The nurse’s role in the physical care of the client experiencing major depressive disorder is to provide assessment and interventions related to appropriate nutrition, fluids, sleep, exercise, and hygieme, and to provide health education.Avoid doing too much for the client, as this will only increase client’s dependence and decrease self-esteem.Assist client to learn and use problem solving and stress management skills.Observe client for distorted, negative thinking.Assess regularly for suicidal ideation or plan.Use this technique to meet outcomes relating to “no self-harm” or no suicidal ideation or plan. Priority for care is always the client’s safety.Continued assessment by monitoring client’s mental health status is critical, particularly interms of agitation and suicidal ideation.Psychopharmacologic and Somatic treatments.Group therapy – focuses on assisting clients with interpersonal communication, coping, and problem-solving skills.Family therapy – aimed at assisting the family cope with the client’s illness and supporting the client in therapeutic ways.Milieu therapy – incorporates day to day living experiences in a therapeutic environment to expect changes in perception and behavior.
Behavioral contacts – focus on specific client problems and need to help the client resolve them.Behavioral therapy – modifying behavior to assist in reducing depressive symptoms and increasing coping skills.Individual psychotherapy – long –term therapeutic approach or short term solution-oriented, may focus on in-depth exploration, specific stress situations, or problem solving.Electroconvulsive therapy. To treat severe depression.Improve treatment outcome by helping patient cope with low self-esteem and self-demoralization.Rarely used today because of high risk for adverse effects like hypertensive crisis and dangerous interactions with foods and medications. depression marked by increased appetite and sleep). May be prescribed for patients with atypical depression (e.g.