Case Study, Mohr




Learning Objectives: 1, 4)

  • Identify strengths that Karen has for progress in personal growth.







(Learning Objectives: 5, 6)



c. Develop an assessment question for each of the following possible causes of Michael’s    development of depression:

Genetic, Environment and Stress.

Case Study, Mohr

CHAPTER 3, Conceptual Frameworks and Theories:

In completing the case study, students will be addressing the following learning objective:

Give examples of behavioral and cognitive-behavioral interventions.

The student nurse has been assigned a 37-year-old woman admitted to the psychiatric hospital with an anxiety disorder.  This morning, the student notices that the client has a tense facial expression and is walking constantly around the group room.   The student walked over to the client and used reflective communication by stating, “I see that you have a tense expression and are walking around almost all of the time.  Is there something that we could discuss?”  The client replied that she has talked on the telephone to her mother who was keeping her children while she was in the hospital.  The client said that her mother had told her that she was not a good mother, and then said, “I guess I am a bad mother, but I could never measure up to my mother’s expectations.”  The student has learned that negative self-talk can greatly aggravate anxiety and lead to depression.  The student decided to use a behavioral intervention with the client and asked the client who is a good artist and why the client liked the artist’s works. The student and the client then made a list of activities that the client liked. The student taught the client to engage in one of these activities when an unpleasant experience evoked negative thoughts.  The following day, the student decided that the client needed some cognitive restructuring for her relationship with her mother.  The student taught the client that during discussions with her mother, feelings of incompetence might be experienced when the mother made negative comments.  The client was instructed that if her mother made negative comments about parenting, she was to immediately tell her mother that she was a good parent to her children and terminate the conversation at the first opportunity.

(Learning Objective: 3)

a. Will the client be able to learn cognitive restructuring in her relationship with her mother?

b.    How will engaging in activities help the client with her anxiety?

Case Study, Mohr

CHAPTER 4, Evidence-Based Practice


Define evidence-based care.

1. Jessica, a 17-year-old girl who came with her family from Romania to the United States 10 years ago, is brought to the mental health clinic by her mother.  At the admission psychiatric interview, the mother stated that Jessica has been saying for 6 months that aliens have been conducting experiments on her and will soon take her in a spaceship to their planet.  Jessica is often awake at night and roams the house with a hammer and sharp knife, searching for aliens. Jessica’s mother says that she fears that some night Jessica will harm a family member whom she believes to be an alien.  The mother then said that she did not bring Jessica for psychiatric care earlier because she had heard that much of mental health treatment was quackery and a waste of money. The psychiatric nurse explains to Jessica’s mother that all mental health treatment is based on scientific principles.

(Learning Objective: 3)

a. How would the nurse best explain that the care Jessica will receive at the psychiatric   facility is based on evidence? Give two examples of psychiatric evidence-based care, and explain the scientific evidence that supports your examples.

Case Study, Mohr

CHAPTER 5, Legal and Ethical Aspects: In completing the case study, students will be addressing the following learning objectives:  Identify the basic rights of people with mental illness. Describe the different types of commitments and states of competency.
