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Description: Comprehensive multiple-choice question bank covering the psychiatric
interview process, therapeutic alliance, assessment techniques, mental status
examination, risk assessment, and diagnostic reasoning for the PMHNP role. Designed
for Chamberlain University NR548 Week 2 exam revision (2026/2027).
Keywords: psychiatric interview, therapeutic alliance, rapport building, normalization,
symptom expectation, symptom exaggeration, reduction of guilt, mental status exam,
MSE, risk assessment, diagnostic reasoning, PMHNP
Section 1: The Psychiatric Interview and Therapeutic
Alliance (Questions 1–40)
Q1. What is the primary purpose of the psychiatric interview?
A) To prescribe medication for symptom management
B) To build a therapeutic alliance and obtain a psychiatric database ✅
C) To determine the client's medical history only
D) To provide long-term psychotherapy
Q2. Which of the following is the most important goal of the diagnostic interview
process?
,A) Establishing a medical diagnosis
B) Creating a therapeutic alliance ✅
C) Completing a mental status exam
D) Obtaining a family history
Q3. The therapeutic alliance is best defined as:
A) A legal agreement between provider and client
B) A feeling of rapport, trust, and warmth between provider and client ✅
C) A standardized assessment tool
D) A medication management plan
Q4. Without therapeutic rapport and trust, what is the most likely consequence?
A) The client will refuse all medications
B) Adherence to treatment recommendations may be compromised ✅
C) The provider cannot bill for services
D) The interview will be automatically terminated
Q5. During which phase of the interview does the therapeutic alliance begin?
A) Closing phase
B) Body of the interview
C) Opening phase ✅
D) Termination phase
Q6. A PMHNP is beginning an initial psychiatric interview with a new client.
According to best practices, how should the PMHNP approach the opening phase?
A) Begin with the psychiatric review of systems immediately
B) Give the patient the opening word and defuse the strangeness of the clinical situation
✅
C) Start by asking about the patient's family history
D) Immediately establish the treatment plan
,Q7. Which of the following is a recommended tip for creating rapport during the
psychiatric interview?
A) Maintain a rigid, professional distance at all times
B) Be warm, courteous, and emotionally sensitive ✅
C) Avoid eye contact to reduce client anxiety
D) Begin with the most sensitive questions first
Q8. "Actively defusing the strangeness of the clinical situation" involves:
A) Ignoring the patient's discomfort
B) Acknowledging the awkwardness and helping the patient feel more at ease ✅
C) Immediately discussing the diagnosis
D) Using technical jargon to establish expertise
Q9. According to Peplau's Theory of Interpersonal Relations, establishing early
rapport allows the nurse's role to evolve from stranger to which of the following?
A) Diagnostician, prescriber, and administrator
B) Resource person, teacher, leader, surrogate, technical expert, and counselor ✅
C) Researcher, educator, and advocate
D) Supervisor, manager, and director
Q10. Trust is essential for a therapeutic alliance. Which of the following is most
likely to break down barriers and allow client needs to be the center of the plan of
care?
A) Building a relationship based on respect, kindness, and acceptance ✅
B) Establishing strict professional boundaries without warmth
C) Focusing exclusively on medication compliance
D) Maintaining a detached, objective stance
Q11. Which of the following is NOT one of the three phases of the psychiatric
interview?
, A) Opening phase
B) Body of the interview
C) Closing the interview
D) Diagnostic confirmation phase ✅
Q12. The opening phase of the psychiatric interview typically lasts:
A) 30–40 minutes
B) 5–10 minutes ✅
C) 1–2 minutes
D) 15–20 minutes
Q13. Which statement best describes the opening phase of the psychiatric
interview?
A) It is often the most important phase because it establishes the foundation ✅
B) It focuses primarily on diagnostic formulation
C) It involves negotiating the treatment plan
D) It consists mainly of the mental status examination
Q14. The opening phase of the psychiatric interview typically begins with which
question?
A) "What medications are you currently taking?"
B) "What brought you in to see me today?" ✅
C) "Do you have a family history of mental illness?"
D) "Have you ever been hospitalized for psychiatric reasons?"
Q15. The body of the interview typically lasts:
A) 5–10 minutes
B) 30–40 minutes ✅
C) 15–20 minutes
D) 1–2 hours