Clinical Issue in Psychiatric Nursing Practice

Psychiatric nursing practice entails the provision of comprehensive, patient-centered psychiatric care to patients with psychiatric or mental health problems. This nursing practice is considered as an integral component of the continuum of nursing practice since it entails promoting psychiatric and mental health through assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric and mental health problems (Ballard, 2008). Therefore, there are various issues that psychiatric nurses encounter when dealing with patients with psychiatric disorders and mental health problems. A critical step towards addressing these issues is conducting nursing research through nursing informatics in order to develop evidence-based practice.

An example of a clinical issue in psychiatric nursing practice is whether exercise can be regarded as suitable treatment for depression. This is a major issue in psychiatric nursing because depression is a common psychiatric disorder that is linked to compromised quality of life, increased risk for various medical conditions like coronary heart disease, and increased costs of healthcare (Blumenthal, Smith & Hoffman, 2012). The clinical question for this study is, “Is exercise a suitable treatment for depression as compared to medication?” Currently, anti-depressant medications are utilized as the most viable treatments for depression though they are not effective for all patients. As a result, there has been an increased to identify a suitable alternative approach for treatment of depression. In this regard, aerobic exercise has received increased attention as a complementary or alternative approach for treatment of depression.

The data-information-knowledge-wisdom continuum can be utilized to answer this question through determining the most effective treatment approach for depression.

To obtain data for this clinical question, I will utilize the Walden Library and the Internet, particularly electronic databases. I will conduct searches for articles on this library and the Internet based on the topic. CINAHL and MEDLINE databases will be utilized in conducting the search for articles since they are nursing databases that will provide relevant information to this issue. I will utilize keywords and phrases relating to the topic and limit the search to a five year period i.e. 2013-2017. I will also utilize Google search engine to identify articles that are not incorporated in my initial search. To ensure the data becomes information, I will highlight data points in the various articles once I download them. These data points will then be interpreted and organized based on their relevance to the clinical question.

Once the data points are highlighted, interpreted, and organized, they will be utilized to generate knowledge through identifying relationships between the data elements. According to Topaz (2013), knowledge emerges when information is synthesized into formal interactions and relations. This process will involve examining how exercise contributes to reduced depressive symptoms in patients. I will also examine information on how antidepressant medications reduce depressive symptoms among patients.

Once the evaluation of each of these treatment approaches is carried out in relation to lessening depressive symptoms, the next step will entail comparing them to identify the treatment approach that answers the clinical question as part of generating wisdom. In this regard, I will compare the two treatment approaches based on extent with which they lessen depressive symptoms among patients. This will be achieved through evaluating the level of evidence presented in the articles on the effectiveness of each treatment approach in enhancing depression care.

Bickford (2008) states wisdom involves using knowledge obtained from nursing research to solve health problems/clinical issue. The significance of this nursing research in answering the clinical issue not only involves generating knowledge, but also entails applying the knowledge in meaningful ways. For this research, nursing informatics can be used to obtain wisdom if the most suitable treatment approach from the analysis is prioritized by psychiatric nurses when providing care to patients with depression.
In conclusion, nursing informatics has emerged as one of important measures for managing and communicating data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. On the issue of whether exercise is a suitable treatment approach for depression in comparison to medication, this continuum will be utilized to gain wisdom that translates into nursing practice. I will conduct a search on Walden Library and the Internet to generate data that is translated to information through identifying data points in the selected articles. Once the data points are identified, I will examine the relationships between the data elements in order to translate information to knowledge. These relationships and interactions will then be compared and analyzed to determine the most suitable treatment approach for depression as part of translating knowledge to wisdom and answering the clinical question.


References
Ballard, K.A. (2008). Issues and Trends in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing. In Psychiatric mental health nursing: an introduction to theory and practice (chap. 2, pp.21-38). Retrieved from http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763744344/44344_ch02_021_038.pdf
Bickford, C. J. (Ed.). (2008). Nursing informatics: Scope and standards of practice. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.
Blumenthal, J.A., Smith, P.J. & Hoffman, B.M. (2012, July/August). Is Exercise a Viable Treatment for Depression? ACMS’s Health & Fitness Journal, 16(4), 14-21.
Topaz, M. (2013). Invited Editorial: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Nursing Informatics Theory: Using the Data- Knowledge- Information-Wisdom Framework to Guide Informatics Research. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics, 17(3). Retrieved from http://ojni.org/issues/?p=2852