Which type of delusion would the nurse chart about a client who says ive figured out how foreign

In this guide are nursing care plans for schizophrenia including six nursing diagnosis. Nursing care plan goals for schizophrenia involves recognizing schizophrenia, establishing trust and rapport, maximizing the level of functioning, assessing positive and negative symptoms, assessing medical history and evaluating support system.

Schizophrenia refers to a group of severe, disabling psychiatric disorders marked by withdrawal from reality, illogical thinking, possible delusions and hallucinations, and emotional, behavioral, or intellectual disturbance.

The most common early warning signs of schizophrenia are usually detected until adolescence. These include depression, social withdrawal, unable to concentrate, hostility or suspiciousness, poor expressions of emotions, insomnia, lack of personal hygiene, or odd beliefs.

Here are six (6) nursing diagnosis for schizophrenia that you can use for your nursing care plan (NCP):

  1. Impaired Verbal Communication
  2. Impaired Social Interaction
  3. Disturbed Sensory Perception: Auditory/Visual
  4. Disturbed Thought Process
  5. Defensive Coping
  6. Interrupted Family Process

1. Impaired Verbal Communication

Impaired Verbal Communication

Impaired verbal communication as a nursing diagnosis for schizophrenia. The patient’s speech content and patterns are being assessed because they usually exhibit poor communication function.

Nursing Diagnosis

  • Impaired Verbal Communication

Here are the common related factors for impaired verbal communication that can be as your “related to” in your schizophrenia nursing diagnosis statement:

  • Altered Perceptions.
  • Biochemical alterations in the brain of certain neurotransmitters.
  • Psychological barriers (lack of stimuli).
  • Side effects of medication.

Defining Characteristics

The commonly used subjective and objective data or nursing assessment cues (signs and symptoms) that could serve as your “as evidenced by” for this care plan:

  • Difficulty communicating thoughts verbally.
  • Difficulty in discerning and maintaining the usual communication pattern.
  • Disturbances in cognitive associations (e.g., perseveration, derailment, poverty of speech, tangentiality, illogicality, neologism, and thought blocking).
  • Inappropriate verbalization.

Desired Outcomes

Expected outcomes or patient goals for impaired verbal communication nursing diagnosis:

  • Patient will express thoughts and feelings in a coherent, logical, goal-directed manner.
  • Patient will demonstrate reality-based thought processes in verbal communication.
  • Patient will spend time with one or two other people in structured activity neutral topics.
  • Patient will spend two to three 5-minute sessions with nurse sharing observations in the environment within 3 days.
  • Patient will be able to communicate in a manner that can be understood by others with the help of medication and attentive listening by the time of discharge.
  • Patient will learn one or two diversionary tactics that work for him/her to decrease anxiety, hence improving the ability to think clearly and speak more logically.

Nursing Interventions and Rationale

In this section are the nursing actions or interventions and their rationale or scientific explanation for impaired verbal communication (nursing diagnosis for schizophrenia):

Nursing InterventionsRationale
Assess if incoherence in speech is chronic or if it is more sudden, as in an exacerbation of symptoms. Establishing a baseline facilitates the establishment of realistic goals, the foundation for planning effective care.
Identify the duration of the psychotic medication of the client. Therapeutic levels of an antipsychotic aids clear thinking and diminishes derailment or looseness of association.
Keep voice in a low manner and speak slowly as much as possible. A high-pitched/loud tone of voice can elevate anxiety levels while slow speaking aids understanding.
Keep environment calm, quiet and as free of stimuli as possible. Keep anxiety from escalating and increasing confusion and hallucinations/delusions.
Plan short, frequent periods with a client throughout the day. Short periods are less stressful, and periodic meetings give a client a chance to develop familiarity and safety.
Use clear or simple words, and keep directions simple as well. Client might have difficulty processing even simple sentences.
Use simple, concrete, and literal explanations. Minimizes misunderstanding and/or incorporating those misunderstandings into delusional systems.
Focus on and direct client’s attention to concrete things in the environment. Helps draw focus away from delusions and focus on reality-based things.
Look for themes in what is said, even though spoken words appear incoherent (e.g., fearful, sadness, guilt). Often client’s choice of words is symbolic of feelings.
When you do not understand a client, let him/her know you are having difficulty understanding. Pretending to understand limits your credibility in the eyes of your client and lessens the potential for trust.
When client is ready, introduce strategies that can minimize anxiety and lower voices and “worrying” thoughts, teach client to do the following:
  • Focus on meaningful activities.
  • Learn to replace negative thoughts with constructive thoughts.
  •  Learn to replace irrational thoughts with rational statements.
  • Perform deep breathing exercise.
  • Read aloud to self.
  • Seek support from a staff, family, or other supportive people.
  • Use a calming visualization or listen to music.
Helping the client to use tactics to lower anxiety can help enhance functional speech.
Use therapeutic techniques (clarifying feelings when speech and thoughts are disorganized) to try to understand client’s concerns. Even if the words are hard to understand, try getting to the feelings behind them.

1. Impaired Verbal Communication

Recommended nursing diagnosis and nursing care plan books and resources.

Disclosure: Included below are affiliate links from Amazon at no additional cost from you. We may earn a small commission from your purchase. For more information, check out our privacy policy.

  • Nursing Care Plans: Nursing Diagnosis and Intervention (10th Edition)
    An awesome book to help you create and customize effective nursing care plans. We highly recommend this book for its completeness and ease of use.
  • Nurse’s Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Prioritized Interventions and Rationales
    A quick-reference tool to easily select the appropriate nursing diagnosis to plan your patient’s care effectively.
  • NANDA International Nursing Diagnoses: Definitions & Classification, 2021-2023 (12th Edition)
    The official and definitive guide to nursing diagnoses as reviewed and approved by the NANDA-I. This book focuses on the nursing diagnostic labels, their defining characteristics, and risk factors – this does not include nursing interventions and rationales.
  • Nursing Diagnosis Handbook, 12th Edition Revised Reprint with 2021-2023 NANDA-I® Updates
    Another great nursing care plan resource that is updated to include the recent NANDA-I updates.
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5(TM))
    Useful for creating nursing care plans related to mental health and psychiatric nursing.
  • Ulrich & Canale’s Nursing Care Planning Guides, 8th Edition
    Claims to have the most in-depth care plans of any nursing care planning book. Includes 31 detailed nursing diagnosis care plans and 63 disease/disorder care plans.
  • Maternal Newborn Nursing Care Plans (3rd Edition)
    If you’re looking for specific care plans related to maternal and newborn nursing care, this book is for you.
  • Nursing Diagnosis Manual: Planning, Individualizing, and Documenting Client Care (7th Edition)
    An easy-to-use nursing care plan book that is updated with the latest diagnosis from NANDA-I 2021-2023.
  • All-in-One Nursing Care Planning Resource: Medical-Surgical, Pediatric, Maternity, and Psychiatric-Mental Health (5th Edition)
    Definitely an all-in-one resources for nursing care planning. It has over 100 care plans for different nursing topics.

See also

Other recommended site resources for this nursing care plan:

  • Nursing Care Plans (NCP): Ultimate Guide and Database MUST READ!
    Over 150+ nursing care plans for different diseases and conditions. Includes our easy-to-follow guide on how to create nursing care plans from scratch.
  • Nursing Diagnosis Guide and List: All You Need to Know to Master Diagnosing
    Our comprehensive guide on how to create and write diagnostic labels. Includes detailed nursing care plan guides for common nursing diagnostic labels.

Other care plans for mental health and psychiatric nursing:

  • Alcohol Withdrawal | 5 Care Plans
  • Anxiety and Panic Disorders | 7 Care Plans
  • Bipolar Disorders | 6 Care Plans
  • Major Depression | 9 Care Plans
  • Personality Disorders | 4 Care Plans
  • Schizophrenia | 6 Care Plans
  • Sexual Assault | 1 Care Plan
  • Substance Dependence and Abuse | 8 Care Plans
  • Suicide Behaviors | 3 Care Plans

References and Sources

Here are references and sources for schizophrenia:

  • Bartels, S. J., Mueser, K. T., & Miles, K. M. (1997). A comparative study of elderly patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in nursing homes and the community. Schizophrenia Research, 27(2-3), 181-190. [Link]

Paul Martin is a registered nurse with a bachelor of science in nursing since 2007. Having worked as a medical-surgical nurse for five years, he handled different kinds of patients and learned how to provide individualized care to them. Now, his experiences working in the hospital is carried over to his writings to help aspiring students achieve their goals. He is currently working as a nursing instructor and have a particular interest in nursing management, emergency care, critical care, infection control, and public health. As a writer at Nurseslabs, his goal is to impart his clinical knowledge and skills to students and nurses helping them become the best version of themselves and ultimately make an impact in uplifting the nursing profession.

Which speech pattern is a disturbed client displaying when she or he starts to repeat phrases that others have just said?

Echolalia: speech that repeats whatever someone else is saying.

What factor would precipitate a client's use of confabulation?

Confabulation can be precipitated by internal factors (e.g., cognitive deficits) or external factors (e.g., repeated questioning or negative feedback in stressful situations).

Which term describes a client who states that she no longer enjoys any of the activities that she once found fun and pleasurable?

Anhedonia describes the feeling of decreased capacity to experience pleasure, where activities that an individual once found pleasurable is no longer as pleasurable as before (Agrawal et al., 2012; Rubin, 2012; Shomaker et al., 2012).

Which behavior is characteristic of panic during a crisis?

Fear and worry are the two chief characteristics of panic disorder. Even with the absence of actual danger, affected individuals undergo physical reactions, such as nausea, heavy breathing and shaking, as if some sort of threat is imminent.