Week 11: Therapy for Clients With Comorbid Conditions

As a psychiatric mental health nurse
practitioner, you will frequently work with clients who have comorbid
conditions. For instance, you may treat a 19-year-old male with Down
syndrome and increasing violent behaviors; a middle-aged female with
schizophrenia, diabetes, and poor renal function; or an older adult with
a mental disorder, stage I Alzheimer’s disease, and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD). In cases like these, you must draw from
foundational knowledge of pathophysiology and collaborate with other
healthcare providers to ensure optimal safely and efficacy of
psychopharmacological therapies for clients.

This
week, as you study therapy for patients with comorbid conditions, you
examine psychopharmacologic approaches to treatment for clients across
the lifespan.

Final Exam

This exam will cover the following topics, which
relate to psychopharmacologic approaches to treatment for clients
across the lifespan:

• Therapy for Clients with Pain and Sleep/Wake Disorders
• Therapy for Clients with Impulsivity, Compulsivity, and Addiction
• Therapy for Clients with ADHD
• Therapy for Clients with Dementia
• Therapy for Clients with Comorbid Conditions

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Assess psychopharmacologic approaches to treatment for clients across the lifespan

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Note: All Stahl resources can be accessed through this link provided.

Stahl, S. M. (2014a). Stahl’s illustrated violence: Neural circuits, genetics and treatment. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

To access the following chapter, click on the Illustrated Guides tab and then the Violence tab.

• Chapter 3, “Treatment of Violence and Aggression”

Stahl, S. M. (2014b). The prescriber’s guide (5th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

To access information on the following medications, click on The Prescriber’s Guide, 5th ed tab on the Stahl Online website and select the appropriate medication.

Review the following medications:

For Alzheimer’s disease

• donepezil
• galantamine
• memantine
• rivastigmine

For Parkinson’s disease with dementia

• rivastigmine

Crocker, A. G., Prokić, A., Morin, D., & Reyes, A. (2014). Intellectual disability and co-occurring mental health and physical disorders in aggressive behaviour. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 58(11), 1032-1044. doi:10.1111/jir.12080

Erickson, S. C., Le, L., Zakharyan, A., Stockl, K. M., Harada, A. M., Borson, S., & … Curtis, B. (2012). New-onset treatment-dependent diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia associated with atypical antipsychotic use in older adults without schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 60(3), 474–479. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03842.x

Hulvershorn, L. A., Schroeder, K. M., Wink, L. K., Erickson, C. A., & McDougle, C. J. (2015). Psychopharmacologic treatment of children prenatally exposed to drugs of abuse. Human Psychopharmacology, 30(3), 164-172. doi:10.1002/hup.2467

Malhotra, A. K., Zhang, J., & Lencz, T. (2012). Pharmacogenetics in psychiatry: Translating research into clinical practice. Molecular Psychiatry, 17(8), 760-769. doi:10.1038/mp.2011.146

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2013). Substance abuse treatment for persons with co-occurring disorders: A treatment improvement protocol. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 42. Rockville, MD: Author. Retrieved from http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA13-3992/SMA13-3992.pdf

Document: Final Exam Study Guide (PDF)

Optional Resources

Stahl, S. M. (2014a). Stahl’s illustrated violence: Neural circuits, genetics and treatment. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

To access the following chapters, click on the Illustrated Guides tab and then the Violence tab.

• Chapter 1, “Which Individuals Will Become Violent or Aggressive?”
• Chapter 2, “Neurobiology and Genetics of Violence and Aggression”

Final Exam:

This exam will cover the following topics, which
relate to psychopharmacologic approaches to treatment for clients
across the lifespan:

• Therapy for Clients with Pain and Sleep/Wake Disorders
• Therapy for Clients with Impulsivity, Compulsivity, and Addiction
• Therapy for Clients with ADHD
• Therapy for Clients with Dementia
• Therapy for Clients with Comorbid Conditions

By Day 7

Complete the Final Exam. Prior
to starting the exam, you should review all of your materials. There is a
2-hour time limit to complete this 76-question exam. You may only
attempt this exam once.

This exam is a test of your knowledge in preparation for your certification exam. No outside resources including books, notes, websites, or any other type of resource are to be used to complete this exam. You are expected to comply with Walden University’s Code of Conduct.

Submit Your Final Exam by Day 7

To submit your Final Exam:Week 11 Final Exam

Congratulations! After you have finished all of the assignments
for this week, you have completed the course. Please submit your Course
Evaluation by Day 7.

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