Question

Discuss your roles and limits within your scope of practice guidelines.(PMHNP)Are therr any times that you may feel those boundaries are not well defined?

Answer 1

The Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Lifespan)-Lifespan (PMHNP) is a Registered Nurse prepared at the master’s degree level as a nurse practitioner specializing in psychiatric-mental health care across the lifespan. You will practice in a variety of settings as an interdependent member of the health care team, collaborating with other health professionals to provide mental health care services across the lifespan. The PMHNP acquires advanced health assessment skills to perform screening history and physical exams as well as episodic exams, formulate initial physical diagnosis and refer when indicated for primary medical care. The PMHNP acquires advanced knowledge and clinical skills in psychiatric-mental health diagnosis and treatment which includes prescriptive practice of psychotropic medications; individual, group and family psychotherapy; crisis intervention; case management; and consultation.consultation.
The PMHNP is uniquely prepared to provide holistic care for clients, which bridges the common gap between physical and mental health care. A PMHNP practicing in a community mental health clinic, for example, is able to deliver targeted psychiatric care while screening, identifying and monitoring co-morbid medical problems such as hypertension or diabetes mellitus being treated by a primary medical care provider. It is often the PMHNP who has developed an ongoing relationship with a client with a severe mental illness that first identifies and differentiates underlying medical problems. The PMHNP is particularly effective in eliciting the client’s cooperation to seek further medical treatment and collaborates with the primary medical care provider in the client’s treatment.

In rural areas the PMHNP in collaboration with a community psychiatrist follows patients both in the clinic, office and on inpatient psychiatric units to provide continuity of care and reduce unnecessary psychiatric admissions. In areas where there is limited availability of psychiatrists, the PMHNP extends the availability of cost-effective mental health care. In large urban and/or teaching hospitals, the PMHNP functions on inpatient psychiatric units, or in the Emergency Room to provide 24 hour/day psychiatric assessment and treatment services. As a team member/leader of the Psychiatric Consultation Service.