The nurse and health education in assisting common mental disorders

Abstract

For a long time, patients with mental disorders were hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals, however, with the new knowledge of psychiatry and medicine in general, in the 1970s began psychiatric reform in the country. From the new definitions and protocols of care, the patients in psychic suffering began to receive a differentiated care that includes a multidisciplinary team, including nursing. Thus, the nurse starts to play the role of educator in the process, accompanying the patient and the family. In this context, the present research aims to understand the history of mental health as well as the role of nursing in health education for the care of the patient with common mental disorders. A bibliographic research was carried out through the selection and analysis of materials published in periodicals and internet articles to know the implications of nursing care as educator in the cases of patients with common mental disorders. We selected articles on academic websites, whose analysis supported the writing of this text. During the research it was possible to understand that it is important that the nurse also acts as a health educator in relation to assistance to patients with common mental disorders. Through the knowledge offered by the nurse, the patient with common mental disorders is no longer an individual to be institutionalized and is accepted in society as a citizen with rights and duties which is positive for their recovery.