Question 1

An adult with serious mental illness is being admitted to a community behavioral health inpatient unit. Recognizing current trends in hospitalization, this patient is likely to:&#10;A) comply readily with the prescribed treatment.&#10;B) have a clear understanding of the illness.&#10;C) display aggressive behavior.&#10;D) stabilize within 24 hours.

Accepted Answer

Compared with patients of the 1960s and 1970s, today's patients are likely to display more aggressive behavior. This understanding is critical to making astute assessments that lead to planning for the provision of safety for patients and staff. Treatment compliance, understanding of the illness process, and discharge against medical advice are possible issues with which the nurse might deal, but these are less relevant when admission assessment is performed.

Question 2

An adult with schizophrenia is discharged from a state mental hospital after 20 years of institutionalization. When planning care in the community, which premise applies? This patient is likely to:&#10;A) independently find support services to aid transition from hospitalization to community.&#10;B) adjust smoothly to the community if provided with sufficient support services.&#10;C) self-administer antipsychotic medications correctly if provided with education.&#10;D) need crisis or emergency psychiatric interventions from time to time.

Accepted Answer

Patients with serious mental illness are rarely considered cured at the time of hospital discharge. Decompensation is likely from time to time, even when good community support is provided. The emergency room may become a first-line resource in the continuum of care designed to prevent rehospitalization. Unfortunately, transitional services are not always readily available. Adjustment to a community environment after long institutionalization is often a slow process.

Question 3

When a nurse working in a well-child clinic asks a parent's address, the parent responds, &#34;My children and I are homeless.&#34; The nurse can assess this response as:&#10;A) a common occurrence, because 1 out of 50 children are homeless.&#10;B) a signal to investigate the possibility that the parent has severe mental illness.&#10;C) evidence of child abuse or neglect that should be reported to social service agencies.&#10;D) unusual because most homeless individuals have severe mental illness or substance abuse problems.

Accepted Answer

The current belief is that the homeless are people (including entire families) who have been displaced by social policies over which they have no control. One out of 50 children is homeless. Although homelessness might be associated with serious mental illness, it might also be the result of having a weak support system and of social policies over which the individual or family has no control. Clinic users come from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

Question 4

A shift in the psychiatric nursing focus during the community mental health period of the 1960s resulted in:&#10;A) disillusionment with the high numbers of people seeking treatment.&#10;B) focusing more attention on complications associated with substance abuse.&#10;C) spending more time providing services to persons with serious mental illness.&#10;D) shifting focus away from the most acutely ill and to persons with a perceived greater potential for improvement.

Accepted Answer

The community mental health movement brought with it a broadening of areas of concern to the psychiatric nurse. It became acceptable, even desirable, for psychiatric nurses to focus on what was called the worried well, as opposed to providing care for acutely ill psychotic individuals. Neither disillusionment with the numbers seeking treatment nor providing more services to those with severe mental illness occurred.

Question 5

A former pediatric nurse begins working in a clinic housed in a homeless shelter. The nurse asks the clinic director, "What topic should I review to improve my effectiveness as I begin my new job?" Which topic should the clinic director suggest?

A) Care of school-age children
B) Psychiatric and substance abuse assessment
C) Communicable disease prevention strategies
D) Sexually transmitted disease signs and symptoms

Accepted Answer

It is estimated that significant numbers of the homeless population have a serious mental illness and/or suffer from substance abuse or dependence. Although the other conditions may exist, the numbers are not as significant.

Question 6

What concerns were shared by society during both the Period of Enlightenment and the Period of Community Mental Health?&#10;A) Moving patients out of asylums&#10;B) Studying brain structure and function&#10;C) Meeting basic human needs humanely&#10;D) Providing medication to control symptoms

Accepted Answer

The use of asylums signaled concern for meeting basic needs of the mentally ill, who in earlier times often wandered the countryside. With deinstitutionalization, many patients who were poorly equipped to provide for their own needs were returned to the community. The current system must now concern itself with ensuring that patients have such basic needs as food, shelter, and clothing. Studying brain structure and function is more a concern of modern times, as is the provision of medication.

Question 7

Select the most accurate characterization of treatment of the mentally ill prior to the Period of Enlightenment.&#10;A) Large asylums provided custodial care.&#10;B) Care for the mentally ill was more compassionate.&#10;C) Care focused on reducing stress and meeting basic human needs.&#10;D) Patients were banished from communities or displayed for public amusement.

Accepted Answer

In the 1700s it was common practice for caretakers to display mentally ill patients for the amusement of the paying public. The creation of large asylums took place during the Period of Enlightenment. Mental illness was first studied during the Period of Scientific Study. Dealing with stress and meeting basic needs are concerns of the modern era.

Question 8

The broadened scope of psychiatric nursing practice is attributable primarily to:&#10;A) increased use of psychotropic drugs.&#10;B) opening of community mental health centers.&#10;C) legislation that changed nurse practice acts across the country.&#10;D) recidivism of seriously mentally ill patients in public mental hospitals.

Accepted Answer

Community mental health centers were designed and organized to provide services in addition to inpatient hospitalization, thus giving nurses opportunities to practice in a variety of treatment settings (e.g., emergency rooms, partial hospitalization settings, outpatient care) and to have new roles, such as consultant, liaison, and case manager. Increased use of psychotropic drugs is not as important a factor as are community mental health centers. Legislation changing nurse practice acts broadened the scope of practice for nurse practitioners only by allowing prescriptive privileges. Recidivism is not a relevant factor.

Question 9

A newcomer to a community support meeting asks a nurse, "Why aren't people with mental illnesses treated at state institutions anymore?" What would be the nurse's accurate responses? Select all that apply.

A) "Funding for treatment of mental illness now focuses on community treatment."
B) "Psychiatric institutions are no longer accepted because of negative stories in the press."
C) "There are less restrictive settings available now to care for individuals with mental illness."
D) "Our nation has fewer people with mental illness; therefore, fewer hospital beds are needed."
E) "Better drugs now make it possible for many persons with mental illness to live in their communities."

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Accepted Answer

Deinstitutionalization and changes in funding shifted care for persons with mental illness to the community rather than large institutions. Care provided in a community setting, closer to family and significant others, is preferable. Improvements in medications to treat serious mental illness made it possible for more patients to live in their home communities. Prevalence rates for serious mental illness have not decreased. Although the national perspectives on institutional care did become negative, that was not the reason many institutions closed.

Question 10

Freud's contribution to psychiatry that most affects current psychiatric nursing is:&#10;A) the challenge to look at humans objectively.&#10;B) recognition of the importance of human sexuality.&#10;C) theories about the importance of sleep and dreams.&#10;D) discoveries about the effectiveness of free association.

Accepted Answer

Freud's work created a milieu for thinking about mental disorders in terms of the individual human mind. This called for therapists to look objectively at the individual, a principle that is basic to nursing. The correct answer is the most global response. Freud's theories of psychosexual development are an aspect of holistic nursing practice, but not the entire focus. Free association is not a pivotal issue in nursing practice.

Question 11

A nurse at a behavioral health clinic sees an unfamiliar psychiatric diagnosis on a patient's insurance form. Which resource should the nurse use to discern the criteria used to establish this diagnosis?

A) The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
B) Nursing Diagnosis Manual
C) A psychiatric nursing textbook
D) A behavioral health reference manual

Accepted Answer

The answer of A nurse at a behavioral health clinic...

Question 12

Which individual should the nurse assess as having the highest risk for homelessness?&#10;A) An older adult woman with mild dementia who resides in an assisted-living facility&#10;B) An adult with serious mental illness and no family&#10;C) An adolescent with an eating disorder&#10;D) A married person with alcoholism

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which individual should the nurse assess as...

Question 13

Put these services in order from least to most intensive.&#10;A) Day treatment&#10;B) Hospitalization&#10;C) Scheduled visits at a community mental health center

Accepted Answer

The answer of Put these services in order from least...

Question 14

Which changes in psychiatric nursing practice are directly attributable to events occurring during the Decade of the Brain? Select all that apply.&#10;A) Homeless shelters became practice sites.&#10;B) Nurses upgraded knowledge of psychopharmacology.&#10;C) Nurses provided psychoeducation to patients and families.&#10;D) Nurses viewed psychiatric symptoms as resulting from brain irregularities.&#10;E) Nurses were more likely to advocate for patients' rights related to involuntary commitment.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which changes in psychiatric nursing practice are...

Question 15

A key factor motivating passage of the Community Mental Health Centers Act in 1963 was that mentally ill individuals had been:&#10;A) hospitalized only if they demonstrated violent behavior.&#10;B) geographically isolated from family and community.&#10;C) discharged before receiving adequate treatment.&#10;D) used as subjects in pharmacologic research.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A key factor motivating passage of the...

Question 16

The greatest impact in the care of the mentally ill over the past 50 years has resulted from progress and improvement in which area?&#10;A) Self-help groups&#10;B) Outpatient therapy&#10;C) Psychotropic drugs&#10;D) Patients' rights awareness

Accepted Answer

The answer of The greatest impact in the care of...

Question 17

Which skill is most important to a nurse working as a member of a community mental health team that strives to use a seamless continuum of care?&#10;A) Case management&#10;B) Diagnostic ability&#10;C) Physical assessment skills&#10;D) Patients' rights advocacy

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which skill is most important to a...

Question 18

A patient with mental illness was initially treated in an outpatient setting and then hospitalized for a week when the disorder became acute. After discharge to a halfway house, this patient's care was managed by a community mental health nurse. Which inference applies to this community?

A) Additional mental health services should be made available for the severely mentally ill.
B) A seamless continuum of services is in place to serve persons with severe mental illness.
C) Case management services should be expanded to care for acute as well as long-term system consumers.
D) There are insufficient data to make a conclusion.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A patient with mental illness was initially...

Question 19

A person says, &#34;Now that many state hospitals are closed, patients with psychiatric problems are free in our community. It is not safe for me.&#34; The nurse's reply should be based on knowledge that:&#10;A) depressed patients are nonviolent.&#10;B) state hospitals are no longer needed.&#10;C) major depression is very prevalent.&#10;D) bizarre behavior is viewed as sensational.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A person says, &#34;Now that many state...

Question 20

A community mental health nurse works in a mental health services system that is undergoing change to become a seamless system. To promote integrity of the new system, the nurse should focus on (select all that apply)

A) psychopathology.
B) symptom stabilization.
C) medication management.
D) patient and family psychoeducation.
E) patient reintegration into the community.
F) holistic issues relating to patient care.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A community mental health nurse works in...

Deck 2: Historical Issues