International Nurses Association

A patient that is admitted and suffers from a form of mental illness may have an extra hard time adjusting to a hospital stay. When a patient is delusional they may have irrational thoughts, and they may have reactions based on those irrational thoughts. In order to properly handle and treat a patient in this condition, it's important to understand some about their thought process and condition. What is a Delusional Disorder? This is a form of mental illness, although it can be brought on by a number of factors.  Certain drugs can cause delusions, while in some cases the person suffers from the condition with no known cause. Some may refer to this as paranoid thinking, however delusions are a different form of psychosis, similar but not the same. A patient that is delusional may think that a multitude of thoughts, which can include paranoia thoughts such as someone is trying to harm them. They may also see things that are not present, or hear things that are not omitting sound

As a nurse, if you have not worked with a patient afflicted with mental illness, and that has a dual diagnosis, at some point you will.   Mental illness is more easily diagnosed today than it was even 10 years ago.   Many patients have more than one diagnosis, which can make it difficult to treat until there is a full work-up and diagnosis.   When a patient comes under your care, there will come a time that you note two diagnoses of mental illness.   It's important to consider both conditions in providing treatment for the patient. Related: All About the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Dual Conditions If your patient suffers from acute obsessive compulsive disorder, there may be ritualistic behaviors displayed from them, however, if you add bi-polar to this condition, it could mean that on one visit they will openly discuss their OCD, yet on the next, they may refuse to discuss it at all.   Both conditions must be considered in order to provide the proper treatment