How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching and Counseling in Difficult Circumstances | Page 38

This book is in B&W, not color - Print page in Grayscale for Correct view! If the patient expresses depressed or suicidal thoughts to you, do the following. • Listen to their feelings, but also point out that help is available. • Express appreciation of the patient’s feelings and the fact that he/she confided in you. • Let the doctor and mental-health nurse know and consider opening a 2052SH form (in Scotland, an Act to Care form). • Distract the patient by involving him/her in pleasant, low-key activities. • Help them to be with someone by whom they feel accepted. • Let the patient know that you accept and care about them. • Consider whether any stressors can be removed that might be depressing the patient (eg worries about going back to a location on which he had been bullied). 6. Medication If you become aware that a patient is not taking the medication, do the following: • Remind them calmly that the medication helps to keep them well. • Ask if they are having any side-effects. • Let the doctor or mental-health nurse know that the patient is refusing to take the medication. Medications used for mental-health problems Information for non-specialist nurses General Nurses may be involved in administering psychotropic medication. This section is a brief guide to the main types of drugs used to treat mental disorders. The aim is to help you answer simple questions that patients may ask, and to know what to do if the patient does not turn up to collect their medicine. Further training is needed to help you recognise and deal with the side-effects of medication. The things to remember are the following: • • • • A patient can only be given medication they have agreed to take (consent). Consent must be voluntary and reflect a continuing agreement to take the medication. Patients can change their mind about taking medication. When information is given to a patient about their illness and medication, it can increase the chance of consent being given. • If a patient refuses to take the medication, you should record their views in the notes and report the fact to the prescribing doctor. For [email protected] Property of Bookemon, do NOT distribute 40