Course information
About the course
Patients with serious mental illness die 15-20 years earlier than members of the general population, and the majority of that excess mortality is secondary to physical health conditions. Rates of obesity, raised blood pressure, raised cholesterol, and diabetes are all significantly higher in psychiatric patients compared with the general population. Furthermore, some psychiatric medications have significant physical side effects.
This managing physical health in mental health settings course aims to provide psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, and care coordinators with the skills to recognise common physical health conditions in the patients they look after, and common physical side effects of psychiatric medication their patients may receive. It also aims to improve understanding of physical health investigations that a patient might undergo, and to increase awareness of when investigations are worrying, and when to call for help from a senior.
Please note this course is not for Doctors, we have a separate course for doctors.
This course will cover the following topics
- Weight gain
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Hypertension
- Hypercholesterolaemia
- Smoking and COPD
- Side effects of clozapine
- Neutropaenia
- Sepsis
- Chest pain
Learning Objectives
What you will learn from taking this course:
- Describe common physical health conditions seen in patients with serious mental illness
- Describe common physical side effects of psychiatric medications, especially clozapine
- Describe common investigations used to assess these physical health conditions
- Understand the results of these investigations, when to worry, and when to call for help
- Understand some of the common treatments given for these physical health conditions
- Understand your role in monitoring physical health conditions in psychiatric patients
Course Information
Target audience
Assistant psychologist, Clinical support worker, Health visitor, Occupational therapist, Other, Paramedic, Pharmacist, Psychotherapist, RMN
Lunch options
Lunch & Refreshments Provided