Nursing Diagnosis Hallucinations - Essay Example

"Nursing Diagnosis Hallucinations" is an outstanding example of a paper on care.
Hallucinations are perceptional disorders in the form of voices, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, etc, due to which the patient may react to them.  A patient suffering from hallucinations may be affected with a psychiatric disorder such as deliriums, depression, dementia, epilepsy, schizophrenia, alcohol abuse, substance abuse, a side-effect of several drugs, etc (Merrill, 2010).  In a psychiatric ward, a huge proportion of patients are actually affected with the disorder (SRJC RN, 2005).  The exact cause of hallucinations is not clearly understood, but psychiatrists consider it to occur from the bombardment of the brain with stimulus from outside or within the body (Merrill, 2010).  The nurse needs to carefully review the patient’s drug history and the use of alcohol and narcotics. 

Long Term Goal: The patient should develop strategies to handle behavior and feelings that arise as a result of disturbed sensory perceptional experiences before the patient is discharged from the hospital.  The patient should also be able to identify situations that can result in harm to self or others and would caution others to take preventive measures (SRJC, 2005).  

Nursing Diagnosis 1: The first nursing diagnosis is violent behavior that may develop in response to the hallucinations.  Due to this, the patient is likely to express their internal feelings verbally or may demonstrate certain actions (Nursing Care Plan, 2010). 

Short Term Goal: To prevent violent behavior and agitation from occurring as a response to hallucinations (Nursing Care Plan, 2010).

Intervention:

1. The nurse should react to the hallucinations with empathy and communicate trust with the patient.  The patient should be given an opportunity to communicate their feelings.
2. The nurse should identify the nature of the hallucinations and be able to create an environment that can reduce hallucinations or reaction to hallucinations (through distraction and other means). 
3. Group therapy and family activities can also help to overcome hallucinations. 
4. The nurse should shift the client’s attention from the content of the hallucinations to the content of feelings to build upon self-understanding (SRJC RN, 2005). 

Outcome: Control of hallucinatory process by the patient and preventing the development of violent behavior as a reaction to hallucinations (Nursing Care Plan, 2010). 

Nursing Diagnosis 2: The second nursing diagnosis is that there are certain changes with certain sensory perceptions, due to which that hallucination may be linked to withdrawing of the patient (Nursing Care Plan, 2010). 

Short Term Goal: To ensure that the patient can control their hallucinations (Nursing Care Plan, 2010). 

Intervention:

1. The patient should be educated about the symptoms of withdrawal and should be given a chance to express their feelings. 
2. Patients should be encouraged to talk with a friendly attitude and building a relationship filled with trust with others. 
3. The nurse should discuss a daily schedule with the patient so that the patient’s time is consumed in a fruitful way.
4. Besides, the nurse should also discuss with the family about withdrawing behavior and to develop a rapport with the patient (SRJC RN, 2005). 

Outcome: After one week, the patient should be able to control hallucinations (reduce the probability of misperception) & discuss issues related to reality (Nursing Care Plan, 2010).    

Nursing Diagnosis 3: The third nursing diagnosis is social isolation.  Due to the feeling of low self-esteem, the patient may be socially isolated (Nursing Care Plan, 2010). 

Short Term Goal: In order to prevent the development of social isolation, the patient would have to connect with people in phases (Nursing Care Plan, 2010).

Intervention:

1. The nurse should discuss the problems faced by the patient along with coping strategies. 
2. There may be certain stressors for the patient that is resulting in the development of certain beliefs.  The patient should be educated that these beliefs are not realistic and coping strategies should be created. 
3. Besides, the nurse should also discuss maladaptive coping behavior, problems associated with the same, and attempt to resolve them through psychotherapy.     
4. The nurse should encourage the patient to verbalize their own plans based on their objectives and priorities with the expected changes to be achieved (SRJC RN, 2005).   

Outcome: After 4-7 days, the patient should interact appropriately with people including friends and family, and deal with situations in the environment (Buckwalter, 1993).