Mental Health Nursing Care

The essay discusses the complexities of mental health nursing care for adolescents, emphasizing the importance of early identification and treatment of mental disorders. It highlights the challenges faced by youth today, including societal pressures and the stigma surrounding mental health. The paper critiques the evolution of psychiatric nursing practices and the need for improved training and resources for healthcare providers. It concludes with recommendations for enhancing mental health services for young people.

Mental health nursing care 1
Mental health nursing care
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Mental health nursing care
Introduction:
Adolescence is regarded as one of the most vulnerable and impressionable time spans
of life (Gournay, 2005) (Ballard, 2008). This phase of life has been considered to be an
important age for the onset of various mental illnesses and disorders (Gournay, 2005)
(Ballard, 2008). The risk of developing various mental disorders at this age or time
phase attributes additional complexity to the age of adolescence in an individual
(Gournay, 2005) (Ballard, 2008). The mental illnesses that present during adolescence
are complex and have emotional inconsistencies in the background (Gournay, 2005)
(Ballard, 2008). It is critical, therefore, to identify the onset of mental disorders at an
early stage in adolescents along with providing timely and effective treatment (Gournay,
2005) (Ballard, 2008). However, the treatment of mental disorders in adolescents is
much complex and requires effective and meaningful training to the health care
providers and mental health nurses (Gournay, 2005) (Ballard, 2008). The optimization
of mental health nursing is one of the most crucial aspects of psychiatric health service
(Gournay, 2005) (Ballard, 2008).
The changing times have visibly had an inadvertent effect on the mental health and
stability amongst the youth and adolescents (Gournay, 2005) (Ballard, 2008). Australia
places great emphasis on the optimization of mental health nursing and eradicating the
challenges that the Australian youth face during adolescence (Gournay, 2005) (Ballard,
2008). Research suggests that in the lifetime of an individual, mental health disorders
predominantly present between the age of 14 and 24 (Gournay, 2005) (Ballard, 2008).
The concerns of mental health in young people are primarily of a psychosocial nature
(Youth Mental health report, 2015)(Hart et al., 2012). In the recent times, the youth
across the world report a lack of knowledge about the various mental health services
along with not knowing whom to approach to seek mental health guidance (Youth
Mental health report, 2015) (Hart et al., 2012). The state of integrated mental health is
defined as the state of being able to adjust to fellow humans and the surrounding

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environment of the world and society effectively along with the highest degree of
happiness (Youth Mental health report, 2015) (Hart et al., 2012). Mental illnesses
therefore constitute a disrupted peace of mind, moods, emotions, and thoughts or the
inability to deal with the changes in the surrounding world (Youth Mental health report,
2015) (Hart et al., 2012). In adolescents, the severity of personal, physiological,
hormonal, and emotional changes makes the concept of mental health additionally
complex (Youth Mental health report, 2015) (Hart et al., 2012). The aetiology of mental
illnesses includes biological, physical, chemical, and psychosocial factors (Youth Mental
health report, 2015) (Hart et al., 2012). The societal expectations and the stress
associated with these expectations lead to the development of mental disturbance
resulting in illnesses (Youth Mental health report, 2015)(Hart et al., 2012).
The primary concerns of youth in the recent times include the topical factors including
the likes of study-related stress, coping with normal stress levels, body image,
substance and alcohol abuse, depression, body image issues, emotional abuse, safety
concerns, school problems, and bullying (Youth Mental health report, 2015) (Hart et al.,
2012).In the recent times, the adolescents and the young population are extremely
concerned about the occurrence of stress and mental health disorders, according to a
survey by the Australian commission (Youth Mental health report, 2015).
In nursing health practice, psychiatric nursing, and particularly adolescent mental health
nursing are inevitable and the most challenging areas of nursing health care service
(Kutcher et al., 2009).The practice of mental health nursing has evolved in the past two
decades (Kutcher et al., 2009). The most initial division of mental illnesses was
“neurosis,” characterised by anxiety and distress, and “psychosis,” characterised by
complete impairment of understanding and disintegration in personality and
understanding of reality(Kutcher et al., 2009).
The previous decades have witnessed serious changes in nursing practice (Kutcher et
al., 2009). The primary changes have been that in the 1900’s, there was a resolute
dominance of schizophrenia and related disorders that were treated in a single mental
health care unit (Kutcher et al., 2009). However, the recent times have evolved into the

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provision of various tertiary and social health aids (Kutcher et al., 2009). The common
health disorders, however, have become more complex (Kutcher et al., 2009). Critically,
the outcomes of nursing have become more complex due to the increase in the number
of mental health illnesses that are, in some way subsets of the previous larger disorders
(Kutcher et al., 2009). The gross classification of mental health illnesses has been
further divided to more complex and indistinguishable array of related disorders
(Kutcher et al., 2009). According to research, the number of nurses and the social and
tertiary care units has escalated (Kutcher et al., 2009). The primary reason for this is the
development of several disorders that were absent or unheard of in the past (Kutcher et
al., 2009). Despite several changes in the training provided to nurses, there is a marked
lack of understanding on handling complicated conditions such as post-traumatic stress
disorder, depression, panic disorder, phobias, obsessive-compuslive disorder, or
learning disorders (Kutcher et al., 2009). In the recent times, there is dearth of nurse
staffing in mental health care units and a resultant overlap of several responsibilities
(Kutcher et al., 2009). Recently, interventions such as family group intervention,
physical health monitoring, pharmacological treatment, and rehabilitation have gained
momentum (Kutcher et al., 2009). The positive aspect of the changing nursing practice
in adolescent psychiatric health, however, is the waning degree of stigma on the
discussion of mental health concerns (Kutcher et al., 2009).
The alterations in the interventions that are received at most nursing health care units
have significant psychosocial outcomes on the youth (Drew, 2014) (Drew et al., 2009).
The youth constantly face rising levels of school or study-related stress, concerns
regarding body image, bullying, social pressures, and expectations (Drew, 2014) (Drew
et al., 2009). The changes in the recent practices of nursing have provided the
opportunity to approach dedicated social care units with trained professionals who are
capable of providing the required support to them (Drew, 2014) (Drew et al., 2009).
However, these organisations need to have improved coordination and efficacy in
providing effective health service to the youth. The primary reason for this is that there
are a plethora of options and not enough guidance for choosing the most appropriate
mental health service (Drew, 2014) (Drew et al., 2009). The clinical outcomes of the

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youth include the lack of information about their current condition and the help that they
seek. Awareness of these organisations and their specific functionality needs to be
propagated for effective resolution of clinical outcomes for the youth (Drew, 2014) (Drew
et al., 2009).
Conclusion:
The current essay deals with the complexity and the essence of psychiatric nursing in
adolescents and young people. Providing mental health nursing care to young persons
and adolescents involves the consideration of the socioeconomic and societal
implications. The societal pressure and the stigma attached to mental health nursing
stops several adolescents from seeking help. Social and tertiary care sectors have to
enhance the association with the primary nursing care centres in order to address the
issue adequately. The government health policies in adolescent mental health nursing
have to adequately incorporated into the primary care sectors. There are several
challenges in psychiatric nursing for adolescents that involve the influence of the
changing times on the young persons. The changing times have seen an increase in the
number of categories of disease development. The current essay critiques the
complexity of divisions in mental health diagnoses and the reason for the difficulty in the
incorporation of the individual diagnostic tool. The current nursing facilities lack enough
personnel and knowledge of governmental policies in the primary care facilities. These
are issues that lead to challenges in psychiatric nursing for adolescents.

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