{"id":414,"date":"2018-08-03T13:29:26","date_gmt":"2018-08-03T21:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/?p=414"},"modified":"2018-08-03T13:29:26","modified_gmt":"2018-08-03T21:29:26","slug":"irene-wojek-psych-np-completes-the-behavioral-health-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/irene-wojek-psych-np-completes-the-behavioral-health-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Irene Wojek, Psych NP, Completes the Behavioral Health Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irene Wojek, Certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, works in Eastern Plumas Health Care\u2019s (EPHC\u2019s) Behavioral Health Program. Her patients primarily are those who benefit from psychotropic medications to manage symptoms of anxiety, depression, or psychosis. A key component of her job is to make appropriate diagnoses and formulate a good treatment plan that includes medication and therapeutic support. Additionally, patients in EPHC\u2019s Program need to be under the care of an EPHC primary care provider who will recommend referral to Behavioral Health staff when necessary. Occasionally, Trish Foley, Marriage and Family Therapist, will determine that a patient she is counseling could benefit from medication support, and she\u2019ll refer him or her to see Wojek.<\/span><\/p>\n

Initial patient evaluations consist of an hour session where Wojek will assess the patient\u2019s current behavioral health needs and review all medications. \u201cThis session is designed to be comprehensive,\u201d said Wojek, \u201cand put the patient at ease.\u201d Wojek has a passion for her work and a caring attitude towards her patients. She said that her approach is to \u201cdo supportive therapy\u2026if there\u2019s a problem, let\u2019s really look at it.\u201d \u201cThere is often a conception that medication will fix the problem,\u201d she said, \u201cbut if the underlying causes aren\u2019t addressed, the patient may not make significant progress.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In certain ways, proper care of psychiatric patients, and positive self-care is an art, not a science. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot to mental health wellness,\u201d Wojek noted. She makes it a priority to educate patients on self-care. \u201cThe medications won\u2019t work if you don\u2019t take them,\u201d she said, \u201cso educating patients on the need for consistency is vital.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Also, it is sometimes a matter of trial and error to find a medication that works best for a patient, so getting patients to observe and report how they\u2019re feeling is essential. While she was employed at Ventura County Behavioral Health, Wojek said she used GeneSight, which analyzes patient DNA to help determine the patient\u2019s best medication options. This was very helpful if she\u2019d already tried two or three medications with a patient and she wasn\u2019t seeing positive results. She hopes to utilize a service like GeneSight for her EPHC patients in the future.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany patients suffer from co-morbidities, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, that can exacerbate their mental health issues,\u201d said Wojek. She sees an integrated medical and behavioral health care program like EPHC\u2019s as the way to better overall patient outcomes. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, a healthy lifestyle that incorporates a nutritionally balanced diet, proper sleep, and exercise all work in concert and can enhance mental health,\u201d said Wojek. Her commitment to overall balance and health drove Wojek to complete Loyola Marymount\u2019s program to become a Certified Yoga Therapist. “Yoga can be utilized to reduce stress, promote sleep, and increase mobility,” said Wojek. She is hopeful that, in the future, she\u2019ll be able to incorporate some of the benefits of yoga into her practice here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wojek has sixteen years of experience in the mental health field. \u201cI love what I do, and I\u2019ve done it for a long time,\u201d she said. Previously, she was a charge nurse for ten years at Del Amo Hospital, a 170 bed psychiatric hospital in Torrance, CA. \u00a0\u00a0For two years she also worked at Kedren Community Health Center in South Central L.A., which is located in an underserved community that struggles with gang violence. Most recently, she was employed at Sterling Care Psychiatric Group in Ventura County, which treats clients that suffer from a broad spectrum of mental health conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wojek hopes to make a significant contribution to EPHC’s Behavioral Health program. \u00a0She states, “I am fortunate to work with a great team of professionals who desire to serve the needs of the community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Irene Wojek, Certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, works in Eastern Plumas Health Care\u2019s (EPHC\u2019s) Behavioral Health Program. Her patients primarily are those who benefit from psychotropic medications to manage symptoms of anxiety, depression, or psychosis. A key component of her job is to make appropriate diagnoses and formulate a good treatment plan that includes medication and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions\/415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}