ATI mental health proctored
2023 Exam Study Guide –
Practice Questions with
Answers. Updated 2026
A nurse is planning overall strategies to address problems for a client who has a
borderline personality disorder. Which of the following strategies is the priority
for the nurse to incorporate into the plan of care?
a. discuss the appropriate use of assertive behavior with the client
b. encourage the client to attend weekly support group meetings
c. assist the client to maintain awareness of her thoughts and feelings
d. implement measures to prevent intentional self-inflicted injury: - Ans✔✔-d.
implement measures to prevent intentional self-inflicted injury
A nurse is admitting a client who has a generalized anxiety disorder. Which of
the following actions should the nurse plan to take first?
a. Provide the client with a quiet environment
b. Determine how the client handles stress.
c. Teach the client to use guided imagery.
d. Ask the client to identify her strengths - Ans✔✔-a. Provide the client with a
quiet environment
,A nurse is conducting an admission interview with a client who is experiencing
mania. Which of the following should the nurse report to the provider?
a. States that he hasn't bathed in 2 days
b. Reports eating twice in the past two weeks.
c. Makes inappropriate sexual comments.
d. Speaks in rhyming sentences. - Ans✔✔-b. Reports eating twice in the past
two weeks
A nurse is planning care for a client who has obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Which of the following recommendation should the nurse include in the
client's plan of care?
a. Validation therapy
b. Thought stopping
c. Operant conditioning
d. Reality orientation therapy - Ans✔✔-b. Thought stopping
A nurse is caring for a client who has bipolar disorder and is experiencing a
manic episode. Which of the following actions should the nurse take?
a. Encourage the client to join group activities
b. Dim the lights in the client's room
c. Provide detailed explanations to the client
d. Administer methylphenidate - Ans✔✔-b. Dim the lights in the client's room
A nurse is leading a crisis intervention group for adolescents who witnessed the
suicide of a classmate. Which of the following actions should the nurse take
first?
a. Initiate referrals
, b. Review community resources
c. Identify prior coping skills
d. Discuss the importance of confidentiality: - Ans✔✔-c. Identify prior coping
skills
A nurse overhears a client saying"I am a spy, a spy for the FBI.I am an I, an eye
for an eye in the sky.
Sky is up high." The nurse should document the client's statement as which of
the following speech
alterations?
a. Echolalia
b. Word salad
c. Neologism
d. Clang association - Ans✔✔-d. Clang association
An older adult client is brought to the mental health clinic by her daughter. The
daughter reports that her mother is not eating and seems uninterested in
routine activities. The daughter states "Im so worried that my mother is
depressed" which of the following responses should the nurse make?
a. Everyone gets depressed from time to time.
b. You shouldn't worry about this because the depressive disorder is easily
treated.
c. Older adults are usually diagnosed with the depressive disorder as they age.
d. Tell me the reasons you think your mother is depressed - Ans✔✔-d. Tell me
the reasons you think your mother is depressed
2023 Exam Study Guide –
Practice Questions with
Answers. Updated 2026
A nurse is planning overall strategies to address problems for a client who has a
borderline personality disorder. Which of the following strategies is the priority
for the nurse to incorporate into the plan of care?
a. discuss the appropriate use of assertive behavior with the client
b. encourage the client to attend weekly support group meetings
c. assist the client to maintain awareness of her thoughts and feelings
d. implement measures to prevent intentional self-inflicted injury: - Ans✔✔-d.
implement measures to prevent intentional self-inflicted injury
A nurse is admitting a client who has a generalized anxiety disorder. Which of
the following actions should the nurse plan to take first?
a. Provide the client with a quiet environment
b. Determine how the client handles stress.
c. Teach the client to use guided imagery.
d. Ask the client to identify her strengths - Ans✔✔-a. Provide the client with a
quiet environment
,A nurse is conducting an admission interview with a client who is experiencing
mania. Which of the following should the nurse report to the provider?
a. States that he hasn't bathed in 2 days
b. Reports eating twice in the past two weeks.
c. Makes inappropriate sexual comments.
d. Speaks in rhyming sentences. - Ans✔✔-b. Reports eating twice in the past
two weeks
A nurse is planning care for a client who has obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Which of the following recommendation should the nurse include in the
client's plan of care?
a. Validation therapy
b. Thought stopping
c. Operant conditioning
d. Reality orientation therapy - Ans✔✔-b. Thought stopping
A nurse is caring for a client who has bipolar disorder and is experiencing a
manic episode. Which of the following actions should the nurse take?
a. Encourage the client to join group activities
b. Dim the lights in the client's room
c. Provide detailed explanations to the client
d. Administer methylphenidate - Ans✔✔-b. Dim the lights in the client's room
A nurse is leading a crisis intervention group for adolescents who witnessed the
suicide of a classmate. Which of the following actions should the nurse take
first?
a. Initiate referrals
, b. Review community resources
c. Identify prior coping skills
d. Discuss the importance of confidentiality: - Ans✔✔-c. Identify prior coping
skills
A nurse overhears a client saying"I am a spy, a spy for the FBI.I am an I, an eye
for an eye in the sky.
Sky is up high." The nurse should document the client's statement as which of
the following speech
alterations?
a. Echolalia
b. Word salad
c. Neologism
d. Clang association - Ans✔✔-d. Clang association
An older adult client is brought to the mental health clinic by her daughter. The
daughter reports that her mother is not eating and seems uninterested in
routine activities. The daughter states "Im so worried that my mother is
depressed" which of the following responses should the nurse make?
a. Everyone gets depressed from time to time.
b. You shouldn't worry about this because the depressive disorder is easily
treated.
c. Older adults are usually diagnosed with the depressive disorder as they age.
d. Tell me the reasons you think your mother is depressed - Ans✔✔-d. Tell me
the reasons you think your mother is depressed
