A patient tells the nurse that he gets off of the drugs for awhile and then in a few months finds himself "hanging out in the same places" where he knows he can easily get drugs

Question

With which of the following statements should the nurse respond to this patient? 1. "This is drug-seeking behavior and is in response to a craving. What can you do instead of going to the places where you can get drugs?"
2. "This is because you are an addict and need the drugs.".
3. "This will happen for the rest of your life. There isn't anything that you can do to change it.".
4. "Have you considered using a less addictive type of drug instead of the same kind that you used to use?"

Answer 1

"This is drug-seeking behavior and is in response to a craving. What can you do instead of going to the places where you can get drugs?"

Rationale: The patient is describing drug-seeking behavior and the nurse should suggest ways for the patient to cope with the behavior by asking the patient what he can do instead of going to the places where he knows he can get drugs. The nurse should not confront the patient and say that he is an addict and needs the drugs. The nurse has no way of knowing if this behavior will continue for the rest of the patient's life. The patient can learn coping mechanisms to use instead of the drug-seeking behavior. The nurse should not suggest that the patient use a less addictive drug.