NURS 222 Mental Health/Psychiatric Nursing: Week 2 Quiz 2026
|WCU
1. A patient is admitted involuntarily to a psychiatric unit. Which right does the
patient still maintain?
A. The right to leave the facility against medical advice.
B. The right to refuse psychotropic medications.
C. The right to carry personal firearms.
D. The right to manage their own financial affairs without oversight.
Answer: B
Rationale: Involuntary admission does not automatically strip a patient of the right to
refuse treatment, including medications, unless a court has specifically ruled them
incompetent or an emergency exists.
2. Which part of the brain is primarily responsible for the regulation of emotions
and memory, often called the ‘emotional brain’?
A. Occipital lobe
B. Parietal lobe
C. Brainstem
D. Limbic system
Answer: D
Rationale: The limbic system, including the amygdala and hippocampus, is central to
emotional processing and memory formation in psychiatric disorders.
,3. During a Mental Status Exam (MSE), the nurse asks the patient, ‘What does
the phrase “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” mean?’ The nurse is
assessing:
A. Orientation
B. Recent memory
C. Judgment
D. Abstract thinking
Answer: D
Rationale: Interpreting proverbs is a standard way to evaluate abstract thinking versus
concrete thinking.
4. A nurse tells a patient, ‘I’ll stay with you for 15 minutes.’ This is an example of
which therapeutic technique?
A. Formulating a plan
B. Giving recognition
C. Broad openings
D. Offering self
Answer: D
Rationale: Offering self involves making oneself available to the patient to provide
unconditional support and presence.
5. Which neurotransmitter is most significantly associated with the ‘fight or
flight’ response and alertness?
A. Serotonin
B. Norepinephrine
C. GABA
D. Acetylcholine
Answer: B
, Rationale: Norepinephrine is the primary neurotransmitter involved in arousal, attention,
and the stress response.
6. In the context of psychiatric ethics, ‘beneficence’ is defined as:
A. The duty to do no harm.
B. The right to make one’s own decisions.
C. The duty to act in ways that benefit or promote the good of others.
D. The duty to be truthful.
Answer: C
Rationale: Beneficence is the ethical principle of performing actions that are for the good
of the patient.
7. Which legal concept refers to the nurse’s obligation to breach confidentiality
if a patient threatens to harm a specific person?
A. Habeas corpus
B. Assault
C. Respondeat superior
D. Duty to warn
Answer: D
Rationale: The ‘duty to warn’ (Tarasoff rule) requires clinicians to notify potential victims
or law enforcement of credible threats of violence.
8. A patient states, ‘The voices are telling me I am a bad person.’ The nurse
responds, ‘I don’t hear any voices, but I understand they are real to you.’ This is:
A. Belittling feelings
B. Giving advice
C. False reassurance
D. Presenting reality
Answer: D
|WCU
1. A patient is admitted involuntarily to a psychiatric unit. Which right does the
patient still maintain?
A. The right to leave the facility against medical advice.
B. The right to refuse psychotropic medications.
C. The right to carry personal firearms.
D. The right to manage their own financial affairs without oversight.
Answer: B
Rationale: Involuntary admission does not automatically strip a patient of the right to
refuse treatment, including medications, unless a court has specifically ruled them
incompetent or an emergency exists.
2. Which part of the brain is primarily responsible for the regulation of emotions
and memory, often called the ‘emotional brain’?
A. Occipital lobe
B. Parietal lobe
C. Brainstem
D. Limbic system
Answer: D
Rationale: The limbic system, including the amygdala and hippocampus, is central to
emotional processing and memory formation in psychiatric disorders.
,3. During a Mental Status Exam (MSE), the nurse asks the patient, ‘What does
the phrase “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” mean?’ The nurse is
assessing:
A. Orientation
B. Recent memory
C. Judgment
D. Abstract thinking
Answer: D
Rationale: Interpreting proverbs is a standard way to evaluate abstract thinking versus
concrete thinking.
4. A nurse tells a patient, ‘I’ll stay with you for 15 minutes.’ This is an example of
which therapeutic technique?
A. Formulating a plan
B. Giving recognition
C. Broad openings
D. Offering self
Answer: D
Rationale: Offering self involves making oneself available to the patient to provide
unconditional support and presence.
5. Which neurotransmitter is most significantly associated with the ‘fight or
flight’ response and alertness?
A. Serotonin
B. Norepinephrine
C. GABA
D. Acetylcholine
Answer: B
, Rationale: Norepinephrine is the primary neurotransmitter involved in arousal, attention,
and the stress response.
6. In the context of psychiatric ethics, ‘beneficence’ is defined as:
A. The duty to do no harm.
B. The right to make one’s own decisions.
C. The duty to act in ways that benefit or promote the good of others.
D. The duty to be truthful.
Answer: C
Rationale: Beneficence is the ethical principle of performing actions that are for the good
of the patient.
7. Which legal concept refers to the nurse’s obligation to breach confidentiality
if a patient threatens to harm a specific person?
A. Habeas corpus
B. Assault
C. Respondeat superior
D. Duty to warn
Answer: D
Rationale: The ‘duty to warn’ (Tarasoff rule) requires clinicians to notify potential victims
or law enforcement of credible threats of violence.
8. A patient states, ‘The voices are telling me I am a bad person.’ The nurse
responds, ‘I don’t hear any voices, but I understand they are real to you.’ This is:
A. Belittling feelings
B. Giving advice
C. False reassurance
D. Presenting reality
Answer: D
