Question

Weekly Assignment 2: Article Analysis

Article: The PTSD Toolkit for Nursing: Assessment, Intervention, and Referral of Veterans

Background: With an increase in veterans in the patient population, nurses need to be familiar with PTSD symptoms and resources to best serve their patients. Read the assigned article and think about how the assessments and interventions described can also be applied to other patient populations as well. As nurses with various backgrounds, we also have to recognize that stress and traumatic events in our own lives and careers can impact our ability to practice safely. While this article specifically discusses Nurse Practitioners, the Registered Nurse is also responsible for assessing and intervening (or recommending interventions). Once you have read the article, answer the following questions.

1. What are some of the main causes of PTSD for military members and how do they manifest in these individuals?

2. Describe the main symptoms expressed by patients with PTSD.

3. What are the recommended interventions for patients with PTSD symptoms?

4. How can the nurse motivate patients to seek treatment?

5. What resources are available for individuals with PTSD?

6. How could you use the information from the article to identify, assess, and care for a patient with PTSD?

Answer 1

Ans) 1) Witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event is described as the source of PTSD symptoms. PTSD may be caused by combat, abuse, emotional loss, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, serious accidents, assault, and many other situations.

2) PTSD symptoms are generally grouped into four types: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in physical and emotional reactions. Symptoms can vary over time or vary from person to person.

3) Psychological interventions including:
Trauma-focused CBT.
Cognitive restructuring and cognitive processing therapy.
Exposure-based therapies.
Coping skills therapy (including stress inoculation therapy)
Psychological first aid.
Psychoeducation.
Normalization.
EMDR.

4)

With proper training, health care professionals in multiple disciplines — including psychologists and psychiatrists, advanced social workers, licensed professional counselors, and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) — can conduct PTSD interventions. Advanced practice nurses with mental health expertise can administer or assist in the administration of primary PTSD therapies and treatments:

Cognitive therapy. A type of talk therapy, cognitive therapy helps patients recognize and modify potentially harmful thinking patterns, such as fears that traumatic events will recur.
Exposure therapy (ET). Used to help PTSD patients reduce flashbacks and nightmares, ET lets patients safely face frightening situations and memories until they are better able to cope with them. Exposures can be real or imagined. Virtual reality technology can also be used for ET.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Used in conjunction with exposure therapy, EMDR therapy involves a series of guided eye movements that help patients process traumatic memories and manage their reactions.
Psychopharmacology. PTSD symptoms can be treated with any of multiple types of medications, including antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. Prazosin has been identified as a possible aid in reducing or suppressing nightmares in some people with PTSD, but its efficacy is still being studied.