Mental Health Nursing Practice and Fundamentals

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering mental health definitions, nursing theories, legal frameworks, clinical assessments, and specific psychiatric disorders.

Health (WHO 1948)

A state of complete physical, mental, spiritual, and social well-being, and not solely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Mental Health (WHO 1947)

A state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their communities.

Coexisting physical illness in mental illness

Up to $80\%$ of people living with mental illness have a coexisting, mortality-related physical illness.

Social and Emotional Wellbeing

A holistic concept for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples resulting from a network of relationships between individuals, family, kin, and community, including connections to land, culture, and ancestry.

Mental Illness

A term describing conditions diagnosed by a medical professional according to standardised criteria that significantly affect how a person thinks, feels, and interacts with others.

Mental Disorder (ICD-11)

A syndrome characterised by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behaviour reflecting dysfunction in psychological, biological, or developmental processes.

Psychological Distress

A state that may include symptoms such as nervousness, agitation, psychological fatigue, and depression.

Psychosocial Disability

A disability arising when long-term mental impairment interacts with various barriers, such as discrimination and stigma, hindering full and effective participation in society.

Consumer

A term used to describe a person who identifies as having a lived experience of a mental health condition.

Lived Experience

The firsthand experience of an individual who has either currently or in the past experienced mental illness or mental health challenges.

Lived Experience Workforce

Workers, sometimes referred to as Peer support workers, who draw on their own life-changing experience and journey of recovery to support others.

Biopsychosocial Model

A model stating that mental illness results from a complex interplay between biological, social, and psychological components.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)

Traumatic events such as sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, domestic violence, neglect, bullying, or poverty experienced during childhood.

Public Stigma

How the general public reacts and acts towards people with mental health conditions.

Self-stigma

The process by which individuals with mental illness turn societal prejudice against themselves, often leading to the 'why try' effect.

Global Median Health Expenditure on Mental Health

The global median of government health expenditure specifically for mental health is less than $2\%$.

Prevalence of Mental Illness in Australian Adults

One in five adult Australians, or $21\%$, experience mental illness.

Stepped-care Approach

A model of care delivery where a person is matched to the intervention level most suited to their current need, ranging from least restrictive to most intensive.

National Standards for Mental Health Services (2010)

A set of $10$ standards covering areas such as Rights and responsibilities, Safety, Consumer and carer participation, and Delivery of care.

ICD-11

The International Classification of Diseases, $11^{th}$ Revision, which provides a basis for comparable statistics on causes of mortality and morbidity.

DSM-5-TR

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, $5^{th}$ Edition, Text Revision, used for defining and classifying mental disorders via expert-agreed symptoms.

Roper-Logan-Tierney (RLT) Model

A core nursing theoretical framework used to guide consumer assessment, care planning, and clinical reasoning.

Id

A component of Freud's personality development that is present at birth and consists of sexual and aggressive drives.

Ego

A component of Freud's personality development that mediates between desires and reality to meet environmental demands.

Superego

A component of Freud's personality development reflecting the expectations and rules of society.

Repression

A defense mechanism where uncomfortable memories are blocked from conscious awareness.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

A major psychological theory suggesting consumers must satisfy lower-level needs before moving up to higher levels of development.

Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages

A framework of $8$ stages of development, such as Trust vs. Mistrust and Identity vs. Role Confusion, through which individuals progress.

Hildegard Peplau

Known as the 'Mother of Mental Health Nursing,' she emphasised the therapeutic and interpersonal process of the nurse-client relationship.

Non-maleficence

The ethical principle of 'doing no harm.'

Beneficence

The ethical principle of 'above all, doing good.'

Clinical Supervision

A process of professional support and learning through regular reflective discussion with experienced colleagues to enhance skills and ensure safe practice.

Mental Health Acts (MHAs)

Legislation defining circumstances for compulsory treatment and attempting to balance civil liberties with the need to prevent harm.

Advance Statement of Preferences

A document setting out a person's preferences for treatment, care, and support in the event they become a patient.

Nominated Support Person

An individual appointed to advocate for a consumer's views and preferences and support them in decision-making.

Involuntary Treatment Criteria

Conditions that must be met: the person has a mental illness, there is a serious risk of harm, and there is no less restrictive way to provide treatment.

Seclusion

A restrictive intervention where a person is placed alone in a room or enclosed space and cannot leave of their own accord.

Mechanical Restraint

The use of items such as belts or straps on hands or arms to stop a person from moving their body.

Physical Restraint

When staff use their hands or body to stop a person from moving freely.

Assessment Order (AO)

The first step in initiating compulsory treatment, authorising examination to determine if a person needs treatment; expires in $24\,hours$ for community orders.

Temporary Treatment Order (TTO)

An order made by an authorised psychiatrist for compulsory treatment that expires $28\,days$ after it is made.

Treatment Order (TO)

An order made by the Mental Health Tribunal for compulsory treatment, lasting up to $6\,months$ for adults or $3\,months$ for those under $18$.

Mental Health Tribunal

An independent statutory body that protects rights by determining if the criteria for compulsory mental health treatment apply to a person.

Dignity of Risk Principle

The right of a person to take reasonable risks to achieve personal growth and quality of life while balancing duty of care.

De-escalation

The use of advanced assertive communication skills, such as maintaining a low monotonous tone and ignoring insults, to therapeutically connect with and calm a person.

Clinical Reasoning Cycle (CRC)

A model used to support information gathering, processing, problem identification, goal establishment, and reflection during assessment.

Mental Status Examination (MSE)

A tool providing a 'snapshot' in time of a person's mental health status across domains like appearance, behavior, and cognition.

Mood (MSE)

The subjective description of how a person is feeling, ideally documented in their own words and rated on a scale of $1-10$.

Affect (MSE)

The objective observation of a person's range of emotion, such as being flat, blunted, restricted, or reactive.

Diurnal Mood Variation

A pattern where mood changes throughout the day, which can indicate the severity of a depressive problem.

Flight of Ideas

A thought process disturbance where thoughts are connected but shift rapidly between topics.

Delusions

Fixed, false beliefs maintained despite contradictory reality, such as persecutory, grandiose, or referential beliefs.

Hallucination

A false sensory perception occurring in the absence of an actual stimulus, related to the five senses.

Static Risk Factors

Risk factors that do not change over time, such as gender, history of trauma, or previous suicide attempts.

Dynamic Risk Factors

Risk factors that change, such as current suicidal ideation, unemployment, or relationship breakdowns.

Non-Suicidal Self Injury (NSSI)

The act of intentionally causing harm to one's own body as a coping mechanism without the intention to die.

Diagnostic Overshadowing

A phenomenon where clinicians focus on mental illness symptoms to the neglect of actual physical health issues.

EASE Framework

A brief family-focused approach involving four steps: Engage, Assess, Support, and Educate.

Anxiety (Definition)

A state of uneasiness or apprehension in response to a vague, non-specific threat, resulting in activation of the Autonomic Nervous System.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Excessive anxiety and worry for at least $6\,months$ accompanied by symptoms like restlessness, fatigue, and muscle tension.

Panic Disorder

Characterised by recurrent panic attacks and at least one month of persistent concern about having more attacks or their consequences.

Agoraphobia

A marked fear of situations where escape might be difficult, such as public transport, open spaces, or being in a crowd, lasting $6\,months$ or more.

Specific Phobia

A marked fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation that is out of proportion to the actual danger.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Persistent symptoms lasting more than $1\,month$ following exposure to trauma, including intrusive memories, flashbacks, and cognitive alterations.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

A cycle involves recurrent intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) performed to reduce anxiety.

Somatic Symptom Disorder

Excessive thoughts and behaviors related to physical signs and symptoms that cause major distress, regardless of whether a medical cause is found.

Conversion Disorder

Neurological symptoms, such as paralysis or blindness, triggered by mental health stressors that cannot be explained by physical injury.

Factitious Disorder

A condition, formerly known as Munchausen Syndrome, where a person fakes or induces illness in themselves or another for attention.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) Criteria

Five or more symptoms, including depressed mood or loss of interest, present during the same $2-week$ period.

Serotonin Syndrome

A dangerous condition caused by rapid medication titration or interactions with serotonergic agents, with a mortality rate of $2-12\%$.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

A treatment using an induced seizure via $70-150\,volts$ to treat severe depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

A non-invasive treatment involving a magnetic field applied to the scalp to stimulate brain activity, typically $40\,mins$ per session.

Bipolar Disorder

A serious mental health condition where an individual experiences periods of depression and mania or hypomania.

Manic Episode

A period of abnormally elevated mood and increased energy lasting at least $1\,week$, often involving grandiosity and decreased need for sleep.

Hypomanic Episode

A period of elevated mood and energy lasting at least $4$ consecutive days that is not severe enough to cause marked impairment or hospitalisation.

Mood Stabiliser

A medication, such as Lithium or Sodium Valproate, that can both treat and prevent acute depression and mania.

Lithium Toxicity

A potentially lethal condition due to Lithium's narrow therapeutic range, requiring ongoing serum level monitoring.

Manic Switching

A phenomenon where antidepressants, particularly TCAs or venlafaxine, induce a switch from a depressive phase to mania in Bipolar patients.

Psychosis

A collection of symptoms including impaired reality testing, hallucinations, delusions, and thought organisational difficulties.

Positive Symptoms (Florid)

Added experiences that were not there before, such as delusions, hallucinations, and agitation; respond well to atypical antipsychotics.

Negative Symptoms

Removal of normal functioning, such as poverty of speech (alogia), lack of motivation (avolition), and social withdrawal.

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS)

A potentially lethal reaction to antipsychotics characterized by hyperthermia ($>42^{\circ} C$), rigidity, and altered consciousness.

Extrapyramidal Effects (EPSEs)

Movement disorders associated with typical antipsychotics, including dystonia, akathisia, and tardive dyskinesia.

Clozapine Monitoring

Requires careful monitoring of white blood cells and absolute neutrophil count due to the risk of agranulocytosis.

Substance Use Disorder Severity

Classified as Mild ($2-3$ symptoms), Moderate ($4-5$ symptoms), or Severe ($6$ or more symptoms).

Tolerance

When the body adjusts to chronic substance use, requiring an increased dose to achieve the same effect or 'high.'

Withdrawal

A wide range of symptoms occurring after stopping or reducing heavy substance use, which can sometimes be life-threatening.

Delirium Tremens (DTs)

A medical emergency characterized by rapid onset of confusion, hallucinations, and fluctuating blood pressure following alcohol cessation.

Wernicke encephalopathy

A short-term condition related to alcohol use involving confusion, ataxia, and vision changes.

Korsakoff syndrome

A long-term condition involving cognition and memory impairment, confabulation, and hallucinations.

The 4 L’s of Substance Use

A mnemonic for areas impacted by substance use: Liver, Lover, Livelihood, and Law.

Harm Minimisation

A focus on reducing the physical, social, and economic risks associated with substance use for the individual and community.

Cluster A Personality Disorders

The 'eccentric' types, including Paranoid, Schizoid, and Schizotypal disorders.

Cluster B Personality Disorders

The 'dramatic' types, including Histrionic, Narcissistic, Antisocial, and Borderline personality disorders.

Cluster C Personality Disorders

The 'anxious' types, including Avoidant, Dependent, and Obsessive-Compulsive personality disorders.

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

Characterised by a disregard for others' rights, lack of remorse, impulsivity, and engagement in irresponsible or criminal behaviors.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

Characterised by unstable relationships, emotional dysregulation, chronic self-harm, and deeply rooted issues with identity.

Transference

When a consumer transfers beliefs or feelings from a previous situation onto their current clinician.

Countertransference

The response of a clinician to a client, where they transfer their own feelings or biases onto the person they are caring for.

Compassion Fatigue (CF)

Characterised by chronic fatigue and diminished empathy resulting from the stress of caring for high-needs individuals.