WEEK 15 ASSIGNMENT 1: MAJOR CASE ANALYSIS

WEEK 15 ASSIGNMENT 1: MAJOR CASE ANALYSIS

Value: 100 Points

Due: Day 7

Grading Category: Major Case Analysis Paper

Overview

The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to analyze and synthesize the components of a complete psychiatric assessment with clinical interventions, based on evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and theoretical knowledge. This assignment allows you to demonstrate your ability to complete a full mental health assessment of your selected client’s current psychological, physical, and social functioning. You should be able to demonstrate critical thinking and to correlate theory and practice.

Instructions

1. Select a client or case that you have worked within either your practice or your practicum setting. Ensure that you correctly redact the appropriate information (name, etc.).
2. Prepare a full mental health evaluation of your client. Use the resources presented in the course to help guide your evaluation. Kaplan & Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry has a robust list of the categories of information you should collect and present in your evaluation report (5.1. Parts of the Initial Psychiatric Interview). This should include the following:
   1. A full psychiatric, physical, social, family, and work history including verbal reports of the client, your observations of the client, and a summary of any diagnostic aids that you have used.
   2. The use of at least one psychiatric screening or assessment tool from the literature to assist in your assessment of the client
   3. A full physical assessment in addition to the mental status exam and psychiatric history
3. Develop a DSM-5 diagnostic assessment:

1. 1. Support your diagnosis through a thoughtful, evidence-based analysis of the data collected in your evaluation.

1. Propose a practical, evidence-based plan of care:

1. 1. Keep in mind the role of the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner is to assess all aspects of the patient’s health status, including health promotion, health protection, and disease prevention. Psychiatric care is interdisciplinary. Your plan of care may include the use of other mental health professionals for the delivery of appropriate care. For example, someone who has been chronically out of work and whose unemployed status has contributed to his or her depression might require social work or educational assessment to address that aspect of the client’s poor psychological functioning.

Requirements

• Support your assessment, diagnosis, and treatment plan with appropriate literature citations.
• The paper should be no more than 10 pages in length, not including a title page and references.
• Use current APA formatting and citations.
• Acronyms should not be used.
• The assessment must be well written and be of professional quality. It must be clear, logically developed, and free of spelling, grammatical, and syntactical errors. Use full sentences.
• The psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner employs evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to guide screening activities, identifies health promotion needs, and provides anticipatory guidance and counseling addressing environmental, lifestyle, and developmental issues.

Please refer to the Grading Rubric for details on how this activity will be graded.

Introduction

The Major Case Analysis represents a culmination of the advanced psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) learning experience, integrating theoretical knowledge, evidence-based practice, and clinical judgment into the holistic assessment and management of a mental health client. This assignment provides an opportunity to demonstrate competence in conducting a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation that encompasses biological, psychological, and social dimensions of mental health. Through this process, the PMHNP synthesizes academic knowledge with clinical experience to develop a patient-centered plan of care grounded in current psychiatric guidelines and best practices.

A thorough psychiatric assessment extends beyond symptom identification to explore the complex interplay of genetic, environmental, medical, and psychosocial factors that contribute to mental illness. According to Kaplan & Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry (Sadock et al., 2023), an effective psychiatric evaluation should include a detailed psychiatric, medical, family, social, and occupational history, supported by direct observation and the use of validated screening tools. These data provide the foundation for accurate diagnosis, guided by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022).

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This paper will present a full mental health evaluation of a selected client encountered in clinical practice or a practicum setting. The analysis will incorporate a complete psychiatric and physical assessment, a mental status examination, and the application of at least one standardized psychiatric assessment instrument to aid diagnostic clarity. A DSM-5-TR diagnosis will be formulated based on a critical interpretation of the collected data, supported by relevant scholarly literature.

The subsequent plan of care will outline an evidence-based, interdisciplinary approach designed to address the client’s identified needs, emphasizing symptom stabilization, functional improvement, and long-term wellness. In alignment with the PMHNP scope of practice, the plan will include health promotion, risk reduction, and collaborative strategies involving other mental health professionals when appropriate.

Ultimately, this major case analysis underscores the PMHNP’s role as a holistic and autonomous clinician who integrates theory, research, and clinical expertise to enhance mental health outcomes. By merging compassionate care with scientific rigor, the PMHNP advances both individual patient recovery and the broader goal of improving psychiatric care delivery in diverse populations.

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References

• American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.; DSM-5-TR). APA Publishing.

• Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2023). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (12th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

• American Nurses Association (ANA). (2023). Psychiatric–mental health nursing: Scope and standards of practice (3rd ed.). ANA.