Dual Diagnosis Nursing

Book excerpt: The increasing number of individuals with co-existing substance misuse and psychiatric disorders presents a key challenge to mental health and addiction nurses. This practice-based text focuses on the management and intervention strategies to effectively meet the needs of this client group in both community and residential settings. Dual Diagnosis Nursing is a comprehensive text for practitioners on contemporary approaches to working with dual disorder and dual diagnosis patients. It explores both clinical and theoretical perspectives in a variety of different care and treatment settings, addressing key issues such as needs of special populations, multi-dimensional assessment, dealing with emergencies, prescribing and medication management, nursing and psychological interventions, spiritual needs, carers’ interventions and professional development.