Academic Skills of Nursing

ADIJAH INUSAH AFOLABI 18B 1803751 LUTON CAMPUS NURO18Account of Literature Search HOW DOES EXERCISE AND DIET AFFECT MENTAL HEALTH?A Literature search is a well-planned process and starts with the formulation of the research question (Parahood, 2014). Followed by the decision on which libraries and databases to search for literature relevant to the question (Winchester & Salji, 2016). The main aim of a literature search is allows one to access all published information relevant to the question. ‘How does exercise and diet affect mental health?’ is the chosen question for this literature search .For this literature search, the sources were limited to journals, books and government documents published after 2010. This topic chosen is on mental health which is of considerable interest considering that 1 in 6 people suffer from some form of mental illness at some point. The importance of diet and nutrition on mental health cannot be overemphasized since most metal health practitioners have yet to appreciate the importance of therapeutic lifestyle changes in the treatment of mental health disorders (WHO, 2013). To search for books, journals and other literature relevant to this topic, the library at the University of Bedfordshire, Google Scholar, nursing database, Discover, and the internet were used. To refine the search, Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT were used. According to Bowling (2014) with these operators, one can combine keywords and refine the search further. The key words used in this case were ‘mental health’, ‘diet’, ‘nutrition’ ‘therapy’ and ‘adolescents’. The words ‘journal’ and ‘book’ were also added to reduce the searches to books and peer-reviewed journals and included research in the UK and excluded research outside UK.Some of the literature found targets individuals, policy makers, and mental health practitioners in an attempt to increase awareness on how poor nutrition choices can lead to poor mental health. In a policy briefing (Mental Health Foundation, 2017), details of how diet choices are linked to mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia and Dementia are provided. Qualitative research is primarily fact –finding investigation to gain considerate understanding of the subject matter while quantitative research is the type of research used to quantify the situation by mode of creating statistical data (Creswell, 2010).Both method are appropriate method for conducting research.To refine the search further, only articles and books written in English were selected and to ensure the material was relevant to the research question, a perusal of the abstract section was done for all journals obtained using the key words and the search criteria (Chatburn, 2011). The abstract gives a preview of the study and eliminates the need of reading the whole article before selecting it for reference. To ensure authenticity, only peer-reviewed journals, government publications and books were selected, with emphasis given to the more recent articles between 2010 and now (Paltridge 2017). Once the nursing topic and the key words were obtained, it was easier to pick the literature most relevant to the study and confidence in the literature and its authenticity developed. One can use the same insights to settle on a research topic for a dissertation and obtain relevant literature. In conclusion, this account of literature search resulted in the retrieval of several peer-reviewed articles, government reports and books on the influence of diet and nutrition on mental health. I was finding it difficult to choose my nursing topic but self-confidence for literature research have been developed. REFERENCE LISTSBowling, A. (2014) Research methods in health: investigating health and health services. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).Chatburn, R. (2011) Handbook for health care research. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.Creswell, JW. (2010) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2nd edn Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Mental Health Foundation (2017) Food for Thought: Mental Health and Nutrition Briefing Policy Briefing, pp.1-20.Moser, C. (2012) How Diet and Nutrition affect Mental Health. Focal Point: Young Adults, & Mental Health. Healthy Body – Healthy Mind, 26(1), pp.15-17.Paltridge, B. (2017) Learning to Do Peer Review: In the Discourse of Peer Review .Palgrave Macmillan UK.Parahoo, K. (2014) Review: Ways of assessing the economic value or impact of research: is it a step too far for nursing research? Journal of Research in Nursing.Walsh, R. (2011) Lifestyle and Mental Health. American Psychologist, 23(3), pp.579-592.Winchester, C. L. & Salji, M. (2016) Writing a literature review. Journal of Clinical Urology,9(5),308–312.(Online)available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/205141581665013 (Accessed 28/12/2018).World Health Organization (WHO) (2013) International Statistical. Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edn.Geneva: WHO.Annotated BibliographyWalsh, R. (2011) Lifestyle and Mental Health. American Psychologist, 23(3), pp.579-592.The researcher’s intention in this article was to demonstrate how health professionals underestimate the value of lifestyle on mental health. The researcher reviewed different studies that show the effects and effectiveness of therapeutic lifestyle changes. In a section of the article, he reviews previous studies on effect of nutrition and diet on mental health and provides a guideline for the nutrition of patients with mental illnesses. He also provides evidence that dietary deficiency does have a link to psychopathology, from clinical and epidemiological evidence. He demonstrated through previous epidemiological and clinical studies that the use of omega 3 fatty acid supplements can be used as therapy for several disorders, including depression. (111 words)Moser, C. (2012) How Diet and Nutrition affect Mental Health. Focal Point: Young Adults, & Mental Health. Healthy Body – Healthy Mind, 26(1), pp.15-17.The study explains a link between the dietary habits of teens and poor mental health. The study found that adolescents with a higher intake of fresh fruits and vegetables were likely to have better mental health outcomes. The article details the results of a study that found reduced progression of psychosis among high risk adolescents using fish oil supplements. The participants took two capsules of marine fish oil concentrate. The article also reviews literature linking schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, cognitive impairment and depression to vitamin D deficiency. It explains why many mental health professionals recommend intake of vitamin D supplements. (99 words)Mental Health Foundation (2017) Food for Thought: Mental Health and Nutrition Briefing Policy Briefing, pp.1-20.This was a policy briefing focused on mental health and how it is linked to diet and nutrition. The briefing details the place of diet in an integrated approach for mental health development. The briefing is intended for individuals, mental health practitioners and policy makers with an aim of improving diet choices and increasing awareness on how poor nutrition can stimulate or promote poor mental health. The briefing reviews several articles on mental disorders and their links to poor nutrition. The authors provide dietary recommendations to improve and maintain mental health and explains in detail the contribution of diet in mental health disorders such as dementia, schizophrenia, depression, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (114 words)Jacka, FN., Kremer, PJ., Berk, M., de Silva-Sanigorski, AM., Moodie, M., Leslie, ER., et al. (2011) A Prospective Study of Diet Quality and Mental Health in Adolescents.PLoSONE,6(9),e24805.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024805.The authors of this article was to demonstrate the inverse relationship between mental health and quality of diet among adolescents as this was the age at which most mental health issues begin. Without this link, it is hard to establish causal relationships between unhealthy diets and mental health disorders. The study goes further to establish how changes in the diet affect the psychological symptoms of patients. The tool used to measure depressive symptoms in this study was PedsQL. They concluded that improved diet quality led to an improvement in mental health and found that there was no evidence to support the view that poor diet choices were a result of poor mental health. (113 words)Jacka, FN., Kremer, PJ., Leslie, E., Berk, M., Patton, G., et al. (2010) Associations between diet quality and depressed mood in adolescents: results from the Healthy Neighbourhoods study, Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 44, pp. 435-442.The research train their focus to adolescents and how dietary choices affect their mental health since this age group is vulnerable to and is the age linked to the onset of most mental disorders. The study showed that diet has a greater influence on mental health than other factors such as socio-economic status and family. The study considered data from 7114 adolescents who filled the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire as a measure for depression. The results show a strong association between dietary choices and mental health. (87 words) REFERENCE LISTJacka, FN., Kremer, PJ., Leslie, E., Berk, M., Patton, G., et al. (2010) Associations between diet quality and depressed mood in adolescents: results from the Healthy Neighborhoods study, Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 44, pp. 435-442.Jacka, FN., Kremer, PJ., Berk, M., de Silva-Sanigorski, AM., Moodie, M., Leslie, ER., et al. (2011) A Prospective Study of Diet Quality and Mental Health in Adolescents. PLoSONE, 6(9), e24805.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024805.Mental Health Foundation (2017) Food for Thought: Mental Health and Nutrition Briefing Policy Briefing, pp.1-20.Moser, C. (2012) How Diet and Nutrition affect Mental Health. Focal Point: Young Adults, & Mental Health. Healthy Body – Healthy Mind, 26(1), pp.15-17.Walsh, R. (2011) Lifestyle and Mental Health. American Psychologist, 23(3), pp.579-592.REFLECTION ACCOUNTGibbs reflective cycle is a popular model for helping people to learn from their experiences. I chose the model due to its emphasis on reflection at all times since one is always thinking Gibbs (1998, cited in Dye, 2011). All information that could lead to a breach of confidentiality has been concealed in the reflection. The patient is referred as patient X, currently admitted in a mental health hospital. The aim of the reflection is to use it to provide lessons on the need for more holistic approach in the treatment of mental illnesses (Department of Health, 2011).Description; I am currently at a nursing pre placement practice at a psychiatric ward. I treat patients with mental illnesses such as dementia but also have to manage other medical problems among the same patients, such as diabetes, and COPD. Just after my shift started, I met patient X, on his way to the cafeteria. I had known him for three weeks. He clutched on his throat and seemed to be out of breath, I panicked and stood there for some time before nurse Y, who was passing by, held him and led him to a bed and gave him an inhaler due to his asthma. According to Asthma UK (2015) 33% of mental health patient also have asthma.Feelings; I felt extremely scared at the time as I had not expected to see patient X losing his breath in the manner that he did and also felt bad that it took the quick action of nurse Y to help him yet I was with patient X the whole time. After reading his care plan, I found out that he had COPD. I felt guilty for having focused on his mental health condition. Patient with mental health illness also developed other form of illness, for example dementia patient are also diabetic (Diabetes UK, 2012). Evaluation; After the nurse had given patient X his inhaler, she was mad at me for not reacting fast enough and watching the patient as he struggled for breath. I realized I had been going about my placement the wrong way and was not giving the patients holistic care (NMC, 2011). Analysis; I realized I was only paying attention to the mental health details of patients. I did not conduct a head-to-toe check of the patient as my approach then was focused more on treating the mental health. A thorough check on his records would have had me better prepared. Assessment are carry out due to various reason (Wrycraft, 2015).Conclusion; In retrospect, I should have been better prepared for the incident by taking keen interest on all details on the patients’ medical records. After the incident, I learned that the care of the patients in the psychiatric ward was incomplete if I did not do a head-to-toe check of the patient. A mental health contributed to or was accompanied by other illnesses that were exacerbated by their mental condition (Lawrence-Wilkes, et al., 2014).Action plan; In future, I will always conduct a quick check on all patients and try to learn as much as possible about their medical history and checks on every patient to be sure I do not miss anything in order to provide more holistic care for them and improve my communication skill.REFERENCE LISTSAsthma UK (2015) Knowledge Bank Treatment and medicines (Online) available at: https://www.asthma .org.uk/knowledge –treatment-and –medicines (Accessed on 26/12/2018).Department of Health (2011) No Health without Mental Health: Outcomes Strategy for people of all age’s .London; Department of Health.Diabetes UK (2012) Diagnosis and prevention: New Diagnostic criteria for Diabetes, (Online) available at: https://www. Diabetes .org.uk/about –us/ Accessed on 18/12/2018).Dye, V. (2011) ‘Reflection, Reflection, Reflection: I’m thinking all the time, why do I need a theory or model of reflection? Developing Reflective Practice: A guide for beginning teachers.Lawrence-Wilkes, L., and Ashmore, L. (2014) The Reflective Practitioner in Professional Education, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2011) Quality Assurance Handbook. London: NMC.World Health Organization (WHO) (2013) Mental Health: The Bare Facts, Online available at https: //www. WHO.int/mental-health/en/Accessed on 25/12/2018).Wrycraft, N. (2015) Assessment and care planning in Mental Health Nursing .Maidenhead: Open University Press.