Leadership, Collaboration, Communication, Change Management, and Policy Considerations for Treatment and Control of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) NURS-FPX4900 - Capstone
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2 Leadership, Collaboration, Communication, Change Management, And Policy Considerations for Treatment and Control of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Having effective leadership is vital in the treatment and provision of personalized care services for people with chronic mental issues such as generalized anxiety disorder. In this report, the patient that will be the target and center of discussion during the practicum hours is 39 39-year-old married woman, mother of two children of Caucasian origin, and diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder (Ree, 2020). Based on a selected patient, I may also add that the type of leadership to embrace while working with this patient is transformational and democratic leadership, together with Lewin change theory, which is a three-phase change management process that will be employed to encourage the patient to actively participate in deciding on their care and treatment for her condition (Ree, 2020). By employing open communication, intent listening, professional' interaction approaches with the patient, and the back method, it will be easy to encourage the patient to collaborate in designing a treatment plan that best suits the religious, cultural, and health needs. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD as a Population Health Problem Relevant to Nursing Practice According to the World Health Organization, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, abbreviated as GAD, is defined as a severe mental health issue affecting how one body functions by increasing worries and unexplained constant nervousness about everyday life issues. Note that generalized anxiety disorder can affect any person regardless of age, but it is more pronounced in adults aged above 25 years. This condition is essential to the affected population and nursing practice because, if untreated, it may lead to other serious health issues such as depression, insomnia, suicide potential, issues of inability to perform well in school or at work, increased
3 gastrointestinal problems, impaired quality of life and engagement in unwanted behaviors such as alcoholism and drug abuse (Ree, 2020). Majorly this condition is essential in nursing practice and vulnerable populations because it provides nurses and affected populations with the opportunity to learn significant triggers associated with anxiety and various approaches, such as nonpharmacological and pharmacological interventions, on how to manage it. Note that according to the national survey conducted by the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) on GAD prevalence among older adults, it was found that over 2.7 of United States adults have generalized anxiety disorder (Krzikalla et al., 2023). The preference and vulnerability in women are 3.4%, which is much higher than in males, which is 1.9%. Across the world, over 4.05%, around 301 million people, are living with a generalized anxiety disorder (Ree, 2020). Analyze Evidence From Peer-Reviewed Literature and Professional Sources that Describe and Guide Nursing Actions Related to Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Studies by the National Institute of Health on evidence-based nonpharmacological interventions for the treatment and management of generalized anxiety suggest that nurses dealing with patients suffering from these mental changes should be subjected to counseling sessions where they are educated about negative feelings that trigger persistent worrying and nervousness (Krzikalla et al., 2023). That entails the use of cognitive behavioral therapy, which is regarded as the gold standard for the treatment and management of generalized anxiety disorders (Butler et al., 2021). Generally, CBT is important in the treatment and management of generalized anxiety disorder since it helps mental health professionals target various aspects of GAD that influence the quality of life of the patients, such as physical symptoms, cognitive impairments, and behavioral patterns of affected patients (Butler et al., 2021). Using CBT, nurses
4 can learn, identify, recognize, and tell various challenging or unhelpful negative thoughts impacting the proper functioning of patients. This facilitates nurses to formulate management approaches by engaging families and patients in developing care plans such as practice relation techniques along with problem-solving skills aimed at eliminating negative thoughts and triggers of generalized anxiety disorder (Buelow, 2020). The essence of using CBT in GAD treatment is that it empowers affected populations to reduce anxiety symptoms and improve the quality of life of patients. Also, metacognitive therapy, together with acceptance and commitment therapy, can be used by nurses working in mental care departments to help patients with anxiety focus on accepting challenges that distress them rather than trying to eliminate them. This ensures that affected individuals are encouraged to remain committed to working towards adopting and implementing values-b