Answers and Rationale of NCLEX Sample Questions for Psychiatric Nursing

View the NCLEX Sample Questions for Psychiatric Nursing

1.       Answer: (B) A state of well-being where a person can realize his own abilities can cope with normal stresses of life and work productively.
Mental health is a state of emotional and psychosocial well being. A mentally healthy individual is self aware and self directive, has the ability to solve problems, can cope with crisis without assistance beyond the support of family and friends fulfill the capacity to love and work and sets goals and realistic limits. A. This describes the ego function reality testing. C. This is the definition of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing. D. Mental health is not just the absence of mental illness.

2.       Answer: (A) Administers medications to a schizophrenic patient.
Administration of medications and treatments, assessment, documentation are the activities of the nurse as a technician. B. Activities as a parent surrogate. C. Refers to the ward manager role. D. Role as a teacher.

3.       Answer: (A) Subconscious
Subconscious refers to the materials that are partly remembered partly forgotten but these can be recalled spontaneously and voluntarily. B. This functions when one is awake. One is aware of his thoughts, feelings actions and what is going on in the environment. C. The largest potion of the mind that contains the memories of one’s past particularly the unpleasant. It is difficult to recall the unconscious content. D. The conscious self that deals and tests reality.

4.       Answer: (D) The censoring portion of the mind.
The critical censoring portion of one’s personality; the conscience. A. This refers to the ego function that protects itself from anything that threatens it.. B. The Id is composed of the untamed, primitive drives and impulses. C. This refers to the ego that acts as the moderator of the struggle between the id and the superego.

5.       Answer: (C) Teaching the client stress management techniques
Primary level of prevention refers to the promotion of mental health and prevention of mental illness. This can be achieved by rendering health teachings such as modifying ones responses to stress. A. This is tertiary level of prevention that deals with rehabilitation. B and D. Secondary level of prevention which involves reduction of actual illness through early detection and treatment of illness.

6.       Answer: (A) “Are you being threatened or hurt by your partner?
The nurse validates her observation by asking simple, direct question. This also shows empathy. B, C, and D are indirect questions which may not lead to the discussion of abuse.

7.       Answer: (A) Sexual desire disorder
Has little or no sexual desire or has distaste for sex. B. Failure to maintain the physiologic requirements for sexual intercourse. C. Persistent and recurrent inability to achieve an orgasm. D. Also called dyspareunia. Individuals with this disorder suffer genital pain before, during and after sexual intercourse.

8.       Answer: (A) “Here’s the number of a crisis center that you can call for help .”
Protection is a priority concern in abuse. Help the victim to develop a plan to ensure safety. B. Do not give advice to leave the abuser. Making decisions for the victim further erodes her esteem. However discuss options available. C. The victim tends to isolate from friends and family. D. This is judgmental. Avoid in anyway implying that she is at fault.

9.       Answer: (B) “When I tell my child to do something once, I don’t expect to have to tell"
Abusive parents tend to have unrealistic expectations on the child. A,B and C are realistic expectations on a 3 year old.

10.    Answer: (C) Ensure the safety of the victim
The priority consideration is the safety of the victim. Attend to the physical injuries to ensure the physiologic safety and integrity of the child. Reporting suspected case of abuse may deter recurrence of abuse. A,B and D may be addressed later.

11.    Answer: (D) Somatoform Pain Disorder
This is characterized by severe and prolonged pain that causes significant distress. A. This is a chronic syndrome of somatic symptoms that cannot be explained medically and is associated with psychosocial distress. B. This is an unrealistic preoccupation with a fear of having a serious illness. C. Characterized by alteration or loss in sensory or motor function resulting from a psychological conflict.

12.    Answer: (B) Conflict between id and superego
Freud explains anxiety as due to opposing action drives between the id and the superego. A. Sullivan identified 2 types of needs, satisfaction and security. Failure to gratify these needs may result in anxiety. C. Biomedical perspective of anxiety. D. Explanation of anxiety using the behavioral model.

13.    Answer: (D) Impaired social interaction
The client may not have difficulty in social exchange. The cues do not support this diagnosis. A. The client maladaptively uses body symptoms to manage anxiety. B. The client will have discomfort due to pain. C. The client may fail to meet environmental expectations due to pain.

14.    Answer: (C) Expression of conflicts through bodily symptoms
Bodily symptoms are used to handle conflicts. A. Manifestations do not have an organic basis. B. This occurs unconsciously. D. Medical treatment is not used because the disorder does not have a structural or organic basis.

15.    Answer: (A) “I know the feeling is real tests revealed negative results.”
Shows empathy and offers information. B. This is a demeaning statement. C. This belittles the client’s feelings. D. Giving undue attention to the physical symptom reinforces the complaint.

16.    Answer: (A) provide as much structure as possible for the child
Decrease stimuli for behavior control thru an environment that is free of distractions, a calm non –confrontational approach and setting limit to time allotted for activities. B. The child will not benefit from a lenient approach. C. Dissipate energy through safe activities. D. This indicates that the classroom environment lacks structure.

17.    Answer: (D) Serious violations of age related norms.
This is a disruptive disorder among children characterized by more serious violations of social standards such as aggression, vandalism, stealing, lying and truancy. A. This is characteristic of attention deficit disorder. B and C. These are noted among children with autistic disorder.

18.    Answer: (A) increased attention span and concentration
The medication has a paradoxic effect that decrease hyperactivity and impulsivity among children with ADHD. B, C, D. Side effects of Ritalin include anorexia, insomnia, diarrhea and irritability.

19.    Answer: (A) Returning the child to the school immediately with family support.
Exposure to the feared situation can help in overcoming anxiety. A. This will not help in relieving the anxiety due separation from a significant other. C. and C. Anxiety in school phobia is not due to being in school but due to separation from parents/caregivers so these interventions are not applicable. D. This will not help the child overcome the fear

20.    Answer: (C) Moderate
The child with moderate mental retardation has an I.Q. of 35-50 Profound Mental retardation has an I.Q. of below 20; Mild mental retardation 50-70 and Severe mental retardation has an I.Q. of 20-35.

21.    Answer: (A) overprotection of the child
The child with mental retardation should not be overprotected but need protection from injury and the teasing of other children. B,C, and D Children with mental retardation have learning difficulty. They should be taught with patience and repetition, start from simple to complex, use visuals and compliment them for motivation. Realistic expectations should be set and optimize their capability.

22.    Answer: (B) altered parenting role
Altered parenting role refers to the inability to create an environment that promotes optimum growth and development of the child. This is reflected in the parent’s inability to care for the child. A. This refers to lack of choices or inability to mobilize one’s resources. C. Refers to change in family relationship and function. D. Ineffective coping is the inability to form valid appraisal of the stressor or inability to use available resources

23.    Answer: (B) intolerance to change, disturbed relatedness, stereotypes
These are manifestations of autistic disorder. A. These manifestations are noted in Oppositional Defiant Disorder, a disruptive disorder among children. C. These are manifestations of Attention Deficit Disorder D. These are the manifestations of Conduct Disorder

24.    Answer: (D) Rearrange the environment to activate the child
The child with autistic disorder does not want change. Maintaining a consistent environment is therapeutic. A. Angry outburst can be rechannelled through safe activities. B. Acceptance enhances a trusting relationship. C. Ensure safety from self-destructive behaviors like head banging and hair pulling.

25.    Answer: (C) Pre-operational
Pre-operational stage (2-7 years) is the stage when the use of language, the use of symbols and the concept of time occur. A. Sensory-motor stage (0-2 years) is the stage when the child uses the senses in learning about the self and the environment through exploration. B. Concrete operations (7-12 years) when inductive reasoning develops. D. Formal operations (2 till adulthood) is when abstract thinking and deductive reasoning develop.