Chamberlain College of Nursing | NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental
Health Across the Lifespan Practicum
NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental
Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Examination
2026/2027 | Verified Questions
Chamberlain College of Nursing | NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the
Lifespan Practicum | University-Level Advanced Practice Nursing Students
75 Verified Questions | 4 Core Domains | Academic Year 2026/2027
Prepared by
Chamberlain College of Nursing | NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the
Lifespan Practicum
Final Comprehensive Examination Actual Exam | Academic Year 2026/2027
NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Examination 2026/2027 | Verified
Questions
,INTRODUCTION
This document contains 75 original verified questions designed for the NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in
Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Comprehensive Examination for the
academic year 2026/2027. The questions are distributed across four core domains: Domain 1
Neurocognitive and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (19 questions), Domain 2 Mood, Anxiety, and
Trauma-Related Disorders (19 questions), Domain 3 Psychotic, Personality, and Dissociative Disorders
(19 questions), and Domain 4 Substance Use, Addictive, and Eating Disorders (18 questions). Content is
original and constructed to reinforce the official NR 547 course objectives for actual exam readiness and
clinical proficiency in psychiatric differential diagnosis across the lifespan, aligned to the 2026/2027
academic year. Each question includes a correct answer designation and a rationale grounded in
foundational psychiatric differential diagnosis methodology.
ACTUAL QUESTIONS
Domain 1: Neurocognitive and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Question 1. A 74-year-old client has progressive difficulty learning new information, word-
finding problems, and impaired judgment over 18 months. Attention and alertness remain
relatively preserved until late. Which diagnosis is most likely?
A. Major neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer disease
B. Delirium
C. Major depressive disorder with pseudodementia only
D. Brief psychotic disorder
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Alzheimer disease typically presents with insidious progressive decline in memory and other
cognitive domains while alertness is preserved early; delirium features acute onset and fluctuating
attention.
Question 2. A 6-year-old has persistent deficits in social communication and interaction
across settings, plus restricted repetitive patterns of behavior, with symptoms present
from early development. What is the most appropriate diagnosis?
A. Social anxiety disorder
B. Specific learning disorder
C. Autism spectrum disorder
D. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder exclusively
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Autism spectrum disorder requires persistent deficits in social communication and
interaction together with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, with onset in
the early developmental period.
Question 3. Which feature most reliably distinguishes delirium from major neurocognitive
disorder?
A. Gradual onset over years
B. Acute onset, fluctuating course, and disturbance of attention and awareness
C. Intact sleep-wake cycle
D. Preserved orientation in all cases
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Delirium is defined by acute onset, fluctuating severity, and impaired attention/awareness;
major neurocognitive disorder usually has gradual onset with relatively preserved alertness until
advanced stages.
NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Examination 2026/2027 | Verified
Questions
, Question 4. A 9-year-old has symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity in two
or more settings that began before age 12 and impair academic and social functioning.
Which diagnosis fits?
A. Oppositional defiant disorder only
B. Conduct disorder
C. Autism spectrum disorder exclusively
D. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: ADHD requires a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity present
in multiple settings, with onset before age 12 and clear functional impairment.
Question 5. A client develops stepwise cognitive decline after successive strokes, with focal
neurologic signs. Which diagnosis is favored?
A. Vascular neurocognitive disorder
B. Dementia with Lewy bodies
C. Frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder
D. Normal-pressure hydrocephalus
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Vascular neurocognitive disorder often shows stepwise deterioration temporally related to
cerebrovascular events and may include focal neurologic findings.
Question 6. Which early clinical feature is more characteristic of behavioral-variant
frontotemporal dementia than of Alzheimer disease?
A. Prominent early episodic memory loss
B. Visuospatial deficits as the first symptom
C. Early personality change, disinhibition, or apathy with relative sparing of memory
D. Rapid fluctuations in alertness
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia characteristically begins with personality,
behavioral, or executive changes while episodic memory is relatively preserved early.
Question 7. A client has recurrent visual hallucinations, fluctuating cognition, spontaneous
parkinsonism, and REM sleep behavior disorder. Which neurocognitive disorder is most
likely?
A. Alzheimer disease
B. Dementia with Lewy bodies
C. Vascular neurocognitive disorder
D. Frontotemporal dementia
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Core features of dementia with Lewy bodies include fluctuating cognition, recurrent visual
hallucinations, REM sleep behavior disorder, and spontaneous parkinsonism.
Question 8. A 4-year-old has delayed language, limited eye contact, and repetitive hand-
flapping. Hearing evaluation is normal. What is the priority diagnostic consideration?
A. Selective mutism only
B. Specific learning disorder in reading
C. Oppositional defiant disorder
D. Autism spectrum disorder evaluation
Correct Answer: D
NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Examination 2026/2027 | Verified
Questions
Health Across the Lifespan Practicum
NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental
Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Examination
2026/2027 | Verified Questions
Chamberlain College of Nursing | NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the
Lifespan Practicum | University-Level Advanced Practice Nursing Students
75 Verified Questions | 4 Core Domains | Academic Year 2026/2027
Prepared by
Chamberlain College of Nursing | NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the
Lifespan Practicum
Final Comprehensive Examination Actual Exam | Academic Year 2026/2027
NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Examination 2026/2027 | Verified
Questions
,INTRODUCTION
This document contains 75 original verified questions designed for the NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in
Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Comprehensive Examination for the
academic year 2026/2027. The questions are distributed across four core domains: Domain 1
Neurocognitive and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (19 questions), Domain 2 Mood, Anxiety, and
Trauma-Related Disorders (19 questions), Domain 3 Psychotic, Personality, and Dissociative Disorders
(19 questions), and Domain 4 Substance Use, Addictive, and Eating Disorders (18 questions). Content is
original and constructed to reinforce the official NR 547 course objectives for actual exam readiness and
clinical proficiency in psychiatric differential diagnosis across the lifespan, aligned to the 2026/2027
academic year. Each question includes a correct answer designation and a rationale grounded in
foundational psychiatric differential diagnosis methodology.
ACTUAL QUESTIONS
Domain 1: Neurocognitive and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Question 1. A 74-year-old client has progressive difficulty learning new information, word-
finding problems, and impaired judgment over 18 months. Attention and alertness remain
relatively preserved until late. Which diagnosis is most likely?
A. Major neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer disease
B. Delirium
C. Major depressive disorder with pseudodementia only
D. Brief psychotic disorder
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Alzheimer disease typically presents with insidious progressive decline in memory and other
cognitive domains while alertness is preserved early; delirium features acute onset and fluctuating
attention.
Question 2. A 6-year-old has persistent deficits in social communication and interaction
across settings, plus restricted repetitive patterns of behavior, with symptoms present
from early development. What is the most appropriate diagnosis?
A. Social anxiety disorder
B. Specific learning disorder
C. Autism spectrum disorder
D. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder exclusively
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Autism spectrum disorder requires persistent deficits in social communication and
interaction together with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, with onset in
the early developmental period.
Question 3. Which feature most reliably distinguishes delirium from major neurocognitive
disorder?
A. Gradual onset over years
B. Acute onset, fluctuating course, and disturbance of attention and awareness
C. Intact sleep-wake cycle
D. Preserved orientation in all cases
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Delirium is defined by acute onset, fluctuating severity, and impaired attention/awareness;
major neurocognitive disorder usually has gradual onset with relatively preserved alertness until
advanced stages.
NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Examination 2026/2027 | Verified
Questions
, Question 4. A 9-year-old has symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity in two
or more settings that began before age 12 and impair academic and social functioning.
Which diagnosis fits?
A. Oppositional defiant disorder only
B. Conduct disorder
C. Autism spectrum disorder exclusively
D. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: ADHD requires a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity present
in multiple settings, with onset before age 12 and clear functional impairment.
Question 5. A client develops stepwise cognitive decline after successive strokes, with focal
neurologic signs. Which diagnosis is favored?
A. Vascular neurocognitive disorder
B. Dementia with Lewy bodies
C. Frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder
D. Normal-pressure hydrocephalus
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Vascular neurocognitive disorder often shows stepwise deterioration temporally related to
cerebrovascular events and may include focal neurologic findings.
Question 6. Which early clinical feature is more characteristic of behavioral-variant
frontotemporal dementia than of Alzheimer disease?
A. Prominent early episodic memory loss
B. Visuospatial deficits as the first symptom
C. Early personality change, disinhibition, or apathy with relative sparing of memory
D. Rapid fluctuations in alertness
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia characteristically begins with personality,
behavioral, or executive changes while episodic memory is relatively preserved early.
Question 7. A client has recurrent visual hallucinations, fluctuating cognition, spontaneous
parkinsonism, and REM sleep behavior disorder. Which neurocognitive disorder is most
likely?
A. Alzheimer disease
B. Dementia with Lewy bodies
C. Vascular neurocognitive disorder
D. Frontotemporal dementia
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Core features of dementia with Lewy bodies include fluctuating cognition, recurrent visual
hallucinations, REM sleep behavior disorder, and spontaneous parkinsonism.
Question 8. A 4-year-old has delayed language, limited eye contact, and repetitive hand-
flapping. Hearing evaluation is normal. What is the priority diagnostic consideration?
A. Selective mutism only
B. Specific learning disorder in reading
C. Oppositional defiant disorder
D. Autism spectrum disorder evaluation
Correct Answer: D
NR 547 Differential Diagnosis in Psychiatric-Mental Health Across the Lifespan Practicum Final Examination 2026/2027 | Verified
Questions
