NURSPRAC 719 - Clinical Practice in Mental Health and Addictions Assessment 1 2026 | UOA

Postgraduate Diploma in Health Sciences in Mental Health Nursing

NURSPRAC 719 Assessment 1

Second Generation Antipsychotic Medications & Physical Health

• Get familiar with postgraduate academic writing requirements and use the resources available on Canvas and Modules to assist your learning.
• Plagiarism and AI cannot be used in any of your postgraduate work.
• The marking rubric for this essay is on page 17 in the Course Outline – check how to score marks for each section – scope, structure, evidence of reading and knowledge, and presentation.
• Use headings.
• Check spelling, grammar, and recovery language before submission.
• Use the Discussion Board for any questions.
• Contact your Course Coordinator for any learning support and for feedback on three draft paragraphs – we want you to succeed.

Part 1: Māori Principles

Using relevant academic literature, critically discuss how using the Māori principles of kawanatanga (governance), tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) and oritetanga (for health professionals and Māori to maintain the mana of the other) might reduce the need for nurses to administer SGA’s by coercive means. (500 words)

1 – Watch Frazer’s video about Māori principles (See Modules) and read his handout about this part of the essay. Our Reading List has sections named Assessment 1, Māori Principles, Māori Mental Health and Least Coercive Practice.

2 – Include definitions in your writing and think critically about how the Māori principles may reduce coercion when administering second-generation antipsychotics (SGA’s). Use academic literature to support your discussion.

Part 1: Clinical Examples

Critically discuss examples from your nursing practice integrating the Māori principles above. If you do not have much nursing experience at this stage, draw from the academic literature for your examples. (500 words)

1 – Ensure the confidentiality of service users, tāngata whaiora, by using a pseudonym, and do not name your place of work specifically – just say inpatient or community setting working with youth/adults/older people.

2 – Explore one or two examples from your nursing practice in detail – think about what went well, what could have been improved, and what you learned or would do differently next time. Use academic literature to support your discussion.

Part 2: Scenario – Non-pharmacological Options

Select one of the following scenarios best suited to your workplace and critically analyse one or two of the non-pharmacological options that could be implemented before medication. Use the academic nursing literature to articulate your holistic ideas for nursing practice in your chosen scenario. (500 words)

• Inpatient Nursing
• Community Nursing
• Addiction Nursing
• Child & Youth Nursing
• Older Persons Nursing

1 – Our Reading List has a large selection of holistic articles exploring non-pharmacological interventions to introduce you to this topic and feel free to search for articles about your own individual ideas for nursing practice. You may want to discuss this with your nursing preceptor and or clinical supervisor for a wider perspective.

2 – Explore one or two options in detail – think about how the intervention could work well before medication and what the challenges could be. Use academic literature to support your discussion. Some examples for you to consider are:

• Inpatient Nursing – Whakawhanaungatanga, building the therapeutic relationship, sensory modulation, trauma-informed care, and accessing cultural or peer supports.
• Community Nursing – building the therapeutic relationship, supported decision-making, psychosocial interventions, and developing rapport with the family.
• Addiction Nursing – engagement, using a Pacific approach, harm reduction, and brief intervention.
• Child & Youth Nursing – engagement, family work, and health education interventions.
• Older Persons Nursing – building the therapeutic relationship, sensory modulation, psychosocial interventions and family work.

Part 2: Scenario – Social & Political Influences

With reference to one or two social and political influences, critically discuss the wider context of the tāngata whaiora’s experience of mental distress in your chosen scenario. (750 words)

1 – Here is your opportunity to show the marker that you understand the wider context of Shane, Nisha, Aleki, Alex or Margaret’s distress. Think about the social determinants of health and the political climate of Aotearoa in 2026 – how have these impacted or shaped their experience of mental distress?

2 – Explore one or two influences in detail. Some examples for you to consider are:

• Inpatient Nursing – being immersed in Māoritanga, the impact of colonization, structural racism, or being a tāne Māori. You may want to explore alcohol and drug use in Aotearoa, or being under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992. You could even consider the planned repeal and replace of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.
• Community Nursing – being an Indian woman or Asian mental health stigma. You may want to explore having meaning and purpose in daily living or being under a community treatment order. You could also consider the planned repeal and replace of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.
• Addiction Nursing – being a Samoan man, diagnostic overshadowing, stigma and discrimination or alcohol and drug use in Aotearoa. You may wish to explore being under a community treatment order or you could also consider the planned repeal and replace of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.
• Child & Youth Nursing – identifying as non-binary or rainbow youth discrimination, family and whānau diversity, the impact of parental addiction, the reality and pressures of being a 15-year-old growing up in Aotearoa, and or the teenage gaming or social media culture.
• Older Persons Nursing – the aged care sector, grief and loss, loneliness and social isolation, and growing rates of depression and suicidal ideation within this population.

3 – Choose a topic or topics you are passionate about and think critically about the wider influences. Use academic literature from Aotearoa to support your discussion.

Part 3: Advocating for Change – Physical Health Risks & Interventions

Critically discuss with support from the literature, what your concerns would be for the person in your chosen scenario in Part 2 when they are started on an SGA. Discuss the nursing interventions you will implement to try and mitigate any physical health risks. Use the academic nursing literature to support your actions. (750 words)

1 – Identify your concerns for the person (such as sedation, weight gain, constipation, and dry mouth) and explore a range of nursing interventions to promote physical health. The Reading List has sections called Physical Health Assessment, Medication Effects, and Metabolic Syndrome & Monitoring.

2 – Think critically about the interventions currently offered in your workplace and how these could be improved for the person in your chosen scenario.

Part 3: Advocating for Change – Nursing Role

A month after commencing the medication, the tangata whaiora approaches you, distressed about several unwanted effects they are experiencing. You decide it is the right thing to do to advocate for a change of medication, however, the senior nurse refuses to address this with the responsible clinician. Critically discuss your nursing role and responsibilities to successfully advocate for this person and use nursing academic literature to support your discussion. (500 words)

1 – Explain how you will manage this situation and include the rationale for your choices. The Reading List has sections titled Role of Mental Health Nurses and Managing Self. Again, you may want to discuss this with your nursing preceptor and or clinical supervisor for wider perspectives.

FINAL CHECKS – Check your spelling, grammar, and recovery language before you submit your work on Canvas. Have you answered each part of the assignment?

Word Count

Required Readings For Every Student

• Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry. (2018). Executive summary. https://mentalhealth.inquiry.govt.nz/inquiry-report/he-ara-oranga/executive-summary/
• Te Pou. (2020). Achieving physical health equity for people with experience of mental health and addiction issues: Evidence update. Te Pou. https://d2ew8vb2gktr0m.cloudfront.net/files/resources/Equally-Well-Evidence-Update-2020.pdf
• Te Pou. (2025). Words can heal. Te Pou. https://www.tepou.co.nz/resources/words-can-heal
• Te Pou. (2025b). Keeping it real.  Te Pou. https://www.tepou.co.nz/initiatives/keeping-it-real
• Wand, T., Glover, S. & Paul, D. (2022). What should be the future focus of mental health nursing? Exploring the perspectives of mental health nurses, consumers, and allied health staff. Int J Mental Health Nurs, 31: 179-188. https://doi.org.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/10.1111/inm.12947