WGU D449 PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL
HEALTH NURSING
PRACTICE EXAM 2 – VERIFIED Q&A
WITH RATIONALES 2025
Comprehensive Guide for Psychiatric Nursing Practice
Prepared for Western Governors University, Semester 1, 2025
Curated by Nursing Education Experts
,Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Psychiatric Nursing Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1 Question 1: Psychiatric Nursing Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Question 2: Therapeutic Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 Question 3: Mental Status Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.4 Question 4: DSM-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.5 Question 5: Therapeutic Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.6 Question 6: Milieu Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.7 Question 7: De-escalation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.8 Question 8: Nurse-Patient Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.9 Question 9: Stigma in Mental Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.10 Question 10: Patient Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.11 Question 11: Psychosocial Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.12 Question 12: Crisis Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.13 Question 13: Informed Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.14 Question 14: Cultural Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.15 Question 15: Recovery Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.16 Question 16: Risk Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.17 Question 17: Therapeutic Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.18 Question 18: Mental Health Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.19 Question 19: Patient Confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.20 Question 20: Self-Care for Nurses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.21 Question 21: Biopsychosocial Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.22 Question 22: Active Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.23 Question 23: Mental Health Screening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.24 Question 24: Trauma-Informed Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.25 Question 25: Group Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.26 Question 26: Motivational Interviewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.27 Question 27: Psychopharmacology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.28 Question 28: Nonverbal Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.29 Question 29: Patient Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.30 Question 30: Interdisciplinary Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3 Psychiatric Disorders and Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.1 Anxiety Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.2 Mood Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3 Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 Substance Use Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.5 Personality Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.6 Eating Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.7 Trauma-Related Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.8 Child and Adolescent Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.9 Neurocognitive Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.10 Suicide and Self-Harm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.11 Clinical Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4 Advanced Psychiatric Nursing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1 Question 106: What is the role of the PMHNP in treatment planning? 15
1
, WGU D449 Practice Exam 2 Semester 1 2025 July 4, 2025
4.2 Question 107: How is patient empowerment promoted? . . . . . . . . . 15
4.3 Question 108: What is a challenge in psychiatric nursing? . . . . . . . 15
4.4 Question 109: How is cultural competence applied in treatment? . . . 16
4.5 Question 110: What is the role of evidence-based practice? . . . . . . . 16
4.6 Question 111: How is patient safety monitored in inpatient settings? . 16
4.7 Question 112: What is the benefit of interdisciplinary teams? . . . . . 16
4.8 Question 113: How is stigma addressed in psychiatric care? . . . . . . 16
4.9 Question 114: What is a side effect of atypical antipsychotics? . . . . . 16
4.10 Question 115: How is therapeutic communication evaluated? . . . . . 16
4.11 Question 116: What is the role of crisis intervention teams? . . . . . . 17
4.12 Question 117: How is patient progress tracked? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.13 Question 118: What is the benefit of trauma-informed care? . . . . . . 17
4.14 Question 119: How is group therapy facilitated? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.15 Question 120: What is a challenge in psychopharmacology? . . . . . . 17
4.16 Question 121: How is relapse prevented in psychiatric care? . . . . . . 17
4.17 Question 122: What is the role of the MSE in diagnosis? . . . . . . . . . 17
4.18 Question 123: How is patient confidentiality maintained? . . . . . . . . 18
4.19 Question 124: What is the benefit of motivational interviewing? . . . 18
4.20 Question 125: How is self-care promoted for nurses? . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.21 Question 126: What is a nursing priority in acute psychosis? . . . . . . 18
4.22 Question 127: How is family involvement encouraged? . . . . . . . . . 18
4.23 Question 128: What is a side effect of antidepressants? . . . . . . . . . 18
4.24 Question 129: How is patient education evaluated? . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.25 Question 130: What is the role of advocacy in psychiatric nursing? . . 19
4.26 Question 131: How is medication toxicity monitored? . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.27 Question 132: What is a benefit of CBT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.28 Question 133: How is patient safety ensured in outpatient care? . . . . 19
4.29 Question 134: What is a challenge in treating personality disorders? . 19
4.30 Question 135: How is cultural sensitivity applied? . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.31 Question 136: What is the role of psychopharmacology in treatment? 20
4.32 Question 137: How is patient engagement promoted? . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.33 Question 138: What is a risk factor for depression? . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.34 Question 139: How is suicide risk assessed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.35 Question 140: What is a benefit of milieu therapy? . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.36 Question 141: How is medication adherence evaluated? . . . . . . . . . 20
4.37 Question 142: What is a nursing intervention for substance withdrawal? 20
4.38 Question 143: How is patient progress evaluated? . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.39 Question 144: What is a challenge in crisis intervention? . . . . . . . . 21
4.40 Question 145: How is trauma-informed care implemented? . . . . . . 21
4.41 Question 146: What is a side effect of mood stabilizers? . . . . . . . . . 21
4.42 Question 147: How is patient autonomy supported? . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.43 Question 148: What is a benefit of support groups? . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.44 Question 149: How is interdisciplinary collaboration evaluated? . . . 21
4.45 Question 150: What is a priority in psychiatric nursing? . . . . . . . . . 22
5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Page 2 of 22
HEALTH NURSING
PRACTICE EXAM 2 – VERIFIED Q&A
WITH RATIONALES 2025
Comprehensive Guide for Psychiatric Nursing Practice
Prepared for Western Governors University, Semester 1, 2025
Curated by Nursing Education Experts
,Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Psychiatric Nursing Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1 Question 1: Psychiatric Nursing Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Question 2: Therapeutic Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 Question 3: Mental Status Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.4 Question 4: DSM-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.5 Question 5: Therapeutic Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.6 Question 6: Milieu Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.7 Question 7: De-escalation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.8 Question 8: Nurse-Patient Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.9 Question 9: Stigma in Mental Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.10 Question 10: Patient Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.11 Question 11: Psychosocial Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.12 Question 12: Crisis Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.13 Question 13: Informed Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.14 Question 14: Cultural Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.15 Question 15: Recovery Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.16 Question 16: Risk Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.17 Question 17: Therapeutic Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.18 Question 18: Mental Health Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.19 Question 19: Patient Confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.20 Question 20: Self-Care for Nurses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.21 Question 21: Biopsychosocial Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.22 Question 22: Active Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.23 Question 23: Mental Health Screening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.24 Question 24: Trauma-Informed Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.25 Question 25: Group Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.26 Question 26: Motivational Interviewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.27 Question 27: Psychopharmacology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.28 Question 28: Nonverbal Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.29 Question 29: Patient Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.30 Question 30: Interdisciplinary Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3 Psychiatric Disorders and Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.1 Anxiety Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.2 Mood Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3 Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 Substance Use Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.5 Personality Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.6 Eating Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.7 Trauma-Related Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.8 Child and Adolescent Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.9 Neurocognitive Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.10 Suicide and Self-Harm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.11 Clinical Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4 Advanced Psychiatric Nursing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1 Question 106: What is the role of the PMHNP in treatment planning? 15
1
, WGU D449 Practice Exam 2 Semester 1 2025 July 4, 2025
4.2 Question 107: How is patient empowerment promoted? . . . . . . . . . 15
4.3 Question 108: What is a challenge in psychiatric nursing? . . . . . . . 15
4.4 Question 109: How is cultural competence applied in treatment? . . . 16
4.5 Question 110: What is the role of evidence-based practice? . . . . . . . 16
4.6 Question 111: How is patient safety monitored in inpatient settings? . 16
4.7 Question 112: What is the benefit of interdisciplinary teams? . . . . . 16
4.8 Question 113: How is stigma addressed in psychiatric care? . . . . . . 16
4.9 Question 114: What is a side effect of atypical antipsychotics? . . . . . 16
4.10 Question 115: How is therapeutic communication evaluated? . . . . . 16
4.11 Question 116: What is the role of crisis intervention teams? . . . . . . 17
4.12 Question 117: How is patient progress tracked? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.13 Question 118: What is the benefit of trauma-informed care? . . . . . . 17
4.14 Question 119: How is group therapy facilitated? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.15 Question 120: What is a challenge in psychopharmacology? . . . . . . 17
4.16 Question 121: How is relapse prevented in psychiatric care? . . . . . . 17
4.17 Question 122: What is the role of the MSE in diagnosis? . . . . . . . . . 17
4.18 Question 123: How is patient confidentiality maintained? . . . . . . . . 18
4.19 Question 124: What is the benefit of motivational interviewing? . . . 18
4.20 Question 125: How is self-care promoted for nurses? . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.21 Question 126: What is a nursing priority in acute psychosis? . . . . . . 18
4.22 Question 127: How is family involvement encouraged? . . . . . . . . . 18
4.23 Question 128: What is a side effect of antidepressants? . . . . . . . . . 18
4.24 Question 129: How is patient education evaluated? . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.25 Question 130: What is the role of advocacy in psychiatric nursing? . . 19
4.26 Question 131: How is medication toxicity monitored? . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.27 Question 132: What is a benefit of CBT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.28 Question 133: How is patient safety ensured in outpatient care? . . . . 19
4.29 Question 134: What is a challenge in treating personality disorders? . 19
4.30 Question 135: How is cultural sensitivity applied? . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.31 Question 136: What is the role of psychopharmacology in treatment? 20
4.32 Question 137: How is patient engagement promoted? . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.33 Question 138: What is a risk factor for depression? . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.34 Question 139: How is suicide risk assessed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.35 Question 140: What is a benefit of milieu therapy? . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.36 Question 141: How is medication adherence evaluated? . . . . . . . . . 20
4.37 Question 142: What is a nursing intervention for substance withdrawal? 20
4.38 Question 143: How is patient progress evaluated? . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.39 Question 144: What is a challenge in crisis intervention? . . . . . . . . 21
4.40 Question 145: How is trauma-informed care implemented? . . . . . . 21
4.41 Question 146: What is a side effect of mood stabilizers? . . . . . . . . . 21
4.42 Question 147: How is patient autonomy supported? . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.43 Question 148: What is a benefit of support groups? . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.44 Question 149: How is interdisciplinary collaboration evaluated? . . . 21
4.45 Question 150: What is a priority in psychiatric nursing? . . . . . . . . . 22
5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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