Reference no: EM133617816

Assignment

Background

Mrs. Maria Perez is a 53-year-old Puerto Rican female who presents today due to a rather "embarrassing problem."

Subjective

Mrs. Perez admits that she has had "problems" with alcohol since her father died in her late teens. She reports that she has struggled with alcohol since her 20's and has been involved with Alcoholics Anonymous "on and off" for the past 25 years. She states that for the past 2 years, she has been having more and more difficulty maintaining her sobriety since the opening of the new "Rising Sun" casino near her home. Mrs. Perez states that she and a friend went to visit the new casino during its grand opening at which point she was "hooked." She states that she gets "such a high" when she is gambling. While gambling, she "enjoys a drink or two" to help calm her during high-stakes games. She states that this often gives way to more drinking and more reckless gambling. She also reports that her cigarette smoking has increased over the past 2 years and she is concerned about the negative effects of the cigarette smoking on her health.

She states that she attempts to abstain from drinking but she gets such a "high" from the act of gambling that she needs a few drinks to "even out." She also notices that when she drinks, she doesn't smoke "as much," but she enjoys smoking when she is playing at the slot machines. She also reports that she has gained weight from drinking so much. She currently weights 122 lbs., which represents a 7 lb. weight gain from her usual 115 lb. weight.

Mrs. Perez is quite concerned today because she borrowed over $50,000 from her retirement account to pay off her gambling debts, and her husband does not know.

Mental Status Exam

The client is a 53-year-old Puerto Rican female who is alert and oriented to person, place, time, and event. She is dressed appropriately for the weather and time of year. Her speech is clear, coherent, and goal directed. Her eye contact is somewhat avoidant during the clinical interview. When you make eye contact with her, she looks away or looks down. She demonstrates no noteworthy mannerisms, gestures, or tics. Her self-reported mood is "sad." Affect is appropriate to content of conversation and self-reported mood. She denies visual or auditory hallucinations, and no delusional or paranoid thought processes are readily appreciated. Insight and judgment are grossly intact; however, impulse control is impaired. She is currently denying suicidal or homicidal ideation.

Diagnosis: Gambling disorder, alcohol use disorder

Be sure to include the specific patient factors that may impact your decision making when prescribing medication for this patient.

Decision Point

Add on Chantix (varenicline) 1 mg orally BID

Results of Decision Point

1. Client returns to clinic in four weeks
2. Client reports that she had to stop taking Chantix secondary to abnormal dreams and agitation
3. She also reports that she felt nauseous and vomited several times after she began taking the drug

Task

Question A. Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources.

Question B. Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise ( Add on Valium (diazepam) 5 mg orally TID/PRN/anxiety & Refer to a counselor to address gambling issues )? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources

Question C. What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision?

Question D. Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.