The Role of the Mental Health Nurse: Needs, Services, and Impact

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the role of a mental health nurse, focusing on the care of individuals with Lewy Body Dementia. It begins by defining mental health and illness, referencing classifications such as ICD-10 and DSM-V, and identifying the range of needs that service users may have, including empathy, communication, and family involvement. The essay then explores the services available, the evolution of mental health care policies in the UK, and the impact of mental illness on individuals and their families. It discusses the legal frameworks governing mental health care, such as the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act. Furthermore, the essay highlights the specific needs of patients with Lewy Body Dementia, the appropriate models of care, and the crucial role of mental health nurses in partnership working, emphasizing the importance of attributes, values, and skills such as conflict management and empathy. The assignment is based on a pre-placement visit to a local care unit, where the author encountered patients with Lewy Body Dementia and their families, providing a practical perspective on the discussed concepts.

Running head: THE ROLE OF THE MENTAL HEALTH NURSE
THE ROLE OF THE MENTAL HEALTH NURSE
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

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Introduction:
In the recent era, current management, interventions and the model of mental health care
failed to address the complex challenges adequately, which accounts for the majority of adult
disability associated with mental illness. In the United Kingdom, About 1 out of 4 individuals
experience mental health issues every year. In England, 1 out of every 6 individuals reports
experiencing at least one common mental health problem in any given week. In this context, it is
essential to understand the role of the nursing health nurses and insight into services users and
family experience so that proper services can be developed (Elder, Ehrlich and Gandy 2019).
One such common mental health issue commonly contributing to the disability is dementia and
in the United Kingdom more than 850000 people with dementia in the United Kingdom. 1 in 6
individuals over the age of 80 has dementia whereas 42000 individuals under 65 years
experienced dementia, indicating the need for assessing the role of mental health nurses and
comprehensive assessment (Www.alzheimers.org.uk. 2020). This paper aims to provide the
range of needs individuals, the role of mental health services to address the need, impact of the
illness on individuals, their family and carers and values of nurses in the mental health setting.
Discussion:
Range of needs that people accessing mental health service:
Definition of mental illness with classification:
Mental health defined as the psychological and emotional wellbeing of the individuals.
On the other hand, mental illness refers to a wide variety of mental health conditions that impact
the thinking, mood, and behaviour of the individuals (Malla, Joober and Garcia, 2015). In the

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recent era, two widely established systems are present to classify disorders such as the
International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychiatric Association.
ICD 10 has a total of 10 disorder classifications (F0-F10) whereas unlike DSM IV with five-axis
of mental illness, DSM V has three sections. In this context, health care professionals are
required to assess the need for individuals with mental illness according to these criteria and
design interventions that facilitate the experience of the individuals (Feast et al. 2017).
Need of the patients with mental illness:
While mental illnesses of the patients vary according to ICD10 and DSM V criteria, the
common need of the Individuals with mental illness is to live a purposeful life by involving in
the faster recovery of the individuals. In this context, the majority of the mentally ill patients
seek empathy, proper communication, therapeutic relationship, comfort and involvement of
family members. One of the common instances is patients with depression where the unique
need of the individuals is to reduce the low mood, increase appetite and in this context, nursing
professionals are required to address these needs through proper intervention (Malla, Joober and
Garcia 2015). While working in local care unit of mental health, the majority of the service users
in the unit were suffering from cognitive disorders such as is Lewy Body Dementia. The
individuals with Lewy body dementia have a progressive decline in the mental illness and hence,
individuals experience difficulties in involving in normal motor activities, visual hallucination,
changes in alertness and attention (Kochhar 2017). These patients experience stigma,
helplessness and irritation which impacted the quality of life of the individuals (Turner et
al. 2015). In this case, the specific need of individuals with dementia such as assisting in daily

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activities, reduction in the tremors, confusion, poor attention span that mental health caregivers
are required to address through empathy, active listing, and compassion.
Range of services for individuals with mental illness:
Since mental health and physical health of the individuals are directly associated with
individuals, NHS designed various strategies to combat the mental health diseases such as NHS
five year forward view for mental health and the NHS long-term plan under the Health and
Social Care Act 2012 where individuals with mental health illness receive safe and effective
services for their physical health as well (Www.kingsfund.org.uk. 2020). Similarly, the patients
with Lewy's body dementia can receive a range of mental health services designed by NHS such
as physiotherapy and occupation therapy for daily activities, activities to recover memory,
problem skills and language ability for cognitive stimulation and dementia activities such as
memory café and reminiscence therapy (Www.nhs.uk. 2020).
Evolution of mental health care provision:
Current mental health policy and government framework:
Considering the historical background of the mental health policies and legislation,
United Kingdom was the first one of countries to build asylum and reject the idea that the
primary mode of treatment of mentally ill patients is asylum. In the previous era, before the
development of madhouse act 1774, history of psychiatry in post-war Britain has heard through
two intertwined narratives: the rise of psychopharmacology and ‘decarceration”. The
decarcination process was the government policy of reducing the number of prisoners and
mentally ill patients which contributed to severe stigma in the society as mentally ill patients
were considered as evil in the history of mental illness. Mental health condition like Lewy's body
dementia is no exception to it since patients with Lewy's body dementia experience stigma,

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social isolation, and delay in getting help, negligence and physical abuse which impact their
recovery. The restraining and abusing the mentally ill patients are common factors that
aggravated the mental illness (Malla, Joober and Garcia 2015). Livingston et al. (2017),
suggested after various investigations of governing bodies and the ministry of health, National
Health Service was developed which design the majority of mental health strategy. The recent
policy in England, “Dementia: applying All Our Health” is one of the instances of the
evolution of legislation and health care and social policies that offer physical activity, food
strategies to improve diet and levels of activity in local communities (Www.gov.uk. 2020). At
the community level, this policy engages the community to become dementia friendly and
supports the patients in conducting daily activities and at the family level, involve all family
members to assist the patients in remembering memories, educating the patients.
Legal frameworks governing mental health care provision:
Zigmond (2017), suggested the major acts that safeguard the rights of the patients with
dementia include human Rights Act 1998 as well as Mental Health Act 1983 that improve the
quality of care by enabling professionals to provide best possible care, equal access to the
services and reduce the misconduct like negligence, physical abuse (Keown et al. 2018). On the
other hand, the Mental Capacity Act (2005), provide patients with dementia with the opportunity
to make decisions for themselves. Care act 2014 also outlines the responsibility of the health care
professionals to restore dignity, protect from abuse, control by the individual day to day life and
reflect on the social model of disability (Mackay 2017).
Impact of mental health:
Caring for a person with dementia is long-standing challenges since the progressive
degeneration of the cognitive ability results in a reduced ability of the communication. While

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working in the mental health word, I have encountered various patients with dementia having
impaired social functioning which made me empathetic towards dementia patients. Ciafone et al.
(2019), suggested that patients with Lewy’s body dementia often experience psychological
symptoms and the social impacts include loss of working hours and employment, loss of motor
activity, loss of relationship with family and friends, depression, social isolation, and stigma.
Psychological and mental health needs:
While working in the mental health word, I have encountered various patients with
dementia who have various individual and psychological needs which are unique from the other
mentally ill patients. Park et al. (2019), suggested that due to the progressive decline of the
cognitive ability and associated motor movements, the individual needs of the LBD patients are
to assist in daily activity such as bowel movement, walking without tremor and maintenance of
body functioning such as blood pressure and regaining memory and attention. On the other hand,
Desmarais et al. (2018), suggested that the psychological need of patients with LBD include
agitation, sleeping disturbance, wandering, mood disturbance and reduction of psychosis. In the
home setting, the need is a supportive and empowered environment for the patients that support
the mobility of the patients and improve the memory of the patients. Hence, in this context,
nursing professionals are required to address the unique need of the patients through empathy
and compassion so that the patients have excellent personal experience of receiving care.
The appropriate model of care:
Morhardt et al. (2015), suggested that the CARE-D model of care is an excellent care
model in the clinical setting that involves various disciplines to care for the patients. The model
is built-in on the neuropsychological characterizations of behavioural and cognitive weakness
and strength in the early stage of the weakness. Hence, the model enables nurses to assess the

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psychosocial and rehabilitation needs through Psychiatric interview and Serial assessment like
mini-mental status and provide interventions that address the individual need and distinctive
neuropsychological needs. On the other hand, in the home setting, the butterfly model of care is
suitable that inject feeling and compassion into the care and focuses on creating an environment
with the family members that can improve memory such as the bright coloured wall, intimate
space, and energetic care.
Role and values of the mental health nurse:
Partnership working in mental health nursing:
While working in the mental health word, I have encountered various patients with
dementia where family members actively engaged in the care plan which facilitates the
communication, therapeutic relationships. In this context, Lennon (2019), suggested that mental
health nursing professionals collaborate with the family members where nursing professionals
are required to use active listening, a non-judgemental approach, and proper verbal
communication skills. Since patients and family members subjected to high psychological
distress, the mental health nurse can develop a therapeutic relationship with the clients by
listening to the concern of the patients and family members, reflecting empathy and compassion
through care and communication (Sikes and Hall 2017). The nursing professionals are required
to be aware of professional boundaries and involve family members in the decision making so
that their autonomy and freedom can be restored. Nursing professionals are required to be aware
of the personal values and must involve in the practice that will respect the dignity of the patients
and family members, reflect on beneficence and maleficence. The members of the
multidisciplinary team will be behavioural neurologists, psychotherapists, nursing professionals,
occupational therapists, neuropsychologists, neuro-psychiatrists, and social workers. Within the

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team, the mental health nurse is responsible for planning and supporting the mental health
patients and enable other professionals to determine a patient's neurocognitive profile, develop
recommendations and strategies (Sikes and Hall 2017).
Attributes, values, and skills:
In order to treat patients with LBD, the nursing professionals must have a positive
attitude towards the families and patients so that they feel comfortable and empowered. For
providing the best possible care to the patients, nursing professionals must have conflict
management skills, effective communication with active listening, empathetic and
compassionate skills so that patients can feel empowered and motivate to involve in the
treatment (Giezendanner et al. 2019). While working in the local care unit of mental health, I
have acquired the understanding that I have conflict management skills, a positive attitude, and
active listening skills which facilitate the experiment of the patients and family members.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note it can be said that with the global burden of disease, mental health
is considered as the leading cause of death around the globe. Lewy’s body dementia is one such
mental health illness that impacted the majority of the individuals around the globe. Human
Rights Act 1998 and the Mental Health Act 1983 are acts that protect the rights, dignity, and
respect of the patients. “Dementia: applying All Our Health” is such a policy that supports
dementia patients. The social impact is the loss of working hours and employment, loss of motor
activity, loss of a relationship. In this case, nursing professionals are required to develop skills
such as empathy and compassion, active listening to support the patients so that they feel
empowered and comfortable.

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