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Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Essay

Different healthcare models exist to facilitate provision of patient care. During the provision of psychiatric services, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner can opt to adopt a single provider model or a split model. In the latter, medication management services are provided together with psychotherapy by the same nursing practitioner. While both of these models have pros and cons, the fact that the single provider model allows for the PMNP to follow up on a patient case serves better than the split model.

Therefore, a PMNP should focus exclusively on being a single provider unless under special circumstances.

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Psychotherapy and medication are all components of treatment. A combination of the two allows the patient to provide as much information as possible. Additionally, therapy allows the patient to establish a bond with the practitioner, hence being free to share much information. Contrarily, dealing with different practitioners can cause disconnect since the patient may have lapses in sharing of the information. Though fresh nurses from college are unable to balance between the two aspects of care, they can maneuver through experience. The time a PMNP spends with each patient is adequate for administration of both medication and therapy. The combination of the two aspects of care is essential because they are integrated. During therapy, patients are able to vent on the implications of medication. A combination of the two also reduces the patient’s cost of healthcare (Delaney et al., 2018).

The complementarity of treatment with medication and psychotherapy allows for a single provider model. Some of the patient symptoms require medication while others may be in need of therapy. The practitioner is able to diagnose and establish the best approach. If this were not the case, PMNP would just be in a rush to discharge their mandate with little attention on the other aspect of treatment. In some instances, the nurse may opt to consider both in patient care or just one of them, depending on the patient’s situation. Additionally, the practitioner is able to handle each case in its own unique way. Important factors to consider when deciding on the choice of the approach to take include the severity of the patient’s condition, responsiveness, discussions with the patient and their personality. In some instances, medication should be regulated to give way for psychotherapy. It is known that medication can sometimes interfere with the patient’s cognitive abilities in a negative manner (Wheeler, 2014). Therapy has been known to be effective in stress and depression management.

Despite the single provider model being the best approach in psychiatric patient management, there are instances where the split model is preferred. When dealing with an inexperienced nurse, it is important to adopt the split model. This is because they have limited experience in either psychotherapy or medication, which might hamper the patient’s healing. On the other hand, patients that are unstable under medication ought not to keep on coming for therapy unless it is very necessary. In other cases, the patient may prefer to have a different practitioner for therapy. Additionally, the practitioner might have limited medication or therapeutic capacity, hence opting to refer the patient to a second practitioner (Baruch, Vishnevsk, & Kalman, 2015).

In conclusion, the single provider model has more advantages in the provision of mental healthcare. As a PMNP, the single provider model is preferable because it favors both the patient and the practitioner. Though the model might be compromised in a few instances, in overall, it is the best. The patient is able to form a tight bond with the practitioner hence facilitating the process of information sharing. This makes diagnosis and follow-up on the patient very easy for the practitioner.

References
Baruch, R. L., Vishnevsky, B., & Kalman, T. (2015). Split-care patients and their caregivers: how collaborative is collaborative care?. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 203(6), 412.
Delaney, K. R., Naegle, M. A., Valentine, N. M., Antai-Otong, D., Groh, C. J., & Brennaman, L. (2018). The effective use of psychiatric mental health nurses in integrated care: Policy implications for increasing quality and access to care. The journal of behavioral health services & research, 45(2), 300-309.
Wheeler, K. (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.

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