PRESCRIBING FOR CHILDREN & ADOLESCENT
Assignment 1: Prescribing for Children and Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder
Off-label prescribing is when a physician gives you a drug that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved to treat a condition different than your condition. This practice is legal and common. In fact, one in five prescriptions written today are for off-label use.
—Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Psychotropic drugs are commonly used for children and adolescents to treat mental health disorders, yet many of these drugs are not FDA approved for use in these populations. Thus, their use is considered “off-label,” and it is often up to the best judgment of the prescribing clinician. As a PMHNP, you will need to apply the best available information and research on pharmacological treatments for children in order to safely and effectively treat child and adolescent patients. Sometimes this will come in the form of formal studies and approvals for drugs in children. Other times you may need to extrapolate from research or treatment guidelines on drugs in adults. Each individual patient case will need to be considered independently and each treatment considered from a risk assessment standpoint. What psychotherapeutic approach might be indicated as an initial treatment? What are the potential side effects of a particular drug?
For this Assignment, you consider these questions and others as you explore FDA-approved (“on label”) pharmacological treatments, non-FDA-approved (“off-label”) pharmacological treatments, and nonpharmacological treatments for disorders in children and adolescents.
To Prepare
· Your Instructor will assign a specific disorder for you to research for this Assignment.
· Use the Walden library to research evidence-based treatments for your assigned disorder in children and adolescents. You will need to recommend one FDA-approved drug, one off-label drug, and one nonpharmacological intervention for treating this disorder in children and adolescents.
The Assignment (1–2 pages)
· Recommend one FDA-approved drug, one off-label drug, and one nonpharmacological intervention for treating your assigned disorder in children and adolescents.
· Explain the risk assessment you would use to inform your treatment decision making. What are the risks and benefits of the FDA-approved medicine? What are the risks and benefits of the off-label drug?
· Explain whether clinical practice guidelines exist for this disorder and, if so, use them to justify your recommendations. If not, explain what information you would need to take into consideration.
· Support your reasoning with at least three scholarly resources, one each on the FDA-approved drug, the off-label, and a non-medication intervention for the disorder. Attach the PDFs of your sources.
Assignment 2 Assignment 2: Focused SOAP Note and Patient Case Presentation
Psychiatric notes are a way to reflect on your practicum experiences and connect them to the didactic learning you gain from your NRNP courses. Focused SOAP notes, such as the ones required in this practicum course, are often used in clinical settings to document patient care.
For this Assignment, you will document information about a patient that you examined during the last three weeks, using the Focused SOAP Note Template provided. You will then use this note to develop and record a case presentation for this patient.
To Prepare
· Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider the insights they provide. Also review the Kaltura Media Uploader resource in the left-hand navigation of the classroom for help creating your self-recorded Kaltura video.
· Select a patient of any age (either a child or an adult) that you examined during the last 3 weeks.
· Create a Focused SOAP Note on this patient using the template provided in the Learning Resources. There is also a completed Focused SOAP Note Exemplar provided to serve as a guide to assignment expectations. Please Note:
· All SOAP notes must be signed, and each page must be initialed by your Preceptor. Note: Electronic signatures are not accepted.
· When you submit your note, you should include the complete focused SOAP note as a Word document and PDF/images of each page that is initialed and signed by your Preceptor.
· You must submit your SOAP note using SafeAssign. Note: If both files are not received by the due date, faculty will deduct points per the Walden Grading Policy.
· Then, based on your SOAP note of this patient, develop a video case study presentation. Take time to practice your presentation before you record.
· Include at least five scholarly resources to support your assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning.
· Ensure that you have the appropriate lighting and equipment to record the presentation.
The Assignment
Record yourself presenting the complex case for your clinical patient.
Do not sit and read your written evaluation! The video portion of the assignment is a simulation to demonstrate your ability to succinctly and effectively present a complex case to a colleague for a case consultation. The written portion of this assignment is a simulation for you to demonstrate to the faculty your ability to document the complex case as you would in an electronic medical record. The written portion of the assignment will be used as a guide for faculty to review your video to determine if you are omitting pertinent information or including non-essential information during your case staffing consultation video.
In your presentation:
· Dress professionally and present yourself in a professional manner.
· Display your photo ID at the start of the video when you introduce yourself.
· Ensure that you do not include any information that violates the principles of HIPAA (i.e., don’t use the patient’s name or any other identifying information).
· Present the full complex case study. Include chief complaint; history of present illness; any pertinent past psychiatric, substance use, medical, social, family history; most recent mental status exam; current psychiatric diagnosis including differentials that were ruled out; and plan for treatment and management.
· Report normal diagnostic results as the name of the test and “normal” (rather than specific value). Abnormal results should be reported as a specific value.
· Be succinct in your presentation, and do not exceed 8 minutes. Specifically address the following for the patient, using your SOAP note as a guide:
· Subjective: What details did the patient provide regarding their chief complaint and symptomology to derive your differential diagnosis? What is the duration and severity of their symptoms? How are their symptoms impacting their functioning in life?
· Objective: What observations did you make during the psychiatric assessment?
· Assessment: Discuss their mental status examination results. What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses and why you chose them. List them from highest priority to lowest priority. What was your primary diagnosis and why? Describe how your primary diagnosis aligns with DSM-5 diagnostic criteria and supported by the patient’s symptoms.
· Plan: In your video, describe your treatment plan using clinical practice guidelines supported by evidence-based practice. Include a discussion on your chosen FDA-approved psychopharmacologic agents and include alternative treatments available and supported by valid research. All treatment choices must have a discussion of your rationale for the choice supported by valid research. What were your follow-up plan and parameters? What referrals would you make or recommend as a result of this treatment session?
· In your written plan include all the above as well as include one social determinant of health according to the HealthyPeople 2030 (you will need to research) as applied to this case in the realm of psychiatry and mental health. As a future advanced provider, what are one health promotion activity and one patient education consideration for this patient for improving health disparities and inequities in the realm of psychiatry and mental health? Demonstrate your critical thinking.
· Reflection notes: What would you do differently with this patient if you could conduct the session again? If you are able to follow up with your patient, explain whether these interventions were successful and why or why not. If you were not able to conduct a follow up, discuss what your next intervention would be.
By Day 7 of Week 3
Submit your Video and Focused SOAP Note Assignment. You must submit two files for the note, including a Word document and scanned pdf/images of each page that is initialed and signed by your Preceptor.
Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:
· Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK3Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
· Click the Week 3 Assignment 2 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
· Click the Week 3 Assignment 2 link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
· Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK3Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
· If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
· Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.