A social worker
Social workers are involved in activities that are geared towards helping people who have different problems. They work with members of other professions. These include physicians, nurses, teachers, counselors, and police officers, among others.
Social workers help people with various problems with the aim of enabling them to live comfortable lives. These people include mentally ill persons, old people, persons suffering drug and alcohol abuse, children, entire families and homeless people, among others. Social workers work in schools, universities, private institutions, hospitals, charities and criminal justice services.
The patient and how he will be helped and protected upon discharge from the hospital
The patient has a mental health problem, among other health problems. The other health problems include type 2 diabetes, transient ischemic attacks, Clostridium difficult and incontinence of feces. He does not have a family. My aim in helping the patient will be to protect him since he has no family. I will work with other professionals, for example, nurses, physicians and counsellors, to protect and help the patient. There are acts that protect persons with a mental health problems in the United Kingdom. One of the acts is Mental Capacity Act. It aims at empowering and protecting persons with mental health problems who are not able to make their own sound decisions. The act is clear on persons who can make decisions on behalf of the mentally ill persons. The Mental Health Act is the other act that protects persons with mental health problems in the United Kingdom. The act clearly defines mental disorders and safeguards patients’ treatment and mental health care. Violation of the acts that seek to protect persons with mental health problems leads to criminal prosecution.
I will assess the patient upon discharge to know his short-term needs. These needs might be counseling so that the patient can understand and appreciate his current situation. I will also assess his mid-term and long-term needs. These needs might be proper housing and a good diet. The housing should be good and safe so that the patient can be comfortable. In addition, his diet should be balanced and consider his diabetic condition. This will ensure that he lives long.
Specialist nursing
Four specialist nurses will be offering nursing care to the patient. Health visiting nurse will be crucial in visiting and assessing the needs of the patient at home. The second specialist of nurse will be infection control nurse who will be involved in controlling infections in the patient. The nurse will be visiting the patient regularly as scheduled to check for any symptoms of infections. Infections will be treated as required, depending on their microbial cause. The third type of nurse who will be essential in monitoring the patient is mental health or psychiatric nurse. The nurse will assess the patient in terms of psychotherapy functioning. Since neighbours have said that the patient is sometimes ashamed of his smelly situation, it will be essential to be counselled by the psychiatric nurse. The nurse will be assessing and recommending the appropriate steps to be taken by other members of the multidisciplinary team. The fourth nursing specialist will be a public health nurse. The nurse will be assessing public health issues that might contribute to disease. Apart from the public health matters, the nurse will also be assessing environmental factors that contribute to disease. This is crucial because the environment is a significant source of human diseases.