NSG 322 EXAM 1: (Latest 2026/2027 Update) Foundations of Psychiatric
Nursing & Anxiety Disorders | Q&A | Grade A | 100% Correct (Verified
Answers) – Nursing Program
Subject: NSG 322 – Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing
Source: NSG 322 EXAM 1 Blueprint 2026/2027
Format: Q&A Guide with Rationale | Verified Grade A
1. What are the 5 A's of evidence-based practice?
Correct Answer: Ask, acquire, appraise, apply, assess.
1. Evidence-based practice integrates best evidence with clinical expertise and patient
preferences.
2. Ask: formulate clinical question. Acquire: search literature. Appraise: evaluate evidence
quality. Apply: implement evidence. Assess: evaluate outcomes.
3. Used in all areas of nursing practice.
2. What did the Community Mental Health Center Act (1963) accomplish?
Correct Answer: Shifted care from institutionalization to community care; altered delivery of mental
health services and inspired a new era of optimism.
1. Led to deinstitutionalization and closure of state hospitals.
2. Established community mental health centers (CMHCs).
3. Emphasized prevention, outpatient care, and community integration.
3. What is prevalence rate?
Correct Answer: Proportion of the population with a mental disorder at a given time (total existing
cases).
1. Prevalence = all cases (new and existing) / total population at a point in time.
2. Measures burden of disease in population.
3. Used for resource allocation and planning.
4. What is epidemiology in mental health?
Correct Answer: Studies the distribution of disorders; helps clinicians understand frequency and
factors associated with a particular diagnosis.
1. Epidemiology investigates incidence, prevalence, and risk factors.
2. Identifies populations at risk.
3. Informs prevention and treatment strategies.
,5. What is resiliency?
Correct Answer: Ability to adjust to trauma or change (coping with adversity and recovering).
1. Protective factors: social support, problem-solving skills, positive self-concept.
2. Modifiable through skills training and therapy.
3. Key factor in recovery from mental illness.
6. What does stigmatizing mean in mental health?
Correct Answer: Attitudes toward the mentally ill; how people treat people with a mental illness
(negative labeling).
1. Stigma leads to discrimination, social rejection, and barriers to care.
2. Can be public stigma or self-stigma (internalized).
3. Nurses combat stigma through education and advocacy.
7. What is stigma?
Correct Answer: Negative attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts about the mentally ill.
1. Stereotype: cognitive component. Prejudice: affective component. Discrimination: behavioral
component.
2. Stigma reduces help-seeking and treatment adherence.
3. Contact-based education most effective anti-stigma intervention.
8. What are the most common medical illnesses seen in psych units?
Correct Answer: Respiratory illnesses, thyroid illnesses, and cardiac illnesses.
1. Psychiatric patients have higher rates of medical comorbidity.
2. Thyroid disease common in mood disorders.
3. Respiratory diseases (COPD, asthma) from high smoking rates.
4. Heart disease due to metabolic syndrome.
9. What is holistic practice in psychiatric nursing?
Correct Answer: Scientific knowledge and caring arts (treating the whole person: body, mind, spirit).
1. Addresses biological, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions.
2. Considers environment and culture.
3. Foundation of psychiatric nursing practice.
10. What are the 3 specific areas inherent with the art of nursing?
Correct Answer: Caring, attending, and patient advocacy.
1. Caring: empathy, compassion, and therapeutic presence.
2. Attending: being fully present and listening actively.
3. Patient advocacy: speaking up for patient rights and needs.
, 11. What is the DSM-5 used for?
Correct Answer: Categorizing and diagnosing psychiatric mental health disorders; specifies diagnostic
criteria; identifies underlying cause (as known). Providers create this assessment, not nurses.
1. DSM-5 diagnostic criteria used for clinical diagnosis.
2. Includes specifiers, severity, and differential diagnosis.
3. ICD-10 coding for billing.
12. What are the duties of a Psychiatric Mental Health Registered Nurse (PMH-RN)?
Correct Answer: Employ strategies to promote health and safe environment; therapeutic relationship
and counseling; collaborate with families and healthcare clinicians; individual/group/family
psychotherapy using evidence-based frameworks; health promotion, administer meds, case
management, self-care, social/coping skills.
1. Basic-level practice (not requiring advanced degree).
2. Focus on therapeutic milieu, medication management, and psychoeducation.
3. Works within scope of nursing license.
13. What are the duties of an Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse (PMH-APRN)?
Correct Answer: Prescriptive authority and treatment, psychotherapy, consultation, counseling,
cognitive/behavioral/milieu therapies, psychoeducational therapy.
1. Requires master's or doctoral degree (NP, CNS).
2. Independent practice in many states.
3. Can diagnose, prescribe medications, and provide psychotherapy.
14. What is milieu in psychiatric nursing?
Correct Answer: Environment in which holistic treatment occurs; includes treatment team, positive
setting, interactions, and activities to promote recovery.
1. Therapeutic milieu: structured environment with rules, routines, and expectations.
2. Promotes safety, peer support, and skill development.
3. All interactions are therapeutic opportunities.
15. What is cognitive therapy?
Correct Answer: Changing the way people think (identify and modify maladaptive thought patterns).
1. Based on premise that thoughts influence emotions and behaviors.
2. Cognitive restructuring: identify, challenge, and replace distorted thoughts.
3. Effective for depression, anxiety, eating disorders.
16. What are the characteristics of a therapeutic relationship?
Correct Answer: Dynamic, goal-oriented, and patient-centered. Allows nurse to apply professional
knowledge toward meeting patient needs.
1. Phases: orientation, working, termination.
2. Therapeutic use of self essential.
3. Boundaries maintained to avoid role confusion.
Nursing & Anxiety Disorders | Q&A | Grade A | 100% Correct (Verified
Answers) – Nursing Program
Subject: NSG 322 – Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing
Source: NSG 322 EXAM 1 Blueprint 2026/2027
Format: Q&A Guide with Rationale | Verified Grade A
1. What are the 5 A's of evidence-based practice?
Correct Answer: Ask, acquire, appraise, apply, assess.
1. Evidence-based practice integrates best evidence with clinical expertise and patient
preferences.
2. Ask: formulate clinical question. Acquire: search literature. Appraise: evaluate evidence
quality. Apply: implement evidence. Assess: evaluate outcomes.
3. Used in all areas of nursing practice.
2. What did the Community Mental Health Center Act (1963) accomplish?
Correct Answer: Shifted care from institutionalization to community care; altered delivery of mental
health services and inspired a new era of optimism.
1. Led to deinstitutionalization and closure of state hospitals.
2. Established community mental health centers (CMHCs).
3. Emphasized prevention, outpatient care, and community integration.
3. What is prevalence rate?
Correct Answer: Proportion of the population with a mental disorder at a given time (total existing
cases).
1. Prevalence = all cases (new and existing) / total population at a point in time.
2. Measures burden of disease in population.
3. Used for resource allocation and planning.
4. What is epidemiology in mental health?
Correct Answer: Studies the distribution of disorders; helps clinicians understand frequency and
factors associated with a particular diagnosis.
1. Epidemiology investigates incidence, prevalence, and risk factors.
2. Identifies populations at risk.
3. Informs prevention and treatment strategies.
,5. What is resiliency?
Correct Answer: Ability to adjust to trauma or change (coping with adversity and recovering).
1. Protective factors: social support, problem-solving skills, positive self-concept.
2. Modifiable through skills training and therapy.
3. Key factor in recovery from mental illness.
6. What does stigmatizing mean in mental health?
Correct Answer: Attitudes toward the mentally ill; how people treat people with a mental illness
(negative labeling).
1. Stigma leads to discrimination, social rejection, and barriers to care.
2. Can be public stigma or self-stigma (internalized).
3. Nurses combat stigma through education and advocacy.
7. What is stigma?
Correct Answer: Negative attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts about the mentally ill.
1. Stereotype: cognitive component. Prejudice: affective component. Discrimination: behavioral
component.
2. Stigma reduces help-seeking and treatment adherence.
3. Contact-based education most effective anti-stigma intervention.
8. What are the most common medical illnesses seen in psych units?
Correct Answer: Respiratory illnesses, thyroid illnesses, and cardiac illnesses.
1. Psychiatric patients have higher rates of medical comorbidity.
2. Thyroid disease common in mood disorders.
3. Respiratory diseases (COPD, asthma) from high smoking rates.
4. Heart disease due to metabolic syndrome.
9. What is holistic practice in psychiatric nursing?
Correct Answer: Scientific knowledge and caring arts (treating the whole person: body, mind, spirit).
1. Addresses biological, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions.
2. Considers environment and culture.
3. Foundation of psychiatric nursing practice.
10. What are the 3 specific areas inherent with the art of nursing?
Correct Answer: Caring, attending, and patient advocacy.
1. Caring: empathy, compassion, and therapeutic presence.
2. Attending: being fully present and listening actively.
3. Patient advocacy: speaking up for patient rights and needs.
, 11. What is the DSM-5 used for?
Correct Answer: Categorizing and diagnosing psychiatric mental health disorders; specifies diagnostic
criteria; identifies underlying cause (as known). Providers create this assessment, not nurses.
1. DSM-5 diagnostic criteria used for clinical diagnosis.
2. Includes specifiers, severity, and differential diagnosis.
3. ICD-10 coding for billing.
12. What are the duties of a Psychiatric Mental Health Registered Nurse (PMH-RN)?
Correct Answer: Employ strategies to promote health and safe environment; therapeutic relationship
and counseling; collaborate with families and healthcare clinicians; individual/group/family
psychotherapy using evidence-based frameworks; health promotion, administer meds, case
management, self-care, social/coping skills.
1. Basic-level practice (not requiring advanced degree).
2. Focus on therapeutic milieu, medication management, and psychoeducation.
3. Works within scope of nursing license.
13. What are the duties of an Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse (PMH-APRN)?
Correct Answer: Prescriptive authority and treatment, psychotherapy, consultation, counseling,
cognitive/behavioral/milieu therapies, psychoeducational therapy.
1. Requires master's or doctoral degree (NP, CNS).
2. Independent practice in many states.
3. Can diagnose, prescribe medications, and provide psychotherapy.
14. What is milieu in psychiatric nursing?
Correct Answer: Environment in which holistic treatment occurs; includes treatment team, positive
setting, interactions, and activities to promote recovery.
1. Therapeutic milieu: structured environment with rules, routines, and expectations.
2. Promotes safety, peer support, and skill development.
3. All interactions are therapeutic opportunities.
15. What is cognitive therapy?
Correct Answer: Changing the way people think (identify and modify maladaptive thought patterns).
1. Based on premise that thoughts influence emotions and behaviors.
2. Cognitive restructuring: identify, challenge, and replace distorted thoughts.
3. Effective for depression, anxiety, eating disorders.
16. What are the characteristics of a therapeutic relationship?
Correct Answer: Dynamic, goal-oriented, and patient-centered. Allows nurse to apply professional
knowledge toward meeting patient needs.
1. Phases: orientation, working, termination.
2. Therapeutic use of self essential.
3. Boundaries maintained to avoid role confusion.
