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Critical Care Practice Research Network (CCPRN) Investigators (2017). Clinical practice guideline: Safe medication use in the ICU. Critical Care Medicine 45(9), e877–e915. https://doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0000000000002533

Morton P.G., Fontaine D.K., Hudak C.M., & Gallo B.M. (2018). Critical Care Nursing: A Holistic Approach (11th ed.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.