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Deborah Antai-Otong

Publications and source records attributed to Deborah Antai-Otong.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

The art of prescribing. Antidepressants in late-life depression: prescribing principles.

QUESTION: Ms. Antai-Otong, I am a psychiatric nurse practitioner currently employed in a large primary care clinic. My greatest challenge with older adults suspected of being depressed is their hesitancy to admit they are depressed or unwillingness to take antidepressants. I have started some of these patients on antidepressants and had mixed results. Please provide some guidelines for treating depression in older adults with coexisting medical conditions. ANSWER: Depression is a common companion of chronic medical illnesses and frequently goes unrecognized and untreated, resulting in high morbidity and mortality. Depression is unrecognized and underdiagnosed in approximately 16% of older patients seen in primary care settings (Unutzer, 2002). Typically, older adults deny being depressed, minimize symptom severity, fail to recognize common subjective experiences, such as anhedonia, fatigue, and concentration difficulties associated with this disorder, and hesitate to accept their illness due to social stigma and effects of stoicism. Cultural and generational influences also impact how older adults perceive mental health services. Due to the growing number of individuals 65 and older with coexisting medical and psychiatric conditions, particularly depression, seeking health care in vast practice settings, advanced practice psychiatric nurses must collaborate with primary care providers and develop holistic care that addresses coexisting chronic medical and psychiatric conditions.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Anxiety disorders: treatment considerations.

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent and disabling psychiatric disorders. Today patients have a plethora of treatment options to manage these potentially disabling and costly psychiatric disorders. Anxiety disorders represent a large portion of primary care visits and diverse practice settings. Nurses are in key positions to identify symptoms of various anxiety disorders, initiate appropriate treatment, or refer patients for treatment. Families play a key role in successful treatment planning and must be an integral part of the health care team. Major nursing interventions must focus on making an accurate diagnosis, initiating appropriate treatment, and facilitating a higher level of functioning and quality of life.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed2003

Managing geriatric psychiatric emergencies: delirium and dementia.

As the population ages, nurses in various clinical settings must identify high-risk groups that are vulnerable to delirium and dementia. They also must be able to provide psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions that promote comfort and safety for patients and their families experiencing these distressful medical conditions. Efforts to facilitate healthy resolution and restore the patient and caregivers to an optimal level of functioning must be priorities.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Treatment considerations for the patient with borderline personality disorder.

BPD is a major health problem. The high prevalence of patients with BPD in primary care and mental health settings contributes to their high use of resources in these practice settings. Recurrent suicidal behaviors and threats and self-injurious behaviors increase demands on nurses and other health care providers. Regardless of how often the patient presents with these behaviors, nurses must assess acute risk. Because suicidal behavior is often a cry of distress, nurses must avoid personalizing their reactions and monitor their own responses to ensure a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship. This article has focused on the challenge of caring for the patient with BPD. It has delineated important nursing interventions that enable the nurse to assess the patient's immediate needs and manage distressful and overwhelming emotional states and impulsivity.

Borderline Personality Disorder↗
PubMed2003

Psychosocial rehabilitation.

One example of a psychosocial rehabilitation model uses an intensive case management approach. This approach offers an interdisciplinary model that integrates pharmacotherapy, social skills training, and family involvement. This evidence-based plan of care is cost-effective and offers psychiatric nurses opportunities to facilitate symptom management, facilitate self-efficacy, and improve communication and social skills. Ultimately, nursing interventions promote a higher level of functioning and quality of life. Nurses in diverse practice settings must be willing to plan and implement innovative treatment models that provide seamless mental health care across the treatment continuum.

Case Management↗
PubMed2003

Suicide: life span considerations.

Although the daily hassles of living are challenging and stressful to most people, suicide is a cry for help that often reflects tremendous emotional pain and distress. When one's normal adaptive coping skills or developmental capacities fail to manage these situations effectively, some youth and adults resort to suicide as a means of managing intense overwhelming negative emotional states. This article has discussed suicide among older adults and children and adolescents. The role of the nurse in recognizing high-risk groups, analyzing assessment data, and implementing treatment interventions that integrate holistic concepts and reflect cultural sensitivity has been described. The ultimate goal of nurses working with the suicidal patient is prevention. Prevention of suicide requires an understanding of the emotional pain that precludes this act. Through preventive measures, the nurse has the opportunity to establish a therapeutic relationship that enhances adaptive coping skills, restores homeostasis of biologic process, and facilitates an optimal level of functioning in all age groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Current treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.

Generalized anxiety disorder is the most common anxiety disorder and is second only to depression as the most common disorder diagnosed in primary care. Because it is potentially disabling due to its high comorbidity with other psychiatric conditions, psychiatric nurses must accurately diagnose GAD and formulate individualized treatment plans that promote positive outcomes for clients with this disorder.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

Culturally sensitive treatment of African Americans with substance-related disorders.

1. Recent data indicate African Americans are the largest ethnic/racial population in the United States, and psychiatric nurses are in pivotal positions to develop culturally sensitive mental health care. 2. Spirituality, religion, families, and communities play key roles for African Americans with substance-related disorders. 3. Barriers to culturally sensitive mental health care include diagnostic bias and mistrust, stigma, and cost.

Black or African American↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The art of prescribing. Principles of switching novel antipsychotic medications.

This case history is one example of how patients can be switched to novel antipsychotic medications in persons with chronic and stable schizophrenia. This brief discussion offers several guidelines for switching novel antipsychotic medications. The decision to switch medications must be based on individual patient needs, variances, and preferences. Clinical decisions must also be guided by current clinical data from psychiatric and physical examinations and treatment goals that improve quality of life and psychosocial functioning.

Antipsychotic Agents↗