According to Mental Health Blog (2016), a patient with undifferentiated schizophrenia shows the main symptoms that all other schizophrenics’ exhibit although it is always hard to classify this type of schizophrenia. This individual cannot be classified into any schizophrenia because he or she cannot be considered a possible fit for the other schizophrenic types. A nurse, therefore, should prepare and teach his patient on the best way to use medication.
Patients who have undifferentiated schizophrenia should be treated using a selected number of drugs for a longer period to ensure that they get better. Patients should also be shown how to use their medication (Nurisna, 2009). As an experienced nurse, I would use counseling and therapy together with medication to help these patients get better. I would have regular psychotherapy sessions for my patients for at least twice a week. Here my patients will be able to get counseled in dealing with their fears and emotions. I would also monitor my patient daily to make sure that he or she has taken his or her medication. I would also advice the patient’s family to take him or her out for outdoor activities such as walking which would help him or her cope. Clozapine is one of the most effective medications used in the treatment of schizophrenia. As a nurse, I strongly believe that patients with undifferentiated schizophrenia be monitored each and every day so that they can get better. Nurses are to check on these patients daily as well as their family members. The medicine administered to them should be tracked to see if it is causing an improvement in the behavior and thinking capability of the patient (Nurisna, 2009).
The plan involving a patient with depression may be slightly different. The plan to treat a patient with undifferentiated schizophrenia is for a long period maybe the rest of the patient’s life (Nurisna,2009) . A patient with depression once better can stop taking the medication and therefore the plan can be for a few weeks or even months. When teaching a patient with depression on how to use the medication, I believe that patients with depression should be monitored to see if the medication works if it does not work within six weeks the medication should be changed. The drugs used in treating depression are quite different than the ones used in treating undifferentiated schizophrenia. Some of them are fluoxetine, escitalopram, Trazodone and sertraline (Nurisna, 2009). Those used for undifferentiated schizophrenia include Risperidone and Abilify. Depressed patients should see their counselor at least once per week. Their family members should make sure that they eat healthy foods for at least three times a week. To teach patients with schizophrenia on how to use the medication requires a counselor because of the frequent changes in mood. Their doctors can convince depressed patients on the importance of taking the drug.
When teaching patients with paranoid schizophrenia on how to use their medication, I believe that the healthcare personnel should be prepared for any disorderly behavior. Changes in moods can occur when explaining to the patient the best way to use the medication (Fenton, & McGlashan, 1991). This is one of the common problems encountered when teaching the patient on the use of the drugs. This will cause the patient to lack concentration and may, therefore, use the drug wrongly. I suggest that when the nurse notices any change in behavior, he or she should counsel the patient when this fails, the patient should be sedated. The patient with paranoid schizophrenia can also believe that his or her hallucinations are real and that medication is unnecessary. This might result in violent behavior. I strongly suggest that the patient should be sedated in such cases.
References
Fenton, W. S., & McGlashan, T. H. (1991). Natural history of schizophrenia subtypes: I. Longitudinal study of paranoid, hebephrenic, and undifferentiated schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48(11), 969-977.
Mental Health Blog,. (2016). Undifferentiated Schizophrenia: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment. Mentalhealthdaily.com. Retrieved 18 July 2016, from http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/04/04/undifferentiated-schizophrenia-symptoms-causes-treatment/
Nurisna,. (2009). Nursing Care Plans for Schizophrenia. infolinks. Retrieved 18 July 2016, from http://nursing-concept.blogspot.co.ke/2009/02/nursing-care-plans-for-schizophrenia.html
