NRNP 6635 Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
NRNP 6635 Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
NRNP 6635 Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
Many individuals seeking treatment meet the criteria for both mental health and substance-related disorders. Regardless of whether you specialize in substance-related disorders, all advanced practice nurses should know their signs and symptoms and how to assess and diagnose them. There are assessment and screening tools available to clinicians, and a plethora of information can be obtained through the diagnostic interview. It takes time and experience to know what types of questions to ask to gain the most information, in addition to a basic knowledge of the substances and behaviors you are trying to assess. It can be complicated to sort out substance use disorders from other mental health disorders, but most clients seeking treatment have comorbidities.
This week, you apply DSM-5 substance use and addictive criteria as you formulate a diagnosis for a patient in a case study.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Apply concepts, theories, and principles related to patient interviewing, diagnostic reasoning, and recording patient information
- Formulate differential diagnoses using DSM-5 criteria for patients with substance-related and addictive disorders across the lifespan
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2015). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry (11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
- Chapter 20, Substance Use and Addictive Disorders
- Chapter 31.16, Adolescent Substance Abuse
Document: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Template
Document: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Exemplar
Required Media (click to expand/reduce)
Classroom Productions. (Producer). (2016). Addictive disorders [Video]. Walden University.
Video Case Selections for Assignment (click to expand/reduce)
Select one of the following videos to use for your Assignment this week. Then, access the document “Case History Reports” and review the additional data about the patient in the specific video number you selected.
Document: Case History Reports
Assignment: Assessing and Diagnosing Patients With Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
An important consideration when working with patients is their cultural background. Understanding an individual’s culture and personal experiences provides insight into who the person is and where he or she may progress in the future. Culture helps to establish a sense of identity, as well as to set values, behaviors, and purpose for individuals within a society. Culture may also contribute to a divide between specific interpretations of cultural behavior and societal norms. What one culture may deem as appropriate another culture may find inappropriate. As a result, it is important for advanced practice nurses to remain aware of cultural considerations and interpretations of behavior for diagnosis, especially with reference to substance-related disorders. At the same time, PMHNPs must balance their professional and legal responsibilities for assessment and diagnosis with such cultural considerations and interpretations.
For this Assignment, you will practice assessing and diagnosing a patient in a case study who is experiencing a substance-related or addictive disorder. With this and all cases, remember to consider the patient’s cultural background.
To Prepare:
- Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider the insights they provide.
- Review the Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation template, which you will use to complete this Assignment.
- By Day 1 of this week, select a specific video case study to use for this Assignment from the Video Case Selections choices in the Learning Resources. View your assigned video case and review the additional data for the case in the “Case History Reports” document, keeping the requirements of the evaluation template in mind.
- Consider what history would be necessary to collect from this patient.
- Consider what interview questions you would need to ask this patient.
- Identify at least three possible differential diagnoses for the patient.
By Day 7 of Week 8
Complete and submit your Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation, including your differential diagnosis and critical-thinking process to formulate primary diagnosis.
Incorporate the following into your responses in the template:
- Subjective: What details did the patient provide regarding their chief complaint and symptomology to derive your differential diagnosis? What is the duration and severity of their symptoms? How are their symptoms impacting their functioning in life?
- Objective: What observations did you make during the psychiatric assessment?
- Assessment: Discuss the patient’s mental status examination results. What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses with supporting evidence, listed in order from highest priority to lowest priority. Compare the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for each differential diagnosis and explain what DSM-5 criteria rules out the differential diagnosis to find an accurate diagnosis. Explain the critical-thinking process that led you to the primary diagnosis you selected. Include pertinent positives and pertinent negatives for the specific patient case.
- Reflection notes: What would you do differently with this client if you could conduct the session over? Also include in your reflection a discussion related to legal/ethical considerations (demonstrate critical thinking beyond confidentiality and consent for treatment!), health promotion and disease prevention taking into consideration patient factors (such as age, ethnic group, etc.), PMH, and other risk factors (e.g., socioeconomic, cultural background, etc.).
Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:
- Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK8Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
- Click the Week 8 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
- Click the Week 8 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
- Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK8Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
- If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
- Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:
Week 8 Assignment Rubric
Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity
To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:
Submit your Week 8 Assignment draft and review the originality report.
Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 8
To participate in this Assignment:
Week 8 Assignment
What’s Coming Up in Week 9?
Photo Credit: [BrianAJackson]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images
In Week 9, you will continue to practice your assessment and diagnostic reasoning skills, focusing next week on personality and paraphilic disorders.
Next Week