A Young Girl With Difficulty In School. – 2025
Assignment: Practicum: Decision Tree
For this Assignment, you examine the client case study in this week’s Learning Resources ( follow the media link below) Consider how you might assess and treat pediatric clients presenting with symptoms noted in the case.
Students will:
· Evaluate clients for treatment of mental health disorders
· Analyze decisions made throughout diagnosis and treatment of clients with mental health disorders
The Assignment:
Examine Case 1. You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the diagnosis and treatment for this client. Be sure to consider co-morbid physical as well as mental factors that might impact the client’s diagnosis and treatment.
At each Decision Point, stop to complete the following:
· Decision #1: Differential Diagnosis
o Which Decision did you select?
o Why did you select this Decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
o What were you hoping to achieve by making this Decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
o Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #1 and the results of the Decision. Why were they different?
· Decision #2: Treatment Plan for Psychotherapy
o Why did you select this Decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
o What were you hoping to achieve by making this Decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
o Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #2 and the results of the Decision. Why were they different?
· Decision #3: Treatment Plan for Psychopharmacology
o Why did you select this Decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
o What were you hoping to achieve by making this Decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
o Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #3 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
· Also include how ethical considerations might impact your treatment plan and communication with clients and their families.
Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of three academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement.
Required Readings ( Need 3 references)
American Nurses Association. (2014). Psychiatric-mental health nursing: Scope and standards of practice (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
- Standard 5E “Pharmacological, Biological and Integrative Therapies” (page 59)
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
- “Neurodevelopmental Disorders”
o “Intellectual Disabilities”
o “Communication Disorders”
- “Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders”
Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
- Chapter 3, “Contributions of the Sociocultural Sciences” (pp. 131–150)
- Chapter 31, “Child Psychiatry” (pp. 1152–1181, 1244–1253)
Stahl, S. M. (2014). Prescriber’s Guide: Stahl’s Essential Psychopharmacology (5th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Note: All Stahl resources can be accessed through the Walden Library using the link. This link will take you to a login page for the Walden Library. Once you log in to the library, the Stahl website will appear.
To access information on the following medications, click on The Prescriber’s Guide, 5th Ed. tab on the Stahl Online website and select the appropriate medication.
Volkmar, F., Siegel, M., Woodbury-Smith, M., King, B., McCracken, J., & State, M. (2014). Practice parameter for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(2), 237–257. Retrieved from http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(13)00819-8/pdf
Required Media
Laureate Education (Producer). (2017b). A young girl with difficulties in school [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
