Healthcare and Nursing Mental Health & Psychiatric Nursing 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A patient taking lithium reports nausea, tremors, and blurred vision. The nurse's priority action is to:
- Administer an antiemetic
- Check the serum lithium level immediately (Correct answer)
- Encourage increased fluid intake
- Reassure the patient these are expected side effects
Correct answer: Check the serum lithium level immediately
These symptoms suggest lithium toxicity; a serum level must be obtained immediately as lithium has a narrow therapeutic index (0.6–1.2 mEq/L).
Question 2: Which is a positive symptom of schizophrenia?
- Flat affect
- Alogia
- Auditory hallucinations (Correct answer)
- Avolition
Correct answer: Auditory hallucinations
Positive symptoms represent an excess or distortion of normal function; auditory hallucinations (hearing voices) are a classic positive symptom of schizophrenia.
Question 3: What is the correct approach when a patient is experiencing a panic attack?
- Leave the patient alone to calm down
- Stay with the patient, speak calmly, and guide slow breathing (Correct answer)
- Encourage the patient to discuss the cause of the panic
- Administer an antidepressant immediately
Correct answer: Stay with the patient, speak calmly, and guide slow breathing
Staying with the patient provides safety, while calm reassurance and guided breathing activate the parasympathetic nervous system to reduce panic.
Question 4: A nurse is using the CAGE questionnaire. What condition is it used to screen for?
- Depression
- Schizophrenia
- Alcohol use disorder (Correct answer)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Correct answer: Alcohol use disorder
The CAGE questionnaire (Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener) is a validated screening tool specifically for alcohol use disorder.
Question 5: Which medication requires dietary tyramine restriction to prevent hypertensive crisis?
- SSRIs
- MAOIs (Correct answer)
- Atypical antipsychotics
- Benzodiazepines
Correct answer: MAOIs
MAOIs block breakdown of tyramine from foods like aged cheese and cured meats, causing dangerous catecholamine release and severe hypertension.
Question 6: A patient in alcohol withdrawal is at greatest risk for which life-threatening complication?
- Hypoglycemia
- Seizures and delirium tremens (Correct answer)
- Pulmonary embolism
- Acute kidney injury
Correct answer: Seizures and delirium tremens
Alcohol withdrawal can progress to delirium tremens (DTs) with severe autonomic instability and seizures, which carry a significant mortality risk if untreated.
Healthcare and Nursing Mental Health & Psychiatric Nursing 2
A patient taking lithium reports nausea, tremors, and blurred vision.
The nurse's priority action is to: