Nursing
Week 2: Therapy for Pediatric Clients With Mood Disorders
Mood disorders can impact every facet of a child’s life, making the most basic activities difficult for clients and their families. This was the case for 13-year-old Kara, who was struggling at home and at school. For more than 8 years, Kara suffered from temper tantrums, impulsiveness, inappropriate behavior, difficulty in judgment, and sleep issues. As a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner working with pediatric clients, you must be able to assess whether these symptoms are caused by psychological, social, or underlying growth and development issues. You must then be able recommend appropriate therapies.
This week, as you examine antidepressant therapies, you explore the assessment and treatment of pediatric clients with mood disorders. You also consider ethical and legal implications of these therapies.
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Assignment: Assessing and Treating Pediatric Clients With Mood Disorders
When pediatric clients present with mood disorders, the process of assessing, diagnosing, and treating them can be quite complex. Children not only present with different signs and symptoms than adult clients with the same disorders, but they also metabolize medications much differently. As a result, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners must exercise caution when prescribing psychotropic medications to these clients. For this Assignment, as you examine the client case study in this week’s Learning Resources, consider how you might assess and treat pediatric clients presenting with mood disorders.
Note: This Assignment is the first of 10 assignments that are based on interactive client case studies. For these assignments, you will be required to make decisions about how to assess and treat clients. Each of your decisions will have a consequence. Some consequences will be insignificant, and others may be life altering. You are not expected to make the “right†decision every time; in fact, some scenarios may not have a “right†decision. You are, however, expected to learn from each decision you make and demonstrate the ability to weigh risks versus benefits to prescribe appropriate treatments for clients.
· Assess client factors and history to develop personalized plans of antidepressant therapy for pediatric clients
· Analyze factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in pediatric clients requiring antidepressant therapy
· Evaluate efficacy of treatment plans
· Analyze ethical and legal implications related to prescribing antidepressant therapy to pediatric clients
Note: All Stahl resources can be accessed through the Walden Library using this link. This link will take you to a log-in page for the Walden Library. Once you log into the library, the Stahl website will appear.
To access the following chapters, click on the
Essential Psychopharmacology, 4th ed
tab on the Stahl Online website and select the appropriate chapter. Be sure to read all sections on the left navigation bar for each chapter.
Chapter 6, “Mood Disordersâ€Â
Chapter 7, “Antidepressantsâ€Â
Stahl, S. M. (2014b). The prescriber’s guide (5th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
To access the following medications, click on the
The Prescriber’s Guide, 5th ed
Review the following medications:
amitriptyline
bupropion
citalopram
clomipramine
desipramine
desvenlafaxine
doxepin
duloxetine
escitalopram
fluoxetine
fluvoxamine
imipramine
ketamine
mirtazapine
nortriptyline
paroxetine
selegiline
sertraline
trazodone
venlafaxine
vilazodone
vortioxetine
Magellan Health, Inc. (2013). Appropriate use of psychotropic drugs in children and adolescents: A clinical monograph. Retrieved from http://www.magellanhealth.com/media/445492/magellan-psychotropicdrugs-0203141.pdf
Rao, U. (2013). Biomarkers in pediatric depression. Depression & Anxiety, 30(9), 787–791. doi:10.1002/da.22171
Retrieved from Walden Library databases.
Vitiello, B. (2012). Principles in using psychotropic medication in children and adolescents. In J. M. Rey (Ed.), IACAPAP e-Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Geneva: International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions. Retrieved from http://iacapap.org/wp-content/uploads/A.7-PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY-072012.pdf
Poznanski, E., & Mokros, H. (1996). Child Depression Rating Scale–Revised. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Laureate Education (2016e). Case study: An African American child suffering from depression [Interactive media file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Note: This case study will serve as the foundation for this week’s Assignment.
El Marroun, H., White, T., Verhulst, F., & Tiemeier, H. (2014). Maternal use of antidepressant or anxiolytic medication during pregnancy and childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes: A systematic review. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 23(10), 973–992. doi:10.1007/s00787-014-0558-3
Gordon, M. S., & Melvin, G. A. (2014). Do antidepressants make children and adolescents suicidal? Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health, 50(11), 847–854. doi:10.1111/jpc.12655
Seedat, S. (2014). Controversies in the use of antidepressants in children and adolescents: A decade since the storm and where do we stand now? Journal of Child & Adolescent Mental Health, 26(2), iii–v. doi:10.2989/17280583.2014.938497
· Review this week’s Learning Resources. Consider how to assess and treat pediatric clients requiring antidepressant therapy.
· At each decision point stop to complete the following:
o Decision #1
§ Which decision did you select?
§ Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
§ What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
§ Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #1 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
o Decision #2
§ Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #2 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
o Decision #3
§ Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #3 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
· Also include how ethical considerations might impact your treatment plan and communication with clients.
Support your rationale with a minimum of three academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement.
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