Your patient is showing signs of a change in their mental health. As a patient's nursing assistant, what would the best course of action for you to take be?

You must immediately report if you notice a change in your patient’s mental state. A more serious situation could arise unless you report these subtle or even overt changes.  This kind of situation could be prevented if the nursing assistant is more aware of the changes in their patients’ behaviors.  Your patient may not notice a change in their own behavior or they may not admit to any changes, so asking him or her would not be a wise decision.  Increasing your level of patience or using your sense of humor, can of course assist in the adjustment to change that your patients have to face, but these should never be a substitution for reporting mental health condition situations.  Always report to your supervisors, anything that a patient does which deviates from normal behavior.