Task Forces Unveil Resource for Caring for Individuals with Personality Disorders

APNA’s Personality Disorders Task Forces for Clusters A, B & C introduce:

• The Essentials of Caring for People Who Are Diagnosed with Cluster A Personality Disorders
• The Essentials of Caring for People Who Are Diagnosed with Cluster B Personality Disorders
• The Essentials of Caring for People Who Are Diagnosed with Cluster C Personality Disorders

Intended in part to reduce judgement and stigma among nurses, this resources outlines the personality disorders within each cluster and explains their characteristics, symptoms and defining features. Sections describing psychopharmacological approaches to treatments and existing therapeutic treatment protocols offer guidance to enhance RNs’ and APRNs’ understanding of these complex disorders.

Nurses will find the sections on clinical pearls for each disorder especially helpful. Defined as: small bits of free standing, clinically relevant information based on experience or observation, clinical pearls serve to fill in gaps where controlled data do not exist. Synthesizing aspects of what other nurses have already encountered will assist in applying these principles into practice.

A separate portion of the resources is devoted to case studies. Multiple case studies for each cluster further illustrate what nurses can expect when encountering patients living with personality disorders. Best practice examples in the form of discussion and evaluation and management add insights for each scenario.

The three task forces were formed by the APNA Board of Directors in 2019 and were charged to create tools to assist RNs and APRNs working with individuals diagnosed with personality disorders. A briefing paper submitted to the Board by the APNA Education Council was the impetus for this undertaking.