Family nurse practitioners fill a crucial role in medical health fields, particularly in rural and underserved areas. This includes mental health, which is a growing stressor in the lives of many people. Poor mental health can affect entire families, work performance and many other areas of life when left unmanaged.
As a registered nurse, you can make a significant difference in the lives of your patients when you pursue a graduate degree as a family nurse practitioner. Family nurse practitioners are able to follow patients from the early years throughout their lives to offer aid managing their mental health as required.
The US Labor Bureau projects the demand for nurse practitioners will grow by almost 40 percent in the next five years. If you are ready to take your nursing career to the next level, then a family nurse practitioner degree may be the right path for you.
The family nurse practitioner degree
As a family nurse practitioner, you have the unique opportunity of caring for people throughout their lives. Not only does this allow you to provide optimal medical care for them but it also lets you develop a relationship with your patients that provides you with insight into the best ways to create a care plan for them.
A primary advantage to earning one of the advanced nurse degrees such as a family nurse practitioner degree at an institution such as Rockhurst University is the ability to study online while you continue working as a nurse. The flexibility of attaining this graduate degree lets you progress at a pace that is comfortable for you. Rockhurst University also provides full clinical placement services to help you secure a placement that is conveniently located.
This family nurse practitioner degree provides unmatched opportunities to further your nursing career while still earning an income. Whether you want to move through the program quickly in as little as four semesters or part-time in eight semesters, becoming a family nurse practitioner offers multiple options to focus on patients in various life stages.
In many states, a family nurse practitioner can practice independently of a physician or partner with a medical practice to treat a variety of patients for mental health and other needs.
Mental health management in children for family nurse practitioners
Behavioral pediatrics and mental health issues affect even the youngest members of our society. From developmental disabilities to family abuse, there is a wide range of issues that influence many areas of young children’s lives. As a family nurse practitioner, one focus of your job is to identify these issues and provide help for children and their families.
Autism
As you treat children as young as nine months old, there are clear behaviors that show developmental readiness, such as knowing their name, responding to speech and smiling and looking in your eyes, which demonstrate the proper progression at each milestone. Asking the parents questions about their children’s behaviors is another way to determine whether there are issues that require further investigation.
Family nurse practitioners must be alert to the autism spectrum and the behaviors that are indicative of this challenging disorder. Autistic children demonstrate repetitive behaviors, limited social skills and extreme responses to certain stimuli, which will alert you to look deeper.
FNPs are first-line providers with screening tools to diagnose this disorder and explain the condition to the family. As the medical professional, you can refer them for further testing and therapy.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Often lasting well into adulthood, it is important that family nurse practitioners have a healthy understanding of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. From medications that help adolescent patients to behavioral and educational therapies, this is a very manageable condition that responds well to early interventions.
Genetic conditions
Genetic disorders affect physical, mental and emotional development. A family nurse practitioner is part of a trained medical team that can identify, treat and create management plans for young people and their families.
Early identification can be essential to caring for young patients who suffer from a hereditary disorder. These conditions include cerebral palsy, down syndrome, pulmonary diseases, juvenile diabetes, neuromuscular diseases and lysosomal disorders, among others.
Depression and anxiety
Depression affects adolescents and teens as frequently as it does adults. This disorder has no age boundaries and can feel overwhelming for a young person.
A family nurse practitioner can develop a relationship of trust with these young patients, encouraging them to open up about how they feel so they can locate the right help for them. You can be the important first step for young people struggling with life issues. This is why it is important to weigh your words and actions with them carefully.
Many family nurse practitioners who treat young people often pursue further education and certification to help identify and diagnose depression and anxiety early in order to arrange for competent treatment and therapy.
Family nurse practitioners and primary care
You can expect to find family nurse practitioners in multiple primary care functions, including urgent care centers, physician’s offices and hospital clinics. FNPs are an integral part of medical care for entire families as they care for injured, sick and healthy patients.
A vital part of the family nurse practitioner’s role is to assess the mental health of patients. In addition to disease prevention and disease management, their responsibilities include compassionate care for mental health struggles.
Primary care and depression/anxiety
A family nurse practitioner is qualified to counsel patients struggling with depression and anxiety. FNPs can also prescribe various medications to help alleviate the symptoms and refer them to specifically trained medical professionals for more in-depth assistance. In addition, FNPs can help patients locate financial assistance so they can afford these services.
Primary care and schizophrenia
A family nurse practitioner is the first person to see patients in a primary care setting, so they need to know what to look for in schizophrenic patients who have hallucinations, difficulty performing basic life tasks, disordered speech and irrational thoughts. Statistics show that family nurse practitioners can provide a holistic approach to many mental health problems for patients.
While an FNP might not treat a schizophrenic patient long-term, they are crucial partners to identify and diagnose this mental health disorder so they can refer the patient for extended medical care. In some states, the scope of practice for nurse practitioners includes more extensive care for schizophrenia, while other states limit the care and require referrals to specialized medical professionals.
FNPs use tools such as a psychiatric inventory, substance abuse protocols, diagnosis of medical conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and request lab tests to evaluate any deficiencies. Mental health problems are often associated with other conditions and diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, which can make mental health worse.
Family nurse practitioners and gerontology
Family nurse practitioners address the complex, acute care of older aged adults. With a rapidly aging baby boomer population, nurse practitioners can fill a huge need by providing qualified medical care.
If this is an area you think would suit you, many family nurse practitioners earn a certificate that demonstrates their understanding of the unique medical, social, physical and emotional needs of an older population. Many nurse practitioners care for older and aged people with chronic conditions or diseases.
Medical care for aging adults requires special clinical expertise much like pediatrics. Many older people do not eat well or exercise, and this can increase the risk of diseases that are commonly associated with aging. As a family nurse practitioner who specializes in caring for older people, a large part of your job is to understand their habits and teach them better practices to improve their lives and health.
While instruction is part of any nursing career, it can be crucial to educate older people and their family members on choices that can benefit their health.
Family nurse practitioners and seniors’ mental health
Along with assessing dietary habits, family support systems and other needs of an aging patient population, family nurse practitioners pay close attention to the mental health of older people. As people get older, their lives can change drastically, especially when older people stop working and this can cause depression and a bleaker outlook.
The variety of their daily lives narrows and coupled with depression, many older people don’t leave their homes for long periods of time. Another prevailing issue is dementia in elderly people.
Dementia can be a particularly difficult issue to manage since many older people do not realize they are losing time and confusing details.
Family nurse practitioners and senior dementia
While most people experience cognitive decline as they age, dementia involves the rapid progression of memory loss. Left untreated, dementia will often lead to death, so this is an area that family nurse practitioners must pay close attention to.
There seems to be a close correlation between the care a family nurse practitioner provides for elderly people and their improved mental and physical health. As a medical professional, you can detect possible problems and recommend a solution before it becomes a larger issue. An example is when your elderly patients are losing weight and don’t know why.
You can prescribe appetite-boosting medications and high calorie supplements that can mitigate this weight loss. Another way you can effect change for them is to discuss their eating habits with their caregivers to ensure they are consuming quality, nutritious foods.
The connection between good health for older adults and their mental outlook cannot be overlooked. When their health is good, older adults often have improved energy and can complete normal, daily activities which gives them a sense of purpose and accomplishment. This in turn helps them to have a better outlook on life and elevates their mood.
Standard dementia treatments
As a family nurse practitioner, you have a tier of treatments for dementia and mental health-challenged patients. Poor mental health can lead to the faster progression of dementia, so close observations and clinical notes at visits can help you determine the next best step.
You can administer cognitive tests that measure language skills, spatial judgments, verbal skills, reasoning and memory orientation, alongside other thinking skills. Physical characteristics such as hygiene, grooming and clothing choices can be other indicators of their mental acuity.
Administering problem-solving challenges, balance and movement tasks and visual and hearing tests can provide more insight into treatment options. While ongoing oversight from family and friends can be the best treatment, you can prescribe medications to slow the progression of dementia and alleviate the depression that can accompany this condition.
Another pivotal way to help older people who are struggling with mental health challenges is to recommend and schedule counseling. Having someone to talk to besides family can be very helpful for these patients.
Settings in mental health care for practicing family nurse practitioners
As a family nurse practitioner, you have a variety of settings where you can work with patients to improve their mental health.
Working in behavioral health can allow you to work with a variety of patients to improve their mental health. You can diagnose and treat depression, anxiety and other mental health problems with medications and therapies.
You are qualified to provide counseling to your patients to help them work through things that trouble them and cause anxiety and stress. If patients need more in-depth treatment, you can refer them to a psychiatrist or another medical professional who has specific training in mental health.
Addiction centers
An addiction center is another area where you can help patients free themselves from addictions to live healthier lives. You diagnose addictions, prescribe treatments and provide ongoing care to assist patients as they adopt better habits. This is a holistic approach to patient care in which you oversee the addiction recovery, patients’ medical needs and lifestyle habits.
Private facilities
Working in a private facility that focuses on mental health is another option for you as a family nurse practitioner. When people have suffered trauma and need help working through it to attain better mental health, they can choose a private facility that focuses on depression, anxiety, eating disorders or trauma.
Your role would include diagnosing issues and creating a care plan for patients. This can involve medication, therapy and other approaches designed to help them work through these issues to lead a better life. Many of these facilities have live-in opportunities for patients, so you might work with them over a period of months.
Depending on the state, you may have the autonomy to approach the patient in a holistic way by overseeing medical, mental health and other care in an integrated way.
Psychiatric hospital unit
Family nurse practitioners work in hospital settings too. Caring for the mental health of challenged patients can be part of your role in a psychiatric unit of the hospital. In a psychiatric hospital unit, you diagnose conditions as you build relationships with your patients.
You might lead therapy sessions with a small group and meet one-on-one with patients.
Forensic psychiatry
When the legal system and mental health meet, this is forensic psychiatry. Family nurse practitioners are qualified to offer judgment on whether someone is competent to stand trial, advise on juvenile justice and deliver expert opinions in custody battles.
As a medical professional with an advanced degree, you are able to offer expert advice and mediate in diverse situations where medical knowledge is essential to a legal process. Forensic psychiatry applies to areas such as military and veterans’ affairs where there is post-traumatic stress and difficulty.
Many nurse practitioners work in areas where there have been suicide attempts and disorders that cause people to become delusional. This is a diverse and interesting career in which you can apply medical understanding to real-world problems.
Private practice
Many states recognize family nurse practitioners as independent medical providers. In rural areas and underserved communities, you can be an ally for people who need mental health assistance but have no resources nearby.
Establishing a private practice can allow you to treat entire families for medical, physical and mental health issues that may keep them out of work and school. Private practice can be rewarding as you establish long-term relationships with your patients and treat them over many years.
If you like the idea of having ongoing connections with your patients and their families, then private practice may be the right path. Working in private practice offers the most longevity for treating patients with medical, physical and mental health needs.
In summary
Family nurse practitioners play a key role in treating mental health issues throughout a patient’s lifetime. From the very young to the elderly, family nurse practitioners need to incorporate mental health assessments as part of the overall care they provide to patients in order to ensure that patients achieve the best outcomes.
