Captain of the Ship Project
As nurse practitioners strive to achieve full-autonomous practice across the country, it should be noted that many states grant this ability to practice independently to psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners. To that end, you will be engaging in projects this semester that assume that you are practicing in a state that allows full-practice authority for NPs, meaning that the PMHNP may be the “captain of the ship” concerning caring for a patient population. The “captain of the ship” is the one who makes referrals to specialists, coordinates care for their patients/clients, and is responsible and accountable for patient/client outcomes overall. This is a decided change from a few decades ago when physicians were the “captain of the ship” and NPs played a peripheral role.
In this Assignment, you will become the “captain of the ship” as you provide treatment recommendations and identify medical management, community support resources, and follow-up plans for a client with a depression disorder.
To prepare for this Assignment:
- Select an adult or older adult client with a depressive disorder you have seen in your practicum.
- write a treatment plan for your client in which you do the following:
- Describe the HPI and clinical impression for the client.
- Recommend psychopharmacologic treatments and describe specific and therapeutic endpoints for your psychopharmacologic agent. (This should relate to HPI and clinical impression.)
- Recommend psychotherapy choices (individual, family, and group) and specific therapeutic endpoints for your choices.
- Identify medical management needs, including primary care needs, specific to this client.
- Identify community support resources (housing, socioeconomic needs, etc.) and community agencies that are available to assist the client.
- Recommend a plan for follow-up intensity and frequency and collaboration with other providers.
Required Readings
Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
- Chapter 8, “Mood Disorders” (pp. 347–386)
Gabbard, G. O. (2014). Gabbard’s treatment of psychiatric disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publications.
- Chapter 12, “Psychotherapy of Mood Disorders”
- Chapter 14, “Pharmacological and Somatic Treatments for Major Depressive Disorder”
Note: You will access this textbook from the Walden Library databases.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
- “Depressive Disorders”
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Persistent Depressive Disorder (dysthymia)
- Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
- Substance/Medication-Induced Depressive Disorder
- Depressive Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition
- Other Specified Depressive Disorder
- Unspecified Depressive Disorder
Grieve, S. M., Korgaonkar, M. S., Koslow, S. H., Gordon, E., Williams, L. M. (2013). Widespread reductions in gray matter volume in depression. NeuroImage: Clinical, 3, 332-339. doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2013.08.016
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Lach, H. W., Chang, Y-P., & Edwards, D. (2010). Can older adults with dementia accurately report depression using brief forms? Reliability and validity of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 36(5), 30–37. doi:10.3928/00989134-20100303-01
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Steffens, D. C., McQuoid, D. R., & Potter, G. G. (2014). Amnestic mild cognitive impairment and incident dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in geriatric depression. International Psychogeriatrics, 26(12), 2029–2036. doi:10.1017/S1041610214001446
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Required Media
Hagen, B. (Producer). (n.d.-b). Managing depression [Video file]. Mill Valley, CA: Psychotherapy.net.
