Nursing Roles in Tackling Adolescent Substance Abuse Issues

This report examines the issue of substance abuse among adolescents, highlighting the critical role of nurses in addressing this complex problem. It discusses the behavioral changes associated with adolescence, the risks of substance abuse disorders, and the factors contributing to these issues, such as social determinants and peer pressure. The report emphasizes the importance of bio-psychosocial models of care and the need for nurses to understand the social determinants affecting adolescents' lives. It also addresses how parents react to their children's substance abuse and suggests ways for nurses to educate parents on effective communication and support strategies. Furthermore, the report outlines the essential skills and knowledge required for nursing professionals to care for adolescents, including understanding their psychological status, mental health, and the unique challenges they face. It advocates for creating safe and supportive environments for counseling, developing respectful relationships, and identifying the needs of adolescents in terms of safety, privacy, and support. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of advocating for legislation and policies, as well as developing evidence-based interventions tailored to adolescents. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments to support student learning.

Substance abuse
issue in adolescents

Adolescence
• Adolescents is one of the most important phase in
the life of an individual
• Decisions taken and activities conducted during this
time has the capability to modify the life of an
individual for his or her future

Behavioral changes:
• Changes of their behaviors
• Speaking and interacting, their dressing styles, their sense of
fashion and many others are seen to change entirely
• Tend to experience independence in this age
• Try out adventures that are new to them in their life

Substance abuse disorders:
• Teenagers are seen to get engaged in different types
of substance abuse disorders where they get
depended upon the use of substance
• Substance and alcohol consumption thereby increase
further threats on the health of the individuals

Results:
Individuals who are highly exposed to alcohol and
substance abuse disorders in the adolescent periods
are more vulnerable:
• to the face accidents while driving
• seen to engage in violent activities at home and even
outside of house in social gatherings, schools,
colleges and others (Gray, 2017)
• heavy losses either by rustication, suspension or
police cases

Continued
• accidents, injuries,
• unwanted or unwise sexual activities (Taffa et al.,
2017)
• as well as different other unfortunate situations

Factors:
• Binge drinking is found to be quite common among
the adolescents
• is seen to put adolescents at risks

Initiatives to be taken by nurses:
• Bio-psychosocial models of care where the social and psychological
determinants of health also need to be discussed for development of care
plan. (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015)
• Argued that only considering the hormonal imbalances as the main reason
of the disorder may result in development of care plan that will not help in
providing a better quality life of the patient.
• nursing professional should have the capability to develop ideas about the
social determinants that are affecting the life as a social determinant when
handled properly ensures positive health outcomes

Social determinants:
• Exposure of the adolescents to society and media are
some of the main reasons
• Having parents who smoke, role models who smoke
• poor school performance
• pressure of peers,

Continued:
• Adopting drinking to participate in groups to appear
updated
• Poor problem solving abilities
• Excessive use of social cites, gazettes and online
medium of activities
• Excessive academic pressures by schools and colleges
and by parents to certain extent

Reaction of parents and the ways they should
behave:
• Parents tend to feel helpless when they visualize their
children living indiscipline life or are not able to understand
how to handle them appropriately (wong et al., 2015)
• Often turn out to be strict on them that have negative effects
• The nursing professional needs to educate the parents about
the ways by which they can tackle their wards properly

Reaction of parents and the ways they should behave:
• Professionals need to educate them so that they can develop
trust among their wards and can often establish a discussion
and interactive sessions with their wards (Carabez et al.,
2015)
• Once the teenagers start sharing their views, concerns, issues
and others with their parents, the parents can provide
solutions to them and help them overcome their stress
effectively

Role of nurses:
• Important for the nursing professionals to develop knowledge and
enhance their skills while caring for the adolescents and
developing their intervention plans
• Nurses need to be very careful about their psychological status as
well as their mental health condition before treating their physical
ailments
• They may not reveal important information that might help in
identifying various disorders that they are facing die to their own
complex thoughts and principles (Cowen & Moorhead, 2014)
• A number of initiatives are important for the nursing professionals
to undertake so that they can successfully treat the individuals and
thereby help them help them to develop better quality lives

Roles of nurses:
• Adolescent nursing skills first require the nurses to
understand the turmoil that are faced by individuals in
the adolescent stage that is not faced by adults
• A person who treats adults may not be well accustomed
with various disorders and issues that the adolescents go
through and thereby cannot relate them with any
interventions that they can propose for their betterment
• They need to have detailed ideas about the disorders
and the external and internal factors that result in
causing such disorders

Roles of nurses:
• Professionals need to develop relevant skills along
with the important skills for proper filtering and
using of information
• Professionals also need to advocate for the
development of services that would be intricately
associated with betterment of the health, education
and different types of opportunities for fun as well as
relaxation

Role of nurses:
• Developing a safe as well as supportive environment is important
for proper counseling of the adolescents as counseling
• Professionals should develop respectful as well as trusting
relationships with adolescents and families
• Identify the requirements and needs of the adolescents in the
domain of safety, privacy, connectedness, confidentiality,
information as well as support (hockenberry et al., 2016)
• Nursing professional need to identify the environment of the
adolescents in which they reside and thereby develop innovative
primary health care strategies within the community of the
adolescents so that they can develop high quality lives.

Role of nurses:
• Advocating for legislation and policies for their care
• They also need to develop evidence-based
interventions that are developed keeping in mind of
the adolescents only

References:
• Carabez, R., Pellegrini, M., Mankovitz, A., Eliason, M. J., & Dariotis, W. M. (2015). Nursing Students
Perceptions of their Knowledge of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues: Effectiveness of a
Multi-Purpose Assignment in a Public Health Nursing Class. Journal of Nursing Education.
• Chiappetta, L., Stark, S., Mahmoud, K. F., Bahnsen, K. R., & Mitchell, A. M. (2018). Motivational
Interviewing to Increase Outpatient Attendance for Adolescent Psychiatric Patients. Journal of
psychosocial nursing and mental health services.
• Cowen, P. S., & Moorhead, S. (2014). Current Issues In Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
• Hockenberry, M. J., Wilson, D., & Rodgers, C. C. (2016). Wong's Essentials of Pediatric Nursing-E-Book.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
• McKinney, E. S., James, S. R., Murray, S. S., Nelson, K., & Ashwill, J. (2017). Maternal-Child Nursing-E-
Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
• Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2015). Public Health Nursing-E-Book: Population-Centered Health Care in
the Community. Elsevier Health Sciences.
• Taffa, N., Haimanot, R., Desalegn, S., Tesfaye, A., & Mohammed, K. (2017). Do parents and young
people communicate on sexual matters. The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development (EJHD), 13(3).
• Wong, C. L., Ip, W. Y., Choi, K. C., & Lam, L. W. (2015). Examining self care behaviors and their associated‐
factors among adolescent girls with dysmenorrhea: An application of Orem's self care deficit nursing‐
theory. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 47(3), 219-227.

Thank you