A concise, pocket-sized, A-Z rapid reference handbook on all the essential areas of mental health nursing, aimed at nursing students and newly qualified practitioners.

Covers a broad range of mental health disorders, approaches interventions and conditionsEasy to locate practical information quickly in a pocket sized, rapid reference formatThe topics and structure are mapped on to the NMCs (2010) Standards for Pre-registration Nursing Education and their required essential skills and knowledge.

Grahame Smith is Principal Lecturer and Subject Head (Allied Health) at Liverpool John Moores University, UK.

Rebecca Rylance is Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at Liverpool John Moores University, UK.

Introduction viii

Essential skills and knowledge

Assessment 3

Care planning 5

Clinical decision-making 8

Clinical observations 10

Clinical risk in mental health 12

Communication 14

Diagnosis and classification 17

Documentation 19

Early intervention services 21

Electroconvulsive therapy 24

Elimination 25

Infection control 27

Leadership 29

Lifelong learning 31

Managing aggression and violence 34

Managing people 36

Managing risk 39

Medication 41

Medicines management 44

Mental health law 46

Nutrition and fluid management 50

Organising care 52

Physical well-being 54

Psychiatric examination 57

Psychological interventions 59

Psychological therapies 61

Recovery 64

Reflection 66

Research 68

Suicide and self-harm 71

Therapeutic relationships 74

Time management 76

Values-based practice 78

Conditions

Acute confusional state 85

Alcohol misuse 87

Anxiety and related conditions 89

Bipolar affective disorder 91

Child and adolescent mental health 92

Dementia 95

Depression 97

Disorders associated with pregnancy 99

Drug misuse 102

Eating disorders 104

Functional disorders in older adults 106

Learning disabilities in mental health 108

Neuropsychiatry 110

Personality disorders 112

Schizophrenia 114

Sexual disorders 117

Sleep disorders 119

Trauma and other stress-related conditions 122

Unresolved grief 124

Specific issues

Asylum seekers and refugees 131

Culture and ethnicity 132

Homelessness 133

Older adults 134

Safeguarding vulnerable adults 135

Sexual abuse 137

Sexuality and gender 138

Spirituality and religion 140

Appendices 141

Revision questions 150

Glossary 162

References, further reading and useful resources 168

Index 179