Recovery Principles and Therapeutic Relationship in Mental Health Nursing

MENTAL HEALTH- NURSING
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Introduction
Mental health is the ability of every individual to feel, think and act in a way that
improves our capability to enjoy life and develop the ability to face the challenges we face. It is
considered as the emotional and spiritual that appreciates the significance of culture, equity and
respecting personal dignity in the society. On the other side, recovery is identified as a dynamic
process towards finality related to individual normality. Through the recovery process, a person
can rebuild and develop new personal, environmental and social relationship which enables them
to adjust their attitude, feelings, and perception in life. A person with mental illness is said to
have recovered if they change their way of living and start living a healthy life according to
Fortinash & Worret (2014).
Question 1
Recovery is essential in mental health nursing. In mental health, recovery does not
necessarily mean the process of complete recovery from a mental problem as compared to the
way that we may recover from a physical health problem (Brophy, Roper, Hamilton, Tellez &
McSherry, 2016, p.6). Many people view recovery as the process in which they can stay in
control of their life despite experiencing some mental health problem. Healthcare professional in
mental healthcare sector refers to recovery principles to describe this way of thinking. People
undergoing through the recovery process are encouraged to believe that recovery from severe
mental illness is possible and that it does not necessarily mean they should recover completely
and get back to where they were before. They should also be made aware that mental illness can
happen to anyone in the society despite their social background (De Vecchi, Kenny & Kidd,
2015, p.11). The primary purposes of recovery in mental health care to enable individuals to
improve their health and wellness live a self-directed life where they can make their own

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decisions and strive to achieve their objectives in life. There are various principles which are
used in recovery which are made to ensure that healthcare services offered by healthcare
professionals are delivered in a way that improves the recovery process of mental health patients.
The first principle is the uniqueness of the patient. This principle alerts the patients that
recovery is not all about the cure but giving them opportunities to make their own choices which
makes their living meaningful and satisfying. The decisions they make should earn them respect
and be valued by other members of the society. The way various people accepts the outcomes of
recovery results is unique for every individual. According Townsend & Morgan (2017) attitudes
and rights is another principle of recovery in mental health nursing. Mental health professionals
have to listen, learn from the mentally impaired person and act upon the communication and
explain to them what is significant to their life. The government should promote and protect
citizenship and human right to individuals with mental illness. Family members and friends are
advised to support patients with mental illness to enable them to develop social, recreational,
occupational vocational activities which make their life more meaningful (Cowley et al., 2016,
p.33). The mental health professional should instill hopes to the patients to allow them to focus
on their future and the capability to live a useful life. The last principle is partnership and
communication which will allow individuals with mental problems to be able to a socialite with
others quickly and be able to share their problems. Through interactions, mentally challenged
individuals can realize their hopes and goals in life.
Question 2
Psychiatric mental health nurses and other healthcare professionals can use the recovery
process in mental health nursing to determine if the patient is experiencing relief from the
previously presented problems. According to Alligood (2017), when mentally challenged

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individuals are taken to the hospital they have a lot of signs and symptoms of the problem, as
they continue receiving medication and treatment they start to recover from the problem.
Therefore, the recovery process helps psychiatric nurses to evaluate if the symptoms of the
illness have ceased and that they no longer have any effects on individual personal life. With the
help of the recovery process, nurses are also able to identify and analyze the effective treatment
and medication which can make a patient recover quickly. Psychiatric mental health nurses can
also be able to determine if the treatments goals and objectives have been achieved through the
recovery process (Le Boutillier et al., 2015, p.87). This objective may also include a therapeutic
contract. It is also possible to determine if the social functioning of a mentally challenged person
has improved through recovery. People with mental problems most of the time seems to isolate
themselves from other members of the society. As patients continue getting medication and
treatment, they start recovering from the illness in their interpersonal relationship with other
members of the community improves. Recovery enables psychiatric mental health nurses to be
able to analyze and identify if a patient is developing an effective defense mechanism. This is
because a person who cannot achieve adaptive coping strategies will establish a defense
mechanism which will enable them to stabilize with their health status (Shanley & JUBB‐
SHANLEY, 2007, p.734). The mentally challenged individual is termed to be recovering I
mental health nurses noted self-dependence and been able to make their own decision which
makes their life worth living. Psychiatric health care professional use recovery process to
estimate the length of treatment and medication a patient needs to recover fully from mental
illness.