HESI SPECIALTY TEST REVIEW: PSYCHIATRIC/MENTAL HEALTH
NURSING EXAM QUESTIONS AND 100% CORRECT ANSWERS
Your patient has an admitting diagnosis of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. You receive a phone
call at the nurses' station from a person who says he is the patient's minister and wants to
know if the patient "fell off the wagon again" and when visitation hours are. What is your best
response?
A: "Yes, the patient drank too much, but he should be fine in a few days. Visiting hours are 9
A.M. to 6 P.M."
B: "We do not give out any information. Visitation hours in the hospital are from 9 A.M. to 6
P.M. daily."
C: "Please pray for the patient; he is in bad shape. You can visit him anytime between 9 A.M.
and 6 P.M. daily."
D: "Please contact the hospital's chief executive officer, who can give you the information you
are requesting."
B: "We do not give out any information. Visitation hours in the hospital are from 9 A.M. to 6
P.M. daily."
(+) Patient confidentiality is required, and there is no way to verify the identity of the person
calling.
Your patient has been hospitalized for acute alcohol withdrawal. It is the fifth day, and he is
having visual hallucinations followed by a seizure. What is the most likely source of the patient's
problem?
A: Autonomic dysreflexia (AD)
B: A brain tumor
C: Sleep deprivation
D: Delirium tremens (DTs)
D: Delirium tremens (DTs)
,(+) Delirium tremens occurs as acute alcohol withdrawal progresses. It includes symptoms such
as clouding of sensorium, hallucinations, seizures, and autonomic
hyperactivity.
Which of the following assessments is used to confirm alcohol intake?
A: Pupil dilation
B: Serum sample
C: Hair shaft analysis
D: Sputum sample
B: Serum sample
(+) Urine and serum samples are toxicology specimens used to assess and monitor alcohol
withdrawal.
Which of the following questions is most appropriate to ask in screening for a potential
problem of high alcohol intake?
A: "Have you felt you should cut down on your alcohol consumption?"
B: "Do you enjoy getting smashed?"
C: "Have you ever thought about killing someone?"
D: "In the last week, have you had a glass of wine?"
A: "Have you felt you should cut down on your alcohol consumption?"
(+) Screening requires questions associated with cutting down, feelings of guilt about drinking,
and having a first drink in the morning.
Your patient in the Emergency Department has a diagnosis of acute alcohol withdrawal
syndrome (AWS). He is acting euphoric, yet shy. The APN has prescribed the following care:
CAGE questionnaire, serum for toxicology, IV of D5 1/2 NS and 1 amp multivitamin (MVI) at 75
mL/h, neuro check q 1 h. What is your first priority?
,A: Administer the CAGE questionnaire
B: Start the IV
C: Do the neuro check
D: Obtain a serum blood sample
D: Obtain a serum blood sample
(+) Obtain a toxicology sample, as the patient is too euphoric to answer the CAGE
questionnaire. The IV and neuro checks can wait.
Your patient sees you at a preplanned postoperative visit 4 weeks after being hospitalized for
acute alcohol withdrawal. Upon questioning, she states that her husband is abusive, so she
drinks to "drown out his yelling." The patient also complains of depression and severe pain in
the epigastric region that radiates to her back and has been constant since yesterday. She has
vomited twice in the past 12 hours. What is your first priority?
A: Refer her immediately for treatment of depression
B: Call social services and report spousal abuse
C: Assess her for pancreatitis
D: Administer a test or scale that assesses alcohol withdrawal
C: Assess her for pancreatitis
Approximately 65% of cases of pancreatitis are related to alcohol. This patient is exhibiting the
classic symptoms of this disease.
Prolonged alcohol ingestion can cause disorders of the liver such as:
A: Pancreatitis
B: Hypomagnesemia
C: Cirrhosis
D: Colitis
, C: Cirrhosis
(+) Cirrhosis is a liver disorder that can result from prolonged ingestion of alcohol.
Adolescent suicide has increased over the past and is among the top five causes of death in U.S.
adolescents.
A: TRUE
B: FALSE
A: TRUE
(+) Adolescent suicides have quadrupled since 1950 and are the third leading cause of death in
U.S. adolescents.
Your patient has just received his sixth electroconvulsant therapy outpatient treatment. He tells
you that he plans to drive himself home because his wife is working at her part-time job today.
What is your best response?
A: "Be careful and drive slowly."
B: "You need to wait 30 minutes and then you will be safe to drive."
C: "Let me take your vital signs; if they are stable, then you can drive."
D: "You cannot drive. I can call you a cab, or would you prefer to call your wife or someone for a
ride home?"
D: "You cannot drive. I can call you a cab, or would you prefer to call your wife or someone for a
ride home?"
(+) Patients cannot drive after ECT, as its effects can include disorientation, muscle pain, central
nervous system depression, and cardiac dysrhythmias.
Alcohol tolerance develops as a result of the central nervous system's adaptive mechanisms.
A: TRUE
B: FALSE
NURSING EXAM QUESTIONS AND 100% CORRECT ANSWERS
Your patient has an admitting diagnosis of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. You receive a phone
call at the nurses' station from a person who says he is the patient's minister and wants to
know if the patient "fell off the wagon again" and when visitation hours are. What is your best
response?
A: "Yes, the patient drank too much, but he should be fine in a few days. Visiting hours are 9
A.M. to 6 P.M."
B: "We do not give out any information. Visitation hours in the hospital are from 9 A.M. to 6
P.M. daily."
C: "Please pray for the patient; he is in bad shape. You can visit him anytime between 9 A.M.
and 6 P.M. daily."
D: "Please contact the hospital's chief executive officer, who can give you the information you
are requesting."
B: "We do not give out any information. Visitation hours in the hospital are from 9 A.M. to 6
P.M. daily."
(+) Patient confidentiality is required, and there is no way to verify the identity of the person
calling.
Your patient has been hospitalized for acute alcohol withdrawal. It is the fifth day, and he is
having visual hallucinations followed by a seizure. What is the most likely source of the patient's
problem?
A: Autonomic dysreflexia (AD)
B: A brain tumor
C: Sleep deprivation
D: Delirium tremens (DTs)
D: Delirium tremens (DTs)
,(+) Delirium tremens occurs as acute alcohol withdrawal progresses. It includes symptoms such
as clouding of sensorium, hallucinations, seizures, and autonomic
hyperactivity.
Which of the following assessments is used to confirm alcohol intake?
A: Pupil dilation
B: Serum sample
C: Hair shaft analysis
D: Sputum sample
B: Serum sample
(+) Urine and serum samples are toxicology specimens used to assess and monitor alcohol
withdrawal.
Which of the following questions is most appropriate to ask in screening for a potential
problem of high alcohol intake?
A: "Have you felt you should cut down on your alcohol consumption?"
B: "Do you enjoy getting smashed?"
C: "Have you ever thought about killing someone?"
D: "In the last week, have you had a glass of wine?"
A: "Have you felt you should cut down on your alcohol consumption?"
(+) Screening requires questions associated with cutting down, feelings of guilt about drinking,
and having a first drink in the morning.
Your patient in the Emergency Department has a diagnosis of acute alcohol withdrawal
syndrome (AWS). He is acting euphoric, yet shy. The APN has prescribed the following care:
CAGE questionnaire, serum for toxicology, IV of D5 1/2 NS and 1 amp multivitamin (MVI) at 75
mL/h, neuro check q 1 h. What is your first priority?
,A: Administer the CAGE questionnaire
B: Start the IV
C: Do the neuro check
D: Obtain a serum blood sample
D: Obtain a serum blood sample
(+) Obtain a toxicology sample, as the patient is too euphoric to answer the CAGE
questionnaire. The IV and neuro checks can wait.
Your patient sees you at a preplanned postoperative visit 4 weeks after being hospitalized for
acute alcohol withdrawal. Upon questioning, she states that her husband is abusive, so she
drinks to "drown out his yelling." The patient also complains of depression and severe pain in
the epigastric region that radiates to her back and has been constant since yesterday. She has
vomited twice in the past 12 hours. What is your first priority?
A: Refer her immediately for treatment of depression
B: Call social services and report spousal abuse
C: Assess her for pancreatitis
D: Administer a test or scale that assesses alcohol withdrawal
C: Assess her for pancreatitis
Approximately 65% of cases of pancreatitis are related to alcohol. This patient is exhibiting the
classic symptoms of this disease.
Prolonged alcohol ingestion can cause disorders of the liver such as:
A: Pancreatitis
B: Hypomagnesemia
C: Cirrhosis
D: Colitis
, C: Cirrhosis
(+) Cirrhosis is a liver disorder that can result from prolonged ingestion of alcohol.
Adolescent suicide has increased over the past and is among the top five causes of death in U.S.
adolescents.
A: TRUE
B: FALSE
A: TRUE
(+) Adolescent suicides have quadrupled since 1950 and are the third leading cause of death in
U.S. adolescents.
Your patient has just received his sixth electroconvulsant therapy outpatient treatment. He tells
you that he plans to drive himself home because his wife is working at her part-time job today.
What is your best response?
A: "Be careful and drive slowly."
B: "You need to wait 30 minutes and then you will be safe to drive."
C: "Let me take your vital signs; if they are stable, then you can drive."
D: "You cannot drive. I can call you a cab, or would you prefer to call your wife or someone for a
ride home?"
D: "You cannot drive. I can call you a cab, or would you prefer to call your wife or someone for a
ride home?"
(+) Patients cannot drive after ECT, as its effects can include disorientation, muscle pain, central
nervous system depression, and cardiac dysrhythmias.
Alcohol tolerance develops as a result of the central nervous system's adaptive mechanisms.
A: TRUE
B: FALSE
