Post by jasminder9985 on Jul 4, 2015 6:47:38 GMT
Dual Diagnosis Pro Board Reflection
Reflect on the dual diagnosis workshop and describe what your greatest learning from this workshop was and also how you will implement this into your practice.
Dual diagnosis is a prevalent and challenging aspect of mental health where a person is affected by a mental illness in conjunction with substance use/abuse issues. When mental illness and substance use interact, they tend to make the diagnosis worse and can have serious, adverse effects on that persons functioning, which includes work, relationships, health and safety. Our client’s recovery in mental health is already a slow and complicated process, but recovery for our clients is much more challenging and difficult for those with a dual diagnosis.
I found the dual diagnosis study day to be quite useful and applicable to my daily work practice in mental health. The study day in conjunction with prior dual diagnosis elective undertaken during my RN degree helped me gain a deeper understanding into the issues that present when looking after clients with a dual diagnosis. My greatest learning from it would be regarding the use of harm reduction/minimisation. Since substance use is such a prevalent issue amongst mental health consumers, it is not only vital that we as nurses know as much about the substances and their affect on the human body and mind. But also that we realise that not every client is willing or able to cease all their substance use immediately.
I have come across multiple clients during my first 6 months of work in mental health, that have dual diagnosis issues and are simply not willing or able to completely cease their substance use. The particular substances in these cases included synthetic THC, cannabis, methamphetamine and alcohol. When interacting with these clients I found it very useful to be fully aware of my own feelings and opinions regarding substance use. This allowed me to remain objective and non-judgmental when it came to caring for these clients. Instead of simply telling them off for their substance use or advising them to not do it again, I discussed and explored the reasons behind their substance use and triggers that made them feel like using.
Once I had identified the pattern of use and the reasons behind why the clients were using in the first place, I was able to gain some insight into the likelihood of them quitting their use. In situations where I felt the client would not be ceasing all substance use in the near future, I did my best to utilise harm reduction/minimisation techniques in the hope that altered usage methods and patterns would limit the potential damage or complications that could arise from their usage habits.
Reflect on the dual diagnosis workshop and describe what your greatest learning from this workshop was and also how you will implement this into your practice.
Dual diagnosis is a prevalent and challenging aspect of mental health where a person is affected by a mental illness in conjunction with substance use/abuse issues. When mental illness and substance use interact, they tend to make the diagnosis worse and can have serious, adverse effects on that persons functioning, which includes work, relationships, health and safety. Our client’s recovery in mental health is already a slow and complicated process, but recovery for our clients is much more challenging and difficult for those with a dual diagnosis.
I found the dual diagnosis study day to be quite useful and applicable to my daily work practice in mental health. The study day in conjunction with prior dual diagnosis elective undertaken during my RN degree helped me gain a deeper understanding into the issues that present when looking after clients with a dual diagnosis. My greatest learning from it would be regarding the use of harm reduction/minimisation. Since substance use is such a prevalent issue amongst mental health consumers, it is not only vital that we as nurses know as much about the substances and their affect on the human body and mind. But also that we realise that not every client is willing or able to cease all their substance use immediately.
I have come across multiple clients during my first 6 months of work in mental health, that have dual diagnosis issues and are simply not willing or able to completely cease their substance use. The particular substances in these cases included synthetic THC, cannabis, methamphetamine and alcohol. When interacting with these clients I found it very useful to be fully aware of my own feelings and opinions regarding substance use. This allowed me to remain objective and non-judgmental when it came to caring for these clients. Instead of simply telling them off for their substance use or advising them to not do it again, I discussed and explored the reasons behind their substance use and triggers that made them feel like using.
Once I had identified the pattern of use and the reasons behind why the clients were using in the first place, I was able to gain some insight into the likelihood of them quitting their use. In situations where I felt the client would not be ceasing all substance use in the near future, I did my best to utilise harm reduction/minimisation techniques in the hope that altered usage methods and patterns would limit the potential damage or complications that could arise from their usage habits.