NURS-6630-C-AssgnWk7PittsH.latest 2023/Assessing and Treating Patients with Psychosis and Schizophrenia/NURS 6630C: Psychopharmacologic Approaches to Treatment of Psychopathology

ASSESSING AND TREATING PATIENTS Assessing and Treating Patients with Psychosis and Schizophrenia Case Study Information The patient is a 34-year-old Pakistani female who has an “arranged” marriage. She has just been discharged from a 21-day hospitalization for a “brief psychotic disorder.” Her symptoms persisted for less than one month. Prior to being admitted to the hospital, she reported visions of Allah, and for about a week she believed she was the Prophet Mohammad. The patient believed that she could deliver the world from sin. Her husband became concerned, to the point where he feared for the safety of their four children. He described that one night she was “out of control,” which resulted in her hospitalization on the inpatient psych unit by the police. The current assessment revealed that she is quite calm and insists that the whole situation was “blown out of proportion.” She believes that her husband is out to get her and wants an “American” wife. She is 5’5” and weighs 140 pounds at this visit. Her mood is “good” at this point, and she denies auditory/visual hallucinations but believes that her television can talk to her. She believes that Allah is able to send her messages through the tv. She becomes hostile towards the nurse practitioner but calms down during the clinical interview. Her records indicate that the medical workup she received showed her in good health. All lab results were within normal limits. She was tolerating Risperdal, but she stopped taking it because she believed that her husband was trying to poison her in order to marry an American woman. The patient’s mental status exam revealed she was alert and oriented to person, place, time, and event. She was dressed appropriately for the weather and season. She demonstrated 2 This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :00:54 GMT -06:00 ASSESSING AND TREATING PATIENTS that she had no noteworthy mannerisms, gestures, or tics. The exam also revealed the following: slow speech interrupted by periods of silence, self-reported mood is euthymic, affect is constricted, denies visual or auditory hallucinations, she appears to be “listening” to something, delusional and paranoid thought processes are present, judgment and insight are impaired, and denies suicidal or homicidal ideations. The Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) divulged the following scores: 40 for positive symptoms, 20 for negative symptoms, and 60 for general psychopathology. Th