Nightingale College Mental Health Practice Exam Questions
| 2026/2027 | Answers Correct| With Complete Solutions
43. A client on the psych unit appears to imitate a certain nurse
on the unit. The client seeks out this particular nurse and
imitates her mannerisms. The nurse knows that the client is
using which defense mechanism?
a. Sublimation
b. Identification
c. Introjection
d. Repression Correct Answers *B. Identification*
Identification (B) is an attempt to be like someone or emulate
the personality traits of another. (A) is substituting an
unacceptable feeling for one that is more socially acceptable. (C)
is incorporating the values or qualities of an admired person or
group into one's own ego structure. (D) is the involuntary
exclusion of painful thoughts or memories from one's
awareness.
A 19 y/o F client with a dx of anorexia nervosa wants to help
serve dinner trays to other clients on a psychiatric unit. What
action should the nurse take?
a. Encourage the client's participation in unit activities by asking
her to pass trays for the rest of the week.
b. Provide an additional challenge by asking the client to also
help feed the older clients.
c. Suggest another way for this client to participate in unit
activities.
,d. Tell the client that the hospital policy doesn't permit her to
pass trays. Correct Answers *C. Suggest another way for this
client to participate in unit activities.*
Anorexics gain pleasure from providing others with food and
watching them eat. Such behaviors reinforce their perception of
self-control. These clients shouldn't be allowed to plan or
prepare food for unit activities and their desires to do so should
be redirected (C). (A and B) are contraindicated for client with
anorexia nervosa. (D) avoids addressing the problem and is
manipulative in that the nurse is blaming hospital policy for tx
protocol.
A 22 y/o M client is admitted to the emergency center following
a suicide attempt. His records reveal that this is his third suicide
attempt in the past two years. He is conscious, but doesn't
respond to verbal commands for tx. Which assessment finding
should prompt the nurse to prepare the client for gastric lavage?
a. He ingested the drug 3 hours prior to admission to the
emergency center.
b. The family reports that he took an entire bottle of
acetaminophen.
c. He is unresponsive to instructions and is unable to cooperate
with emetic therapy.
d. Those with repeated suicide attempts desire punishment to
relieve their guilt. Correct Answers *C. He is unresponsive to
instructions and is unable to cooperate with emetic therapy.*
Because the client is unable to follow instructions, emetic
therapy would be very difficult to implement and gastric lavage
,would be necessary (C). (A and B) should be considered in
determining the course of tx, but they're not the basis for
determining if gastric lavage will be implemented. Medical tx
should never be used as "punitive" measures (D).
A 25 y/o F client has been particularly restless and the nurse
finds her trying to leave the psych unit. She tells the nurse,
"Please let me go! I must leave because the secret police are
after me." Which response is best for the nurse to make?
a. No one is after you, you're safe here.
b. You'll feel better after you have rested.
c. I know you must feel lonely and frightened.
d. Come with me to your room and I will sit with you. Correct
Answers *D. Come with me to your room and I will sit with
you.*
(D) is the best response because it offers support without
judgment or demands. (A) is arguing with the client's delusion.
(B) is offering false reassurance. (C) is a violation of therapeutic
communication in that the nurse is telling the client how she
feels (frightened and lonely) rather than allowing the client to
describe her own feelings. Hallucinating and/or delusional
clients are not capable of discussing their feelings, particularly
when they perceive a crisis.
A 27 y/o F client is admitted to the psychiatric hospital with a dx
of bipolar disorder, manic phase. She is demanding and active.
Which intervention should the nurse include in this client's plan
of care?
, a. Schedule her to attend various group activities.
b. Reinforce her ability to make her own decisions.
c. Encourage her to identify feelings of anger.
d. Provide a structured environment with little stimuli. Correct
Answers *D. Provide a structured environment with little
stimuli.*
Clients in the manic phase of bipolar disorder require decreased
stimuli and a structured environment (D). Plan noncompetitive
activities that can be carried out alone. (A) is contraindicated;
stimuli should be reduced as much as possible. Impulsive
decision-making is characteristic of clients with bipolar disorder.
To prevent future complications, the nurse should monitor these
clients' decisions and assist them in decision-making process
(B). (C) is more often associated with depression than with
bipolar disorder.
A 30 y/o sales manager tells the nurse, "I am thinking about a
job change. I don't feel like I am living up to my potential".
Which of Maslow's developmental stages is the sales manager
attempting to achieve?
a. Self-Actualization
b. Loving and Belonging
c. Basic Needs
d. Safety and Security Correct Answers *A. Self-
Actualization*
Self-actualization is the highest level of Maslow's development
stages, which is an attempt to fulfill one's full potential (C). (B)
is identifying support systems. (C) is the first level of Maslow's
| 2026/2027 | Answers Correct| With Complete Solutions
43. A client on the psych unit appears to imitate a certain nurse
on the unit. The client seeks out this particular nurse and
imitates her mannerisms. The nurse knows that the client is
using which defense mechanism?
a. Sublimation
b. Identification
c. Introjection
d. Repression Correct Answers *B. Identification*
Identification (B) is an attempt to be like someone or emulate
the personality traits of another. (A) is substituting an
unacceptable feeling for one that is more socially acceptable. (C)
is incorporating the values or qualities of an admired person or
group into one's own ego structure. (D) is the involuntary
exclusion of painful thoughts or memories from one's
awareness.
A 19 y/o F client with a dx of anorexia nervosa wants to help
serve dinner trays to other clients on a psychiatric unit. What
action should the nurse take?
a. Encourage the client's participation in unit activities by asking
her to pass trays for the rest of the week.
b. Provide an additional challenge by asking the client to also
help feed the older clients.
c. Suggest another way for this client to participate in unit
activities.
,d. Tell the client that the hospital policy doesn't permit her to
pass trays. Correct Answers *C. Suggest another way for this
client to participate in unit activities.*
Anorexics gain pleasure from providing others with food and
watching them eat. Such behaviors reinforce their perception of
self-control. These clients shouldn't be allowed to plan or
prepare food for unit activities and their desires to do so should
be redirected (C). (A and B) are contraindicated for client with
anorexia nervosa. (D) avoids addressing the problem and is
manipulative in that the nurse is blaming hospital policy for tx
protocol.
A 22 y/o M client is admitted to the emergency center following
a suicide attempt. His records reveal that this is his third suicide
attempt in the past two years. He is conscious, but doesn't
respond to verbal commands for tx. Which assessment finding
should prompt the nurse to prepare the client for gastric lavage?
a. He ingested the drug 3 hours prior to admission to the
emergency center.
b. The family reports that he took an entire bottle of
acetaminophen.
c. He is unresponsive to instructions and is unable to cooperate
with emetic therapy.
d. Those with repeated suicide attempts desire punishment to
relieve their guilt. Correct Answers *C. He is unresponsive to
instructions and is unable to cooperate with emetic therapy.*
Because the client is unable to follow instructions, emetic
therapy would be very difficult to implement and gastric lavage
,would be necessary (C). (A and B) should be considered in
determining the course of tx, but they're not the basis for
determining if gastric lavage will be implemented. Medical tx
should never be used as "punitive" measures (D).
A 25 y/o F client has been particularly restless and the nurse
finds her trying to leave the psych unit. She tells the nurse,
"Please let me go! I must leave because the secret police are
after me." Which response is best for the nurse to make?
a. No one is after you, you're safe here.
b. You'll feel better after you have rested.
c. I know you must feel lonely and frightened.
d. Come with me to your room and I will sit with you. Correct
Answers *D. Come with me to your room and I will sit with
you.*
(D) is the best response because it offers support without
judgment or demands. (A) is arguing with the client's delusion.
(B) is offering false reassurance. (C) is a violation of therapeutic
communication in that the nurse is telling the client how she
feels (frightened and lonely) rather than allowing the client to
describe her own feelings. Hallucinating and/or delusional
clients are not capable of discussing their feelings, particularly
when they perceive a crisis.
A 27 y/o F client is admitted to the psychiatric hospital with a dx
of bipolar disorder, manic phase. She is demanding and active.
Which intervention should the nurse include in this client's plan
of care?
, a. Schedule her to attend various group activities.
b. Reinforce her ability to make her own decisions.
c. Encourage her to identify feelings of anger.
d. Provide a structured environment with little stimuli. Correct
Answers *D. Provide a structured environment with little
stimuli.*
Clients in the manic phase of bipolar disorder require decreased
stimuli and a structured environment (D). Plan noncompetitive
activities that can be carried out alone. (A) is contraindicated;
stimuli should be reduced as much as possible. Impulsive
decision-making is characteristic of clients with bipolar disorder.
To prevent future complications, the nurse should monitor these
clients' decisions and assist them in decision-making process
(B). (C) is more often associated with depression than with
bipolar disorder.
A 30 y/o sales manager tells the nurse, "I am thinking about a
job change. I don't feel like I am living up to my potential".
Which of Maslow's developmental stages is the sales manager
attempting to achieve?
a. Self-Actualization
b. Loving and Belonging
c. Basic Needs
d. Safety and Security Correct Answers *A. Self-
Actualization*
Self-actualization is the highest level of Maslow's development
stages, which is an attempt to fulfill one's full potential (C). (B)
is identifying support systems. (C) is the first level of Maslow's
