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A nurse is readmitting a client with a co-occurring diagnoses of schizophrenia and alcohol abuse who has relapsed. The client says, 'I?m just a failure. I?ll never be anything but just a drunk.' Which response by the nurse would be most appropriate?
- A. Relapse is a normal part of recovery; you can learn from this experience so it will be easier to avoid it or a similar one in the future.
- B. Face it, you will always be an alcoholic, and relapse is inevitable because it is part of the illness.
- C. If you didn?t have disturbed thoughts from your schizophrenia, you wouldn?t be tempted to drink.
- D. Please clarify something for me. When you say, ?just a drunk,? what exactly are you trying to say?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Stating that relapse is a normal part of recovery (A) is therapeutic, offering hope and framing the relapse as a learning opportunity. Option B is defeatist, option C oversimplifies the relationship between disorders, and option D avoids addressing the client?s feelings directly.
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A nurse is teaching a group of hospitalized clients who have co-occurring disorders involving cognitive disorders and alcoholism about the relapse cycle. Which statement would the nurse most likely include during this teaching session?
- A. After you are discharged, there is a tendency to use alcohol rather than your prescribed medications to self-medicate your psychiatric symptoms. This allows your psychiatric symptoms to surface again, and they, in turn, lead to rehospitalization. Your symptoms are again controlled with medications until you are discharged, and the cycle starts all over again.
- B. Your alcoholism causes you to hallucinate, and you need to take prescribed medications to control the hallucinations. When you try to stop drinking and stay abstinent, your hallucinations disappear; consequently, you stop taking your prescribed medications because they?re gone. Then you celebrate with alcohol, and this triggers a relapse; the alcoholism causes hallucinations, and the whole thing starts over again.
- C. Your dependence on alcohol and your psychiatric illness are unrelated. Experiencing disturbing thoughts does not cause alcoholism, and alcoholism does not cause your disturbing thoughts. It all boils down to medication compliance.
- D. The cycle is triggered by repeated attempts to stop drinking. Without the levels of alcohol your system has come to tolerate, you begin to develop psychiatric symptoms. Then you have to be hospitalized and treated for your psychosis again. Everything is fine until the next time you try to stop drinking, and then the cycle repeats itself.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Option A accurately describes the relapse cycle in co-occurring disorders, where clients use alcohol to self-medicate psychiatric symptoms, leading to symptom recurrence, rehospitalization, and repeated cycles due to medication non-adherence. Option B incorrectly ties alcoholism directly to hallucinations, option C oversimplifies the relationship, and option D misattributes psychiatric symptoms to alcohol withdrawal.
A nurse is working with a client with depression and substance abuse on ways to promote recovery. Which of the following would be most important for the nurse to include? Select all that apply.
- A. A positive social network
- B. Compliance to treatment
- C. Avoidance of hospitalization
- D. Supportive housing
- E. Community vocational rehabilitation
Correct Answer: A,B,D,E
Rationale: A positive social network (A), treatment compliance (B), supportive housing (D), and vocational rehabilitation (E) promote recovery by addressing social, medical, and practical needs. Avoiding hospitalization (C) is not a goal, as it may be necessary for stabilization.
The parents of a client with schizophrenia who also abuses alcohol asks the nurse, 'What can we do to help our son from relapsing after he is discharged from the hospital?' Which response by the nurse would be most appropriate?
- A. There?s really not much you can do; your son is responsible for maintaining his own sobriety.
- B. Avoid letting him take any mood-altering chemicals because they may trigger his delusional thinking.
- C. Make sure he goes to at least two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week, gets a sponsor, and calls his sponsor on a daily basis.
- D. Report any side effects he develops so they can be treated and therefore won?t tempt him to stop taking his prescribed medications.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Reporting side effects (D) helps ensure medication adherence, a key factor in preventing relapse in schizophrenia and alcohol abuse, as side effects often lead to discontinuation. Option A dismisses family involvement, option B is overly restrictive, and option C is specific to AA but less critical than medication management.
A client with co-occurring disorders of schizophrenia and substance abuse is admitted for treatment. Which of the following would the nurse be least likely to identify as a priority for this client?
- A. Assessment
- B. Group therapy
- C. Control of psychiatric symptoms
- D. Treatment of withdrawal symptoms
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Group therapy (B) is least likely to be a priority during acute admission, as assessment (A), controlling psychiatric symptoms (C), and treating withdrawal symptoms (D) address immediate safety and stabilization needs.
The nurse is planning a presentation for a group of mental health care providers on the topic of co-occurring disorders. The nurse plans to include information about health care providers and their response to these clients. Which of the following would the nurse include as a major reason for these clients being often underserved and undertreated?
- A. Providers often focus treatment on the 12-step programs for substance abuse treatment.
- B. They commonly underdiagnose personality disorders in those who take illicit substances.
- C. Providers commonly ignore the existence of concurrent mental health disorders.
- D. They have difficulty determining which problem is in most immediate need.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Providers often ignore concurrent mental health disorders (C), focusing solely on substance abuse, which leads to undertreatment of co-occurring disorders. Option A is less accurate, as 12-step programs are not the primary focus of providers. Option B is specific to personality disorders, not the broader issue. Option D is a challenge but not the primary reason.