Nursing Care for Borderline Personality Disorder

This assignment discusses Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and its impact on nursing care. It highlights the challenges faced by mental health nurses in treating patients with BPD, particularly suicidal thinking and behavior. The therapy approach of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is also discussed as an effective treatment option for patients with BPD.

Running head: BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER AND NURSING CARE
Borderline personality disorder and nursing care
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER AND NURSING CARE
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a psychological disease, which is marked by a
number of symptoms like constant uncertainty in mood, self-image, behavior and different
pathological interpretation. Furthermore, patients feel anxiety due to which, they tend to have
eating disorders, suicidal thinking, substance abuse, and self-harm. Therefore, people with such
disorder find difficulties in their relationships with family, friends, and even the clinicians, who
are treating those (Chanen & Kaess, 2012).
However, sufferers of this disorder are still misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed. Licensed
psychiatrists, social workers or psychologists diagnose such disease by conducting
comprehensive medical tests and interviewing the patient to understand the symptoms. After
that, they conduct therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy and
so on.
The major challenge that mental health nurses face while treating patients with
Borderline personality disorder is the suicidal thinking and behavior. According to statistical
data, every one in ten BPD patient dies due to suicide and globally around 2 to 3 percent of
population dies due to suicide while suffering from BPD (Linehan et. al. 2015).
According to researches, the therapy need to be followed by clinicians to treat these
patients are Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). This treatment program directly targets –
 Behavior which intervenes with the therapy
 Suicidal thinking of the patient
 Several dangerous or weakening behaviors.
The functioning of this therapy includes:

2BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER AND NURSING CARE
 It enhances and motivates the mental health nurse to treat patient effectively.
 It interferes with emotions, which lead people to thing dangerous or suicidal
thoughts. Hereby improves skillful behavior.
 It prepares a structure for treatment environment that leads to rebuild the
behavioral capabilities and reinforces functional behaviors.
The therapists or nurses, who performs such treatment to patients, are completely trainer
screened through several training case sessions before treating a live patient. According to
Bedics et. al. (2012), after treating a group of patient with such therapy was half of the group of
patient treated with another therapy namely Community Treatment By Experts (CBTE).

3BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER AND NURSING CARE
Reference
Bedics, J. D., Atkins, D. C., Comtois, K. A., & Linehan, M. M. (2012). Treatment differences in
the therapeutic relationship and introject during a 2-year randomized controlled trial of
dialectical behavior therapy versus nonbehavioral psychotherapy experts for borderline
personality disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(1), 66.
Chanen, A. M., & Kaess, M. (2012). Developmental pathways to borderline personality
disorder. Current psychiatry reports, 14(1), 45-53.
Linehan, M. M., Korslund, K. E., Harned, M. S., Gallop, R. J., Lungu, A., Neacsiu, A. D., ... &
Murray-Gregory, A. M. (2015). Dialectical behavior therapy for high suicide risk in
individuals with borderline personality disorder: a randomized clinical trial and
component analysis. JAMA psychiatry, 72(5), 475-482.