Subject Code :- NUR137
Title :- Information For The Nurse Role
Assessment Type :- Assignment
Instructions :- For the purpose of this exercise, you will need to perform the role of the student nurse.
You are student nurse on placement in the community working with a community mental health team. You are visiting Ruth, a 21-year-old female following referral from the mental health crisis line who had received a call that morning from Ruth’s mother Jill who expressed concern of Ruth’s mental state and behaviours.
NUR137 Information For The Nurse Role Assignment
Background Information :-
Ruth is 21-year-old women studying for a Bachelor of Commerce for the past 2 years.
Ruth has no previous psychiatric history and has enjoyed overall good physical health throughout her life. Ruth’s mother has reported that Ruth had recently returned home from living away and has looked unwell and ‘chaotic’ of recent times and provided details of recent events, marked by a progressive deterioration of her usual functioning.
The referral letter from the crisis team stated the following:
• No history of psychiatric illness on file
• Seven months ago, a significant event created chaos in Ruth’s life. It began when she started seeing Adam.
NUR137 Information For The Nurse Role Assignment
Past medical history:
Asthma
Ruth is a new presentation and this is the first time you and the mental health team meet her therefore requires a clinical assessment. In your interview (video) you need to:
• Therapeutically engage with Ruth and perform a mental health assessment to collect information about her and evets leading to today’s meeting.
• Perform a Mental State Examination (MSE), and
• Document findings from the assessment, using accurate professional expression a summary of the MSE and formulation.
The purpose for this activity is to demonstrate your under standing and application of forming therapeutic engagement with an individual and perform and document a Mental State Examination.
Ruth is a 21-year-ol female who is a second-year student studying full-time at university Bachelor of Commerce. Six months ago Ruth started seeing Adam. During this time Adam introduced Ruth to Cannabis, which both Adam and Ruth used together. Over the past few months Ruth’s cannabis use has increased and now uses a bit of Cocaine approx. 5-times in the past 2-weeks at the insistence of Adam.
Seven months ago a significant event created chaos in your life. It began when you started seeing a boy named Adam. Whilst Adam was good and loving to you he began introducing you to and use of drugs such as cannabis.
NUR137 Information For The Nurse Role Assignment
Background information :-
Ruth was a good student throughout high school and continued to perform well throughout her university studies until 7-months ago when she began to see Adam. Ruth decided to end the relationship with Adam, as Ruth felt that Adam was not good for her. Following the initial break-up, Ruth returned home to visit her parents who raised concerns that Ruth was looking unwell and seemed to be unsettled and acting strangely.
This was characterised by Ruth closing the curtains in the house during the day and night not showering and looking as she once did as well as staying in her room for long periods even when her brothers visited which was out of character.
NUR137 Information For The Nurse Role Assignment
Upon interview
Ruth reports to the nurse
• That her lectures at the university are spying on here and continuing to eaves drop on her conversations with fellow students.
• That her friends did not take her seriously, and had been using her notes to gain better grades and
• that she has been feeling unwell due to the mind-controlling gases were being pumped through the dorm’s air conditioning vents and that the water flowing from the dining room tap was making you sick.
• When asked Ruth discloses that last week she was involved in an altercation with one of her friends at a party after she attacked him thinking that he was Adam.
NUR137 Information For The Nurse Role Assignment
If the nurse/health worker asks you relevant questions please provide the following information:
• Ruth should be avoiding eye contact, looking dishevelled and unkempt act in a manner which would be untrusting and suspicious of the nurse and the line of questioning.
• How the break-up with Adam may have triggered stress and symptoms of psychosis and substance use.
• You started taking drugs including cannabis and cocaine after being introduced by your boyfriend Adam.
• The situation deteriorated further when you started mentioning that one of the lecturers was spying on you and eavesdropping on conversations. In the last month when you travelled to your parents’ home on weekends you were telling them about people spying on you and how bad your friends were when they did not take you seriously when you told them this.
• How you shocked everyone when you suddenly lunged at one of your friends with a carving knife because they looked like Adam.
• You also reported that toxic mind-controlling gases were being pumped through the dorm’s air conditioning vents and that the water flowing from the dining room tap was making you sick.