Basic Concepts of Mental Health

Question 1

When using the term behavior, the mental health nurse is referring to:

Answer 1

defined as the manner in which a person performs any or all of the activities of daily living.

Question 2

The nurse clarifies the concept of “mental health” by defining it as:

Answer 2

defined as a person’s ability to cope and adjust to everyday stresses.

Question 3

When assessing patients with mental illness, the nurse anticipates their behavior to be:

Answer 3

behavior that deviates from socially acceptable behavior.

Question 4

While assessing a patient with mental illness, the nurse realizes that the number of people in need of mental health services is:

Answer 4

It is estimated that one in eight people in the United States is in need of mental health services.

Question 5

During the 17th and 18th centuries, care of patients with mental illness often was cruel. Dr. Phillippe Pinel brought about change by advocating:

Answer 5

Dr. Phillippe Pinel advocated humane care.

Question 6

In 1882, the first psychiatric training school for nurses opened. The first psychiatric nurse was:

Answer 6

Linda Richards, who practiced in the 1880s, is credited as being the first psychiatric nurse.

Question 7

Using the mental health continuum as a guide, the nurse observes behavior that usually places an individual on the illness end of the continuum. This behavior:

Answer 7

the person is rarely in touch with reality.

Question 8

The majority of people function in a relatively healthy manner, but their functioning capacity can be diminished by:

Answer 8

Periods of crisis can decrease functional capacity, moving a person toward the illness end of the continuum.

Question 9

Classifying a person as having a mental illness is based on the:

Answer 9

is deemed to be mentally ill by the behavior exhibited and the context.

Question 10

Using Freud’s personality theory, the nurse recognizes a strong ego when a patient:

Answer 10

Ego is the reality tester. -Laughing at oneself shows that the patient can compare his own foolish behavior to the norm

Question 11

Using Freud’s personality theory, the nurse identifies the influence of the superego after observing a patient:

Answer 11

The superego is the mediator between right and wrong (the conscience).

Question 12

The nurse is assessing a 26-year-old man who is unmarried, dates many different women, and spends his income on himself. Using Erikson’s developmental theory, the classifies this behavior as:

Answer 12

inability to find intimacy results in self-absorption.

Question 13

When explaining the role theory, the nurse gives the example of an ascribed role as the patient’s:

Answer 13

Ascribed roles are those that a person takes on, but had no personal choice in the matter. Ethnicity, sex, and nationality are examples of ascribed roles.

Question 14

The nurse assessing a young woman who is a teacher, happily married, raising two children, taking care of her disabled mother, and going to school to get a master’s degree classifies this behavior as:

Answer 14

Role integration

- is performing several ascribed roles at the same time.

Question 15

The nurse assesses a patient as having a poor self-concept because the patient consistently:

Answer 15

Apologizing repeatedly

- is indicative of self-effacement.

Question 16

Any event that requires change stimulates an amount of:

Answer 16

leads to stress

-,which is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand.

Question 17

A nurse tearfully confides to the head nurse that being assigned to care for eight patients is stressful and overwhelming. The head nurse assesses the use of a healthy coping mechanism observing the nurse:

Answer 17

The use of delegation is an effective coping mechanism

Question 18

The nurse explains that an individual who perceives a threat to self may experience a universal emotion of:

Answer 18

Anxiety

-can be defined as a vague feeling of apprehension resulting from a perceived threat to self.

Question 19

The nursing instructor recognizes signs of moderate anxiety when a student does what before taking a test?

Answer 19

Vomiting

-and other physical expressions of anxiety are characteristic of moderate anxiety.

Question 20

The nurse documents a flat affect when the patient:

Answer 20

receives the news of his mother’s death without response.

Question 21

The nurse recognizes that a patient is seeking ways to deal with and resolve stress after observing the patient use:

Answer 21

An individual who develops ways to deal with stress and resolve it has adapted.

Question 22

When a 40-year-old patient cries and has a tantrum when the physician refuses to give her a prescription for diet pills, the nurse observes the use of the defense mechanism of:

Answer 22

Regression

- is a behavior that reflects the return to an earlier form of coping.

Question 23

When the patient who overeats insists that weight gain is related to retained fluids, the nurse recognizes the defense mechanism of

Answer 23

Defense mechanisms

- are unconscious reactions that offer protection to the self from stressful situations.

Question 24

After finding the patient with diabetes eating candy, the nurse reminds the patient that the candy will elevate blood sugar levels. The patient’s response is: “It’s only a little bit, and it won’t do anything.” The nurse recognizes the use of a defense mechanism called:

Answer 24

denial

Question 25

The patient complains to the nurse that the physician does not like him and wants him to fail at following the diet prescribed. The nurse recognizes that the patient is using the defense mechanism of:

Answer 25

Projection

- is attributing to others characteristics that the person does not want to acknowledge.

Question 26

The nurse is sensitive to the fact that patients lose control over their lives when admitted to the hospital. This loss of control frequently results in:

Answer 26

feelings of apprehension and uncertainty.

Question 27

The patient admitted to the hospital may adjust to illness by assuming a role in which everyday responsibilities are avoided. This is called the:

Answer 27

The sick role

- allows the patient to be excused from everyday responsibilities.

Question 28

The nurse is very observant of patient behavior because all behavior has meaning and is:

Answer 28

is learned and has meaning.

Question 29

A nursing intervention that helps build trust, encourages the patient to have faith in the care being received, and meets psychosocial needs is

Answer 29

is patient education.

Question 30

When the nurse informs a family that the brain damage to their daughter is irreversible, the father curses at the nurse and storms out of the room. The nurse recognizes the father is in the crisis stage of:

Answer 30

Once the reality of the situation becomes evident, initially anger and confusion follow.

Question 31

When developing a care plan for a mentally ill patient, the nurse’s first priority would be to assess:

Answer 31

to assess the emotional status of the mentally ill patient.

Question 32

When the patient doing physical therapy four times a day to regain control of his lower extremities is told that his insurance will no longer pay for the therapy, the nurse is aware that this obstruction to his goal may result in:

Answer 32

Frustration

- refers to anything that interferes with goal-directed activity.

Question 33

The nurse is supportive when an attempt at adaptation fails and knows that the most likely result will be:

Answer 33

When adaptive behavior fails, anxiety increases.

Question 34

The nurse is assessing a nervous 18-year-old patient who has vital signs of P 120, R 30, and BP 160/90. Based on this data alone, the nurse identifies the level of anxiety

Answer 34

Severe anxiety may be manifested by elevated vital signs.

Question 35

When assisting the older adult who is despondent about the need to leave his home, the nurse uses which technique?

Answer 35

Reminiscence and life review are effective techniques to help older adults deal with changing life circumstances.

Question 36

A patient admitted to the hospital after a motorcycle crash that has left him paralyzed from the waist down tells the nurse he has feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. The nurse recognizes that the patient may also have feelings of:

Answer 36

Hopelessness and helplessness can lead to possible suicide.

Question 37

The nurse uses a diagram to show how the four parts of “self” fit together. What are the four parts? (Select all that apply.)

Answer 37

a. Body image
c. Self-esteem
d. Role
e. Identity

Question 38

The situation in which a parent must choose between attending a daughter’s ballet recital or a son’s baseball game as an example of

Answer 38

Conflict occurs when there is a presence of simultaneous goals, only one of which can be met.

Question 39

In the movie Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O’Hara says, “I’ll think about that tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.” The nurse recognizes the defense mechanism of

Answer 39

Repression is a conscious barring of anxiety-producing thoughts.

Question 40

The nurse outlines which factor(s) that influence the level of anxiety experienced when faced by a stressful situation? (Select all that apply.)
Ana

Answer 40

a. How the event is perceived
b. The number of stressors present at one time
c. Degree of change the stressors require
d. Present role assumption
e. Previous experience with a similar situation

Question 41

Place the events in the mental health care movement in chronological order.

Answer 41

1. Establishment of Pennsylvania House
2. Dorothea Dix awakens public awareness of plight of mentally ill
3. Formation of Committee for Mental Health
4. Deinstitutionalization movement
5. Passage of Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA)
   - –Pennsylvania House—1731, Dorothea Dix—1882, Committee for Mental Health—1909, deinstitutionalization movement—1960, OBRA—1981.