Assessing and Treating Patients With ADHD

  
Not only do children and adults have different presentations for ADHD, but males and females may also have vastly different clinical presentations. Different people may also respond to medication therapies differently. For example, some ADHD medications may cause children to experience stomach pain, while others can be highly addictive for adults. In your role, as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, you must perform careful assessments and weigh the risks and benefits of medication therapies for patients across the life span. For this Assignment, you consider how you might assess and treat patients presenting with ADHD.
To prepare for this Assignment:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the Medication      Resources indicated for this week.
Reflect on the psychopharmacologic treatments you might recommend      for the assessment and treatment of patients with ADHD.

The Assignment: 5 pages
Examine Case Study: A Young Caucasian Girl with ADHD. You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the medication to prescribe to this patient. Be sure to consider factors that might impact the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes.
At each decision point, you should evaluate all options before selecting your decision and moving throughout the exercise. Before you make your decision, make sure that you have researched each option and that you evaluate the decision that you will select. Be sure to research each option using the primary literature.
Introduction to the case (1 page)

Briefly explain and summarize the case for this Assignment. Be sure      to include the specific patient factors that may impact your decision      making when prescribing medication for this patient.

Decision #1 (1 page)

Which decision did you select?
Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your      response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources,      including the primary literature.
Why did you not select the other two options provided in the      exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant      and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support      your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources      (including the primary literature).
Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan      and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Decision #2 (1 page)

Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your      response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources,      including the primary literature.
Why did you not select the other two options provided in the      exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant      and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support      your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources      (including the primary literature).
Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan      and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Decision #3 (1 page)

Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your      response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources,      including the primary literature.
Why did you not select the other two options provided in the      exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant      and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support      your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including      the primary literature).
Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan      and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Conclusion (1 page)

Summarize your recommendations on the treatment options you      selected for this patient. Be sure to justify your recommendations and      support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific      resources, including the primary literature.

Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of five academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement. You should be utilizing the primary and secondary literature