Galen College NUR 256 Exam 3 (pdf) | 2026/2027 | Mental Health
Q&A | Mental Health
1. A nurse is caring for a 20-year-old client who survived a gang-related
shooting and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Which
information should the nurse provide to the client about this condition?
A) A thankful attitude for being alive is common with this condition.
B) This condition occurs only when directly experiencing a traumatic event.
C) Clients with PTSD will revisit the physical place where the trauma
occurred.
D) Marked physiological reactions to things that remind the client of the
event are characteristic.
Correct Answer: Marked physiological reactions to things that remind the
client of the event are characteristic.
Rationale: PTSD is characterized by re-experiencing symptoms, including
marked physiological responses such as increased heart rate, sweating, or
panic when confronted with trauma reminders. Witnessing trauma can also
cause PTSD, so option B is incorrect. Appreciative attitudes are not typical
diagnostic descriptors (A), and visiting the trauma site is not a hallmark
symptom (C).
2. A nurse is assessing a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder. Which
behavior is most characteristic of this disorder?
A) The child demonstrates no normal fear of strangers and is overly friendly.
B) The child has a consistent pattern of inhibited and emotionally withdrawn
behavior.
C) The child experiences sudden, unexpected travel away from home.
D) The child feels detached from their own body and mental processes.
,Correct Answer: The child has a consistent pattern of inhibited and
emotionally withdrawn behavior.
Rationale: Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder demonstrate a
consistent pattern of inhibited and emotionally withdrawn behavior, rarely
seeking comfort or responding to comfort from adult caregivers when
distressed. Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder involves no normal fear
of strangers.
3. The nurse is assessing a child with Disinhibited Social Engagement
Disorder. Which finding is most characteristic of this disorder?
A) The child rarely seeks comfort from caregivers.
B) The child demonstrates a consistent pattern of emotionally withdrawn
behavior.
C) The child has no normal fear of strangers and is overly friendly.
D) The child experiences flashbacks and nightmares.
Correct Answer: The child has no normal fear of strangers and is overly
friendly.
Rationale: Children with Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder
demonstrate no normal fear of strangers, tend to be overly friendly, and are
usually willing to go with someone they do not know. This distinguishes it
from Reactive Attachment Disorder, where the child is inhibited and
withdrawn.
4. A nurse is caring for an adult client with PTSD who is experiencing
dissociation. Which statement best describes this phenomenon?
A) The client has a sudden, unexpected travel away from home.
B) The client experiences a disconnection of thoughts, emotions, sensations,
and behaviors connected to memory.
,C) The client is unable to recall important personal information.
D) The client feels like they are walking in a fog.
Correct Answer: The client experiences a disconnection of thoughts,
emotions, sensations, and behaviors connected to memory.
Rationale: In adults with PTSD, dissociation involves the disconnection of
thoughts, emotions, sensations, and behaviors connected to memory.
Symptoms can begin a month after exposure to trauma, with flashbacks and
dissociative experiences reliving the traumatic event.
5. A client has been diagnosed with Acute Stress Disorder. Which time frame
is consistent with this diagnosis?
A) Symptoms begin immediately after the trauma and resolve within 3 days
B) Symptoms begin after 1 month of exposure to the trauma
C) Symptoms must be diagnosed 3 days to 1 month after the traumatic
event
D) Symptoms persist for more than 6 months
Correct Answer: Symptoms must be diagnosed 3 days to 1 month after the
traumatic event
Rationale: Acute Stress Disorder may develop after exposure to a highly
traumatic event and must be diagnosed 3 days to 1 month after the event.
PTSD is diagnosed when symptoms persist beyond one month.
6. A client is diagnosed with Dissociative Amnesia. Which finding is most
characteristic of this disorder?
A) The client has two or more distinct personality states.
B) The client experiences sudden, unexpected travel away from home.
, C) The client is unable to recall important personal information, often of a
traumatic or stressful nature.
D) The client feels like an observer of their own body.
Correct Answer: The client is unable to recall important personal information,
often of a traumatic or stressful nature.
Rationale: Dissociative Amnesia involves the inability to recall important
personal information, often of a traumatic or stressful nature. It can be
localized (unable to remember all events in a certain period) or selective
(unable to recall some but not all events).
7. A nurse is assessing a client with Dissociative Fugue. Which finding is
characteristic of this disorder?
A) The client has a consistent pattern of inhibited and emotionally withdrawn
behavior.
B) The client experiences sudden, unexpected travel away from their
customary locale and cannot recall their identity.
C) The client has two or more distinct personality states.
D) The client experiences a disconnection of thoughts, emotions, and
sensations.
Correct Answer: The client experiences sudden, unexpected travel away from
their customary locale and cannot recall their identity.
Rationale: Dissociative Fugue is characterized by sudden, unexpected travel
away from the customary locale and an inability to recall identity and
information about some or all of the past. It is a rare dissociative disorder.
8. A client reports feeling like an observer of their own body and mental
processes. The nurse documents this as which symptom?
Q&A | Mental Health
1. A nurse is caring for a 20-year-old client who survived a gang-related
shooting and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Which
information should the nurse provide to the client about this condition?
A) A thankful attitude for being alive is common with this condition.
B) This condition occurs only when directly experiencing a traumatic event.
C) Clients with PTSD will revisit the physical place where the trauma
occurred.
D) Marked physiological reactions to things that remind the client of the
event are characteristic.
Correct Answer: Marked physiological reactions to things that remind the
client of the event are characteristic.
Rationale: PTSD is characterized by re-experiencing symptoms, including
marked physiological responses such as increased heart rate, sweating, or
panic when confronted with trauma reminders. Witnessing trauma can also
cause PTSD, so option B is incorrect. Appreciative attitudes are not typical
diagnostic descriptors (A), and visiting the trauma site is not a hallmark
symptom (C).
2. A nurse is assessing a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder. Which
behavior is most characteristic of this disorder?
A) The child demonstrates no normal fear of strangers and is overly friendly.
B) The child has a consistent pattern of inhibited and emotionally withdrawn
behavior.
C) The child experiences sudden, unexpected travel away from home.
D) The child feels detached from their own body and mental processes.
,Correct Answer: The child has a consistent pattern of inhibited and
emotionally withdrawn behavior.
Rationale: Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder demonstrate a
consistent pattern of inhibited and emotionally withdrawn behavior, rarely
seeking comfort or responding to comfort from adult caregivers when
distressed. Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder involves no normal fear
of strangers.
3. The nurse is assessing a child with Disinhibited Social Engagement
Disorder. Which finding is most characteristic of this disorder?
A) The child rarely seeks comfort from caregivers.
B) The child demonstrates a consistent pattern of emotionally withdrawn
behavior.
C) The child has no normal fear of strangers and is overly friendly.
D) The child experiences flashbacks and nightmares.
Correct Answer: The child has no normal fear of strangers and is overly
friendly.
Rationale: Children with Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder
demonstrate no normal fear of strangers, tend to be overly friendly, and are
usually willing to go with someone they do not know. This distinguishes it
from Reactive Attachment Disorder, where the child is inhibited and
withdrawn.
4. A nurse is caring for an adult client with PTSD who is experiencing
dissociation. Which statement best describes this phenomenon?
A) The client has a sudden, unexpected travel away from home.
B) The client experiences a disconnection of thoughts, emotions, sensations,
and behaviors connected to memory.
,C) The client is unable to recall important personal information.
D) The client feels like they are walking in a fog.
Correct Answer: The client experiences a disconnection of thoughts,
emotions, sensations, and behaviors connected to memory.
Rationale: In adults with PTSD, dissociation involves the disconnection of
thoughts, emotions, sensations, and behaviors connected to memory.
Symptoms can begin a month after exposure to trauma, with flashbacks and
dissociative experiences reliving the traumatic event.
5. A client has been diagnosed with Acute Stress Disorder. Which time frame
is consistent with this diagnosis?
A) Symptoms begin immediately after the trauma and resolve within 3 days
B) Symptoms begin after 1 month of exposure to the trauma
C) Symptoms must be diagnosed 3 days to 1 month after the traumatic
event
D) Symptoms persist for more than 6 months
Correct Answer: Symptoms must be diagnosed 3 days to 1 month after the
traumatic event
Rationale: Acute Stress Disorder may develop after exposure to a highly
traumatic event and must be diagnosed 3 days to 1 month after the event.
PTSD is diagnosed when symptoms persist beyond one month.
6. A client is diagnosed with Dissociative Amnesia. Which finding is most
characteristic of this disorder?
A) The client has two or more distinct personality states.
B) The client experiences sudden, unexpected travel away from home.
, C) The client is unable to recall important personal information, often of a
traumatic or stressful nature.
D) The client feels like an observer of their own body.
Correct Answer: The client is unable to recall important personal information,
often of a traumatic or stressful nature.
Rationale: Dissociative Amnesia involves the inability to recall important
personal information, often of a traumatic or stressful nature. It can be
localized (unable to remember all events in a certain period) or selective
(unable to recall some but not all events).
7. A nurse is assessing a client with Dissociative Fugue. Which finding is
characteristic of this disorder?
A) The client has a consistent pattern of inhibited and emotionally withdrawn
behavior.
B) The client experiences sudden, unexpected travel away from their
customary locale and cannot recall their identity.
C) The client has two or more distinct personality states.
D) The client experiences a disconnection of thoughts, emotions, and
sensations.
Correct Answer: The client experiences sudden, unexpected travel away from
their customary locale and cannot recall their identity.
Rationale: Dissociative Fugue is characterized by sudden, unexpected travel
away from the customary locale and an inability to recall identity and
information about some or all of the past. It is a rare dissociative disorder.
8. A client reports feeling like an observer of their own body and mental
processes. The nurse documents this as which symptom?
