Mental Health Nursing Assessment 2022

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH-NURSING 1
Mental Health- Nursing
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

MENTAL HEALTH-NURSING 2
Part 1: Holistic planning and assessment
Mental status examination
A mental status examination is the assessment and description of a patient's general
behavior, appearance, and cognitive functioning (Asghar-Ali, 2018). During this assessment, the
psychiatrist does observation of the patient's psychological functioning, such as thinking,
cognition, emotion, and general appearance of the body at a specific point in time. For patients
suffering from post-traumatic stress like Jamilla in the provided case study, Mental status
examination is conducted to come up with the most appropriate and efficient treatment plan.
Below are the main essential components and domains of Jamilla's Mental Status Examination as
provided in the case study:
 Appearance: In this part, general knowledge and proper use of observation are used.
Posture, style of walking are significant parts (Finney, Minagar, & Heilman, 2016).
General body cleanliness, grooming, and type of clothes also worn aid during an
appearance assessment. In the case study, Jamilla is anxious and withdrawn. She is also
clean, tidy and well dressed in a grey headscarf and a long black dress. Her sitting
position is not only quiet but also still. Furthermore, she looks downcast with her hands
in her lap.
 Behavior: According to the case study, Jamilla's speech is normal since her response rate
is average (Zeanah, 2016). However, after talking about her past for a long time, her
facial expression and mood suddenly changed. When sitting, her hands are always in her
laps as she keeps facing the ground. Her eye contact is also appropriate, according to the

MENTAL HEALTH-NURSING 3
information in the case study. Additionally, when talking about her children, she can’t
control herself from smiling.
 Cognition: This is the process of mentally acquiring knowledge (Thomas, et., al, 2017).
From her speech, she is a determined woman who is focused on providing the best from
her family. By complaining about a study room for her children, she proves to be
knowledgeable. This is because she values education.
 Listening and communication: This refers to how a person receives and perceives and
thereafter interpret a piece of given information (Yong-Shian, et., al, 2016). The
information provided proves that Jamilla and the healthcare provider appropriately
exchanged information. Furthermore, this information is relevant, which proves that
Jamilla was in able to receive and interpret any information appropriately.
Clinical information
The clinical formulation is important since it identifies the root cause of the problem.
That is to say; it addresses all the factors such as social factors, economic or financial status,
genetic, personal, or any other biological problem that led to mental illness or depression. For
instance, Jamilla's clinical formulation explained below elaborates on the factors that contributed
to Jamilla's mental state, in reference to the 5Ps:
 Precipitating factors: These are either negative or positive situations or events, also
referred to as stressors (Kapoor, et., al, 2016). For instance, Jamilla’s precipitating factors
in the provided case study is evident when Jamilla complained of conflicts that exist in
her family. They have not been living in peace with both her husband and her two sons