"Captain Of The Ship” Project – Depressive Disorder

/in /by


As nurse practitioners strive to achieve full-autonomous practice across the country, it should be noted that many states grant this ability to practice independently to psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners. To that end, you will be engaging in projects this semester that assume that you are practicing in a state that allows full-practice authority for NPs, meaning that the PMHNP may be the “captain of the ship” concerning caring for a patient population. The “captain of the ship” is the one who makes referrals to specialists, coordinates care for their patients/clients, and is responsible and accountable for patient/client outcomes overall. This is a decided change from a few decades ago when physicians were the “captain of the ship” and NPs played a peripheral role.

In this Assignment, you will become the “captain of the ship” as you provide treatment recommendations and identify medical management, community support resources, and follow-up plans for a client with a depression disorder.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

· Recommend psychopharmacologic treatments based on therapeutic endpoints for clients with depression disorders

· Recommend psychotherapy based on therapeutic endpoints for clients with depression disorders

· Identify medical management needs for clients with depression disorders

· Identify community support resources for clients with depression disorders

· Recommend follow-up plans for clients with depression disorders

To prepare for this Assignment:

· Select an adult or older adult client with a depressive disorder you have seen in your practicum.

In 4 pages, write a treatment plan for your client in which you do the following:

Thesis statement

Describe the HPI and clinical impression for the client.

Recommend psychopharmacologic treatments and describe specific and therapeutic endpoints for your psychopharmacologic agent. (This should relate to HPI and clinical impression.)

Recommend psychotherapy choices (individual, family, and group) and specific therapeutic endpoints for your choices.

Identify medical management needs, including primary care needs, specific to this client.

Identify community support resources (housing, socioeconomic needs, etc.) and community agencies that are available to assist the client.

Recommend a plan for follow-up intensity and frequency and collaboration with other providers.