NSG 3180 Fundamentals Exam 3: Unit 5-8 Objectives
(Stress & Coping; Grief & Loss; Pain Management; CAM)
(Ch.42- Death and Loss, Ch.32- Stress and Coping, Ch.36 Pain Management, Unit 8)
1. Understand that your culture and belief system can aid in times of stress.
2. Know the difference between mild and moderate anxiety. (pg.721)
Mild Anxiety (can be beneficial)
o Can be motivational, foster creativity, and actually increase the ability to
think clearly.
Example- A person who experiences mild performance anxiety
when acting in a play may have a heightened ability to remember
lines or cues which keeps the person at top performance level.
Moderate Anxiety
o Narrows focus, dulls perception, and may challenge the person to pay
attention or use appropriate problem-solving skills.
3. Understand what crisis intervention is and when a referral may be necessary. (pg.
729)
Crisis Intervention o Short-term assistance provided at a time of physical or
emotional upheaval with the goal of helping the person in distress to
regain equilibrium.
It involves immediate action to help reduce the impact of a
traumatic event in the affected person’s life.
o Crisis intervention involves simple, innovative, accessible, practical, and
immediate actions that ensure a person's safety and mental well-being,
such as providing counselors for school students after the sudden death
of a classmate or encouraging a person to drive as soon as possible after
involvement in a fatal accident that took the life of a friend.
o Nurses, doctors, clergy, counselors, and community workers (such as
firefighters and police) often are called on to provide crisis intervention
at times of natural disasters, tragic accidents, or unexpected loss.
o Lack of appropriate assistance for a person in crisis to help reestablish a
sense of equilibrium may lead to the development of mental illness.
, o Crises should be approached by professionals as teachable moments in
which people have great openness to change and growth.
4. Identify and differentiate the defense mechanisms used by people. (p. 719 Box 32-
1)
Example of Compensation
o People with difficult family life may direct their energy toward excelling
at work.
Example of Denial
o Denying alcohol or substance problems because you may still be able to
function and get up to go to work every day.
• Example of Displacement o A manager screams at an employee but the
employee doesn’t scream back- but they will go home and scream at their
wife.
, • Example of Intellectualization o Endlessly researches the details of a
significant illness to avoid the anxiety, fear, and sadness of receiving a
diagnosis.
o Repeatedly listing the benefits of being single instead of facing the pain
of rejection after a breakup.
Example of Projection
o A married man who is attracted to a female coworker, but rather than
admit this to himself, he might accuse her of flirting with him.
o A woman wrestling with the urge to steal, who comes to believe that her
neighbors are trying to break into her home.
• Example of Rationalization o A student who is rejected from her dream
college may explain that she's happy to be attending a school that's less
competitive and more welcoming.
• Example of Reaction Formation o A man who feels insecure about his
masculinity might act overly aggressive. o A woman with substance use
disorder may extol the virtues of abstinence.
• Example of Regression
o A driver stuck in traffic may get angry and throw a tantrum, even though
he doesn't usually behave that way.
o A child may revert to sucking their thumb or wetting the bed after a
trauma.
Example of Repression
o A child, who faced abuse by a parent, later has no memory of the events
but has trouble forming relationships.
o A woman who experienced painful labor but continues to have children
(and each time the level of pain is surprising).
Example of Sublimination o A woman who recently went through a
breakup may channel her emotions into a home improvement project.
5. Know your stress hormones that can influence heart rate, respiratory rate, and
blood pressure
—fight or flight hormones. (Pg 718)
The hypothalamus functions to adapt to stress by releasing hormones
such as ACTH, cortisol, adrenaline epinephrine and norepinephrine The
release of these hormones:
(Stress & Coping; Grief & Loss; Pain Management; CAM)
(Ch.42- Death and Loss, Ch.32- Stress and Coping, Ch.36 Pain Management, Unit 8)
1. Understand that your culture and belief system can aid in times of stress.
2. Know the difference between mild and moderate anxiety. (pg.721)
Mild Anxiety (can be beneficial)
o Can be motivational, foster creativity, and actually increase the ability to
think clearly.
Example- A person who experiences mild performance anxiety
when acting in a play may have a heightened ability to remember
lines or cues which keeps the person at top performance level.
Moderate Anxiety
o Narrows focus, dulls perception, and may challenge the person to pay
attention or use appropriate problem-solving skills.
3. Understand what crisis intervention is and when a referral may be necessary. (pg.
729)
Crisis Intervention o Short-term assistance provided at a time of physical or
emotional upheaval with the goal of helping the person in distress to
regain equilibrium.
It involves immediate action to help reduce the impact of a
traumatic event in the affected person’s life.
o Crisis intervention involves simple, innovative, accessible, practical, and
immediate actions that ensure a person's safety and mental well-being,
such as providing counselors for school students after the sudden death
of a classmate or encouraging a person to drive as soon as possible after
involvement in a fatal accident that took the life of a friend.
o Nurses, doctors, clergy, counselors, and community workers (such as
firefighters and police) often are called on to provide crisis intervention
at times of natural disasters, tragic accidents, or unexpected loss.
o Lack of appropriate assistance for a person in crisis to help reestablish a
sense of equilibrium may lead to the development of mental illness.
, o Crises should be approached by professionals as teachable moments in
which people have great openness to change and growth.
4. Identify and differentiate the defense mechanisms used by people. (p. 719 Box 32-
1)
Example of Compensation
o People with difficult family life may direct their energy toward excelling
at work.
Example of Denial
o Denying alcohol or substance problems because you may still be able to
function and get up to go to work every day.
• Example of Displacement o A manager screams at an employee but the
employee doesn’t scream back- but they will go home and scream at their
wife.
, • Example of Intellectualization o Endlessly researches the details of a
significant illness to avoid the anxiety, fear, and sadness of receiving a
diagnosis.
o Repeatedly listing the benefits of being single instead of facing the pain
of rejection after a breakup.
Example of Projection
o A married man who is attracted to a female coworker, but rather than
admit this to himself, he might accuse her of flirting with him.
o A woman wrestling with the urge to steal, who comes to believe that her
neighbors are trying to break into her home.
• Example of Rationalization o A student who is rejected from her dream
college may explain that she's happy to be attending a school that's less
competitive and more welcoming.
• Example of Reaction Formation o A man who feels insecure about his
masculinity might act overly aggressive. o A woman with substance use
disorder may extol the virtues of abstinence.
• Example of Regression
o A driver stuck in traffic may get angry and throw a tantrum, even though
he doesn't usually behave that way.
o A child may revert to sucking their thumb or wetting the bed after a
trauma.
Example of Repression
o A child, who faced abuse by a parent, later has no memory of the events
but has trouble forming relationships.
o A woman who experienced painful labor but continues to have children
(and each time the level of pain is surprising).
Example of Sublimination o A woman who recently went through a
breakup may channel her emotions into a home improvement project.
5. Know your stress hormones that can influence heart rate, respiratory rate, and
blood pressure
—fight or flight hormones. (Pg 718)
The hypothalamus functions to adapt to stress by releasing hormones
such as ACTH, cortisol, adrenaline epinephrine and norepinephrine The
release of these hormones:
