Managing Mania
by Brad Hagen
When working with patients experiencing mania, clear boundaries and goal-oriented communication can help you maintain control. Learn from a pro—and empathize with a novice—in this two-part video demonstrating successful treatment of manic patients.

If we’re not careful, patients experiencing manic episodes can take us for a wild ride during the initial assessment. When working with mania, clear boundaries, directive communication, and an assertive attitude are essential to keeping the session on track. In this video, we see engaging scenarios that contrast unskillful and skillful interventions with a verbally and emotionally challenging woman during a home visit. Here, you’ll learn the different methods involved in conducting a successful (and unsuccessful) initial assessment, and see how follow-up interventions can further improve patient outcomes.

You’ll watch two contrasting home visits to Mrs. Kitchener, a woman who has impulsively removed her IV and called her doctor for support. In the first vignette, a beginning nurse visits her later that morning to find her in the midst of a torrent of activity. Amid the patient’s fast-paced speech, paranoia, grandiosity, and sense of emotional chaos, the novice nurse becomes withdrawn and defensive, letting the patient berate her and ignoring her real concerns about her medical condition.

The second vignette features a much more experienced, confident nurse gaining and maintaining control of the assessment by making firm eye contact, using assertive communication, and empathizing with Mrs. Kitchener’s stories while keeping the focus on their medical objectives. You’ll also see this nurse make a follow-up call to her doctor after the visit, offering her assessment and setting up next steps for patient care. Before-and-after commentary adds context to the scenarios, deepening the lessons presented.

With this video, you’ll get valuable instruction on the subtle yet meaningful differences between novice-level care and advanced skills that keep you in the driver’s seat. If you’re looking to enhance your own skill set, or support students in theirs, you’ll want to add this title to your collection.

In Depth
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Disclosures
Manic episodes are notoriously challenging on many levels, and getting the information you need during the initial assessment can be daunting without the skills to manage the interaction. This informative video helps demystify the techniques and attitudes necessary to bring about positive outcomes. In two consecutive, contrasting scenarios with the same patient/nurse combination, you’ll see how differences in confidence level, tone of voice, empathy level, eye contact, and directiveness can lead to marked differences in the overall clinical results.

Although these videos are designed for mental health and psychiatric nurses, the skills demonstrated apply for any mental health care worker dealing with patients with these psychiatric conditions. If you’re a therapist, counselor, psychiatric nurse, or other helping professional working with manic patients, you’ll find valuable takeaways to enhance your skills. Be sure to add this instructive video to your library today.
By watching this video, you will:
  • Understand the challenges of being with patients experiencing manic episodes.
  • Learn how novice interventions can undermine a successful assessment.
  • Identify proficient skills and follow-up interventions that support clinical outcomes.

Length of video: 00:22:53

English subtitles available

Group ISBN-10 #: 1-60124-442-8

Group ISBN-13 #: 978-1-60124-442-0

Brad Hagen, PhD, RN, is a registered nurse, a registered psychologist, and an associate professor in the faculty of health sciences, at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, where he teaches in the nursing and addictions counseling programs. Hagen's main research and teaching interests include the broad areas of mental health, gerontology, long-term care, psychotropic drug use, and how to bring critical social theory and/or feminist approaches to these topics.

See all Brad Hagen videos.

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