CHAMBERLAIN UNIVERSITY
NR 326 MENTAL-HEALTH NURSING
EXAM 2 STUDY GUIDE
250 Short-Answer Review Questions with Correct Answers
Covers mental-health nursing topics, including psychosis, mood disorders, anxiety, medications, suicide
prevention, and substance use.
1. What is the priority when a patient expresses suicidal intent?
Answer: Maintain immediate safety: stay with the patient, initiate the facility’s suicide precautions,
and notify the appropriate clinical team.
2. What should a nurse ask directly when suicide risk is suspected?
Answer: Ask whether the patient is thinking about suicide, has a plan, has access to means, and
intends to act.
3. Why should nurses ask about suicide directly?
Answer: Direct, calm questioning does not cause suicide and helps identify risk and immediate safety
needs.
4. What is the first priority for a patient at imminent risk of suicide?
Answer: Protect the patient from harm through continuous observation and removal of accessible
hazards according to policy.
5. What is a safety plan?
Answer: A collaborative written plan identifying warning signs, coping strategies, supportive contacts,
professional resources, and steps to reduce access to lethal means.
6. What is the difference between a safety plan and a no-suicide contract?
Answer: A safety plan provides actionable coping and emergency steps; a no-suicide contract is not a
substitute for assessment, observation, or evidence-based intervention.
7. Name common suicide warning signs.
Answer: Talking about death, hopelessness, feeling trapped, seeking lethal means, withdrawal, giving
possessions away, or sudden behavioral changes.
8. Which factors increase suicide risk?
Answer: Prior attempts, current intent or plan, access to lethal means, severe mood disorder,
substance use, acute loss, and limited support.
9. What is the nurse’s response if a patient denies suicidality but behavior remains concerning?
Answer: Continue a comprehensive assessment, review collateral information, communicate concerns,
and maintain precautions based on assessed risk and policy.
10. What is the priority after a suicide attempt by overdose?
Answer: Stabilize airway, breathing, and circulation; initiate emergency medical care and poison-
control/toxicology guidance as indicated.
11. What is therapeutic communication?
Answer: Purposeful, patient-centered communication that supports expression, trust, assessment, and
coping.
12. Give an example of an open-ended therapeutic question.
, Answer: “Can you tell me more about what has been troubling you?”
13. Why is silence useful in therapeutic communication?
Answer: It gives the patient time to organize thoughts and communicate feelings without pressure.
14. What is reflection in a therapeutic interview?
Answer: Restating or reflecting the patient’s feelings or ideas to encourage deeper exploration.
15. What is clarification?
Answer: Asking the patient to explain an unclear statement so the nurse understands accurately.
16. What is false reassurance?
Answer: Offering unsupported guarantees, such as “Everything will be fine,” which can minimize the
patient’s distress.
17. Why should a nurse avoid asking “why” questions in a blaming tone?
Answer: They may sound judgmental and make the patient defensive or less willing to share.
18. What is a nontherapeutic response to a grieving patient?
Answer: “You should be over this by now.” It minimizes the person’s experience.
19. How should a nurse respond to a patient who says, “Nobody cares about me”?
Answer: Acknowledge the feeling and explore it, for example, “It sounds like you feel very alone. Tell
me more.”
20. What is empathy?
Answer: Understanding and communicating awareness of another person’s feelings while maintaining
professional boundaries.
21. What is the primary purpose of a mental status examination?
Answer: Systematically assess appearance, behavior, speech, mood, affect, thought, perception,
cognition, insight, and judgment.
22. How is mood different from affect?
Answer: Mood is the patient’s sustained subjective emotional state; affect is the observable expression
of emotion.
23. What is a flat affect?
Answer: Little or no observable emotional expression.
24. What is labile affect?
Answer: Rapid, abrupt shifts in emotional expression.
25. What is circumstantial speech?
Answer: Overly detailed speech that eventually returns to the point.
26. What is tangential speech?
Answer: Speech that wanders away from the question and does not return to the point.
27. What is flight of ideas?
Answer: Rapidly shifting thoughts with understandable but superficial connections, often associated
with mania.
28. What is thought blocking?
Answer: A sudden interruption in the train of thought, with the patient unable to continue.
29. What is a delusion?
, Answer: A fixed false belief that is not changed by clear contradictory evidence and is not explained
by the person’s cultural context.
30. What is a hallucination?
Answer: A sensory perception occurring without an external stimulus.
31. What is an illusion?
Answer: A misinterpretation of an actual external stimulus.
32. What is the difference between insight and judgment?
Answer: Insight is awareness of one’s condition; judgment is the ability to make sound decisions.
33. What is orientation assessment?
Answer: Assessing awareness of person, place, time, and situation.
34. What should the nurse do when a patient reports hearing voices?
Answer: Assess content, commands, distress, ability to resist, and risk; respond calmly and ensure
safety.
35. How should a nurse respond to a delusion?
Answer: Acknowledge the patient’s feelings without agreeing with the false belief, and present reality
calmly.
36. What should the nurse say to a patient who believes staff are poisoning food?
Answer: “I understand you’re frightened. I don’t believe the food is poisoned, but we can talk about
what would help you feel safe.”
37. What is a command hallucination?
Answer: A hallucination that instructs the person to perform an action, potentially including harm to
self or others.
38. What is the priority assessment for command hallucinations?
Answer: Determine what the voice is commanding, whether the patient intends to obey, and the
patient’s ability to resist.
39. What is a delusion of persecution?
Answer: A belief that others are plotting against, threatening, or harming the person.
40. What is a delusion of reference?
Answer: A belief that ordinary events or media messages specifically refer to the person.
41. What is a grandiose delusion?
Answer: A false belief of exceptional power, identity, knowledge, or importance.
42. What is a somatic delusion?
Answer: A false belief involving bodily functions or physical health.
43. What is the main feature of schizophrenia?
Answer: A syndrome involving psychotic symptoms, such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized
thought or behavior, and/or negative symptoms, with functional impairment.
44. Name positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
Answer: Hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, and markedly disorganized or catatonic
behavior.
45. Name negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
NR 326 MENTAL-HEALTH NURSING
EXAM 2 STUDY GUIDE
250 Short-Answer Review Questions with Correct Answers
Covers mental-health nursing topics, including psychosis, mood disorders, anxiety, medications, suicide
prevention, and substance use.
1. What is the priority when a patient expresses suicidal intent?
Answer: Maintain immediate safety: stay with the patient, initiate the facility’s suicide precautions,
and notify the appropriate clinical team.
2. What should a nurse ask directly when suicide risk is suspected?
Answer: Ask whether the patient is thinking about suicide, has a plan, has access to means, and
intends to act.
3. Why should nurses ask about suicide directly?
Answer: Direct, calm questioning does not cause suicide and helps identify risk and immediate safety
needs.
4. What is the first priority for a patient at imminent risk of suicide?
Answer: Protect the patient from harm through continuous observation and removal of accessible
hazards according to policy.
5. What is a safety plan?
Answer: A collaborative written plan identifying warning signs, coping strategies, supportive contacts,
professional resources, and steps to reduce access to lethal means.
6. What is the difference between a safety plan and a no-suicide contract?
Answer: A safety plan provides actionable coping and emergency steps; a no-suicide contract is not a
substitute for assessment, observation, or evidence-based intervention.
7. Name common suicide warning signs.
Answer: Talking about death, hopelessness, feeling trapped, seeking lethal means, withdrawal, giving
possessions away, or sudden behavioral changes.
8. Which factors increase suicide risk?
Answer: Prior attempts, current intent or plan, access to lethal means, severe mood disorder,
substance use, acute loss, and limited support.
9. What is the nurse’s response if a patient denies suicidality but behavior remains concerning?
Answer: Continue a comprehensive assessment, review collateral information, communicate concerns,
and maintain precautions based on assessed risk and policy.
10. What is the priority after a suicide attempt by overdose?
Answer: Stabilize airway, breathing, and circulation; initiate emergency medical care and poison-
control/toxicology guidance as indicated.
11. What is therapeutic communication?
Answer: Purposeful, patient-centered communication that supports expression, trust, assessment, and
coping.
12. Give an example of an open-ended therapeutic question.
, Answer: “Can you tell me more about what has been troubling you?”
13. Why is silence useful in therapeutic communication?
Answer: It gives the patient time to organize thoughts and communicate feelings without pressure.
14. What is reflection in a therapeutic interview?
Answer: Restating or reflecting the patient’s feelings or ideas to encourage deeper exploration.
15. What is clarification?
Answer: Asking the patient to explain an unclear statement so the nurse understands accurately.
16. What is false reassurance?
Answer: Offering unsupported guarantees, such as “Everything will be fine,” which can minimize the
patient’s distress.
17. Why should a nurse avoid asking “why” questions in a blaming tone?
Answer: They may sound judgmental and make the patient defensive or less willing to share.
18. What is a nontherapeutic response to a grieving patient?
Answer: “You should be over this by now.” It minimizes the person’s experience.
19. How should a nurse respond to a patient who says, “Nobody cares about me”?
Answer: Acknowledge the feeling and explore it, for example, “It sounds like you feel very alone. Tell
me more.”
20. What is empathy?
Answer: Understanding and communicating awareness of another person’s feelings while maintaining
professional boundaries.
21. What is the primary purpose of a mental status examination?
Answer: Systematically assess appearance, behavior, speech, mood, affect, thought, perception,
cognition, insight, and judgment.
22. How is mood different from affect?
Answer: Mood is the patient’s sustained subjective emotional state; affect is the observable expression
of emotion.
23. What is a flat affect?
Answer: Little or no observable emotional expression.
24. What is labile affect?
Answer: Rapid, abrupt shifts in emotional expression.
25. What is circumstantial speech?
Answer: Overly detailed speech that eventually returns to the point.
26. What is tangential speech?
Answer: Speech that wanders away from the question and does not return to the point.
27. What is flight of ideas?
Answer: Rapidly shifting thoughts with understandable but superficial connections, often associated
with mania.
28. What is thought blocking?
Answer: A sudden interruption in the train of thought, with the patient unable to continue.
29. What is a delusion?
, Answer: A fixed false belief that is not changed by clear contradictory evidence and is not explained
by the person’s cultural context.
30. What is a hallucination?
Answer: A sensory perception occurring without an external stimulus.
31. What is an illusion?
Answer: A misinterpretation of an actual external stimulus.
32. What is the difference between insight and judgment?
Answer: Insight is awareness of one’s condition; judgment is the ability to make sound decisions.
33. What is orientation assessment?
Answer: Assessing awareness of person, place, time, and situation.
34. What should the nurse do when a patient reports hearing voices?
Answer: Assess content, commands, distress, ability to resist, and risk; respond calmly and ensure
safety.
35. How should a nurse respond to a delusion?
Answer: Acknowledge the patient’s feelings without agreeing with the false belief, and present reality
calmly.
36. What should the nurse say to a patient who believes staff are poisoning food?
Answer: “I understand you’re frightened. I don’t believe the food is poisoned, but we can talk about
what would help you feel safe.”
37. What is a command hallucination?
Answer: A hallucination that instructs the person to perform an action, potentially including harm to
self or others.
38. What is the priority assessment for command hallucinations?
Answer: Determine what the voice is commanding, whether the patient intends to obey, and the
patient’s ability to resist.
39. What is a delusion of persecution?
Answer: A belief that others are plotting against, threatening, or harming the person.
40. What is a delusion of reference?
Answer: A belief that ordinary events or media messages specifically refer to the person.
41. What is a grandiose delusion?
Answer: A false belief of exceptional power, identity, knowledge, or importance.
42. What is a somatic delusion?
Answer: A false belief involving bodily functions or physical health.
43. What is the main feature of schizophrenia?
Answer: A syndrome involving psychotic symptoms, such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized
thought or behavior, and/or negative symptoms, with functional impairment.
44. Name positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
Answer: Hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, and markedly disorganized or catatonic
behavior.
45. Name negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
