Nursing Assignment: Role of Nurses in Methamphetamine Addiction

This assignment explores the role of nurses in caring for individuals addicted to methamphetamine. It begins by defining methamphetamine and its effects, then delves into the specific challenges nurses face, such as managing aggressive behaviors and providing immediate support in emergency situations. The report emphasizes the importance of calm communication, active listening, and the appropriate use of medications and restraints. It highlights the need for nurses to be well-connected with emergency services and to offer additional support services, including community development programs and group therapy sessions, to provide holistic care. The assignment references the Mental Health Act, 2005, and the policy of informed decision-making, underlining the importance of comprehensive health assessments to identify co-morbid conditions. The conclusion stresses that increased knowledge and professional help are crucial in combating the perils of methamphetamine abuse, which can lead to addiction and psychotic reactions upon withdrawal. The report includes a bibliography of relevant research articles.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Nursing assignment
Name of the student
University name
Author’s name

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NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Role of nurse in caring for Methamphetamine users.......................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................3
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................4

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Introduction
Methamphetamine is a recreational drug used as a nerve stimulant and has restricted uses.
The drug is less commonly used in the treatment of attention deficit disorders and obesity.
Methamphetamine is one of those non-scheduled drugs, which generate a false sense of
happiness, hyper activeness and energy within an individual.
Role of nurse in caring for Methamphetamine users
Methamphetamine is a non-scheduled drug and elicits a number of physical and
emotional reactions in the human body. People addicted to the use of methamphetamine,
displays an irritable and aggressive behaviour (McKenna, et al., 2017). People with increased use
of the drug often have irrational thinking and are difficult to deal with. Medical intervention
becomes relevant in times of emergency such as chest pain, epileptic seizures. In a mental health
setting, dealing with patients displaying aggressive patterns of behaviour, is challenging.
Therefore, as a practising nurse one need to adhere to the standards and scope of practice. It is
effective to deal with the patients in a calm and composed manner. In case of agitated patient,
providing immediate support service is the role of the nurse. Additionally, the nurse must possess
sufficient knowledge regarding the timing and the adequate doses of the sedatives to be
administered to the patients. The nurse must speak to the patient softly, and demonstrate active
listening skills. Medications and restraints should be used as per needed. It can prevent the
development of turbulent situations or chaos within a clinical setup.
The nurses need to be well connected with the emergency services. The nurse must
provide additional support services to the victims of the drug abuses. Additionally, the nurse can
implement evidence based practices such as community development programs along with
group talking sessions. This helps in the provision of a holistic care regimen to the victims of
the drug abuse. The nurses can help in the implementation of therapeutic alliance though
effective clinical interviewing skills. This is in accordance with the Mental Health Act, 2005
and the policy of informed decision making. Moreover, conducting of comprehensive health
assessment would help in analysing the presence of other co-morbid conditions (Pich, Kable, &

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Hazelton, 2017). This helps in providing an overall systematic and thorough care services to the
support users.
Conclusion
Once administered methamphetamine become an addiction and devastates the life of the
user. Thus, temporary removal from the drug can initiate psychotic reactions in an individual.
Therefore, increased knowledge and professional help can help to eliminate the perils of the drug
abuse.

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Bibliography
BMcKenna, B., McEvedy, S., Kelly, K., Long, B., Anderson, J., Dalzell, E., et al. (2017).
Association of methamphetamine use and restrictive interventions in an acute adult
inpatient mental health unit: A retrospective cohort study. International journal of mental
health nursing , 49-55.
Pich, J. V., Kable, A., & Hazelton, M. (2017). Antecedents and precipitants of patient-related
violence in the emergency department: Results from the Australian VENT Study
(Violence in Emergency Nursing and Triage). . Australasian emergency nursing journal ,
107-113.