CHAPTER 5: MENTAL STATUS (JARVIS) (UPDATED) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2022

CHAPTER 5: MENTAL STATUS (JARVIS) (UPDATED) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2022 During an examination, the nurse can assess mental status by which activity? a. Examining the patient's electroencephalogram b. Observing the patient as he or she performs an intelligence quotient (IQ) test c. Observing the patient and inferring health or dysfunction d. Examining the patient's response to a specific set of questions - ANS-C The nurse is assessing a 75-year-old man. As the nurse begins the mental status portion of the assessment, the nurse expects that this patient: a. Will have no decrease in any of his abilities, including response time. b. Will have difficulty on tests of remote memory because this ability typically decreases with age. c. May take a little longer to respond, but his general knowledge and abilities should not have declined. d. Will exhibit had a decrease in his response time because of the loss of language and a decrease in general knowledge. - ANS-C When assessing aging adults, the nurse knows that one of the first things that should be assessed before making judgments about their mental status is: a. Presence of phobias b. General intelligence c. Presence of irrational thinking patterns d. Sensory-perceptive abilities - ANS-D The nurse is preparing to conduct a mental status examination. Which statement is true regarding the mental status examination? a. A patient's family is the best resource for information about the patient's coping skills. b. Gathering mental status information during the health history interview is usually sufficient. c. Integrating the mental status examination into the health history interview takes an enormous amount of extra time. d. To get a good idea of the patient's level of functioning, performing a complete mental status examination is usually necessary. - ANS-B A woman brings her husband to the clinic for an examination. She is particularly worried because after a recent fall, he seems to have lost a great deal of his memory of recent events. Which statement reflects the nurse's best course of action? a. Perform a complete mental status examination. b. Refer him to a psychometrician. c. Plan to integrate the mental status examination into the history and physical examination. d. Reassure his wife that memory loss after a physical shock is normal and will soon subside. - ANS-A The nurse is conducting a patient interview. Which statement made by the patient should the nurse more fully explore during the interview? a. "I sleep like a baby." b. "I have no health problems." c. "I never did too good in school." d. "I am not currently taking any medications." - ANS-C A patient is admitted to the unit after an automobile accident. The nurse begins the mental status examination and finds that the patient has dysarthric speech and is lethargic. The nurse's best approach regarding this examination is to: a. Plan to defer the rest of the mental status examination. b. Skip the language portion of the examination, and proceed onto assessing mood and affect. c. Conduct an in-depth speech evaluation, and defer the mental status examination to another time. d. Proceed with the examination, and assess the patient for suicidal thoughts because dysarthria is often accompanied by severe depression. - ANS-A A 19-year-old woman comes to the clinic at the insistence of her brother. She is wearing black combat boots and a black lace nightgown over the top of her other clothes. Her hair is dyed pink with black streaks throughout. She has several pierced holes in her nares and ears and is wearing an earring through her eyebrow and heavy black makeup. The nurse concludes that: a. She probably does not have any problems. b. She is only trying to shock people and that her dress should be ignored. c. She has a manic syndrome because of her abnormal dress and grooming. d. More information should be gathered to decide whether her dress is appropriate. - ANS-D A patient has been in the intensive care unit for 10 days. He has just been moved to the medical-surgical unit, and the admitting nurse is planning to perform a mental status examination. During the tests of cognitive function, the nurse would expect that he: a. May display some disruption in thought content. b. Will state, "I am so relieved to be out of intensive care." c. Will be oriented to place and person, but the patient may not be certain of the date. d. May show evidence of some clouding of his level of consciousness. - ANS-C During a mental status examination, the nurse wants to assess a patient's affect. The nurse should ask the patient which question? a. "How do you feel today?" b. "Would you please repeat the following words?" c. "Have these medications had any effect on your pain?" d. "Has this pain affected your ability to get dressed by yourself?" - ANS-A The nurse is planning to assess new memory with a patient. The best way for the nurse to do this would be to: a. Administer the FACT test. b. Ask him to describe his first job. c. Give him the Four Unrelated Words Test. d. Ask him to describe what television show he was watching before coming to the clinic. - ANS-C A 45-year-old woman is at the clinic for a mental status assessment. In giving her the Four Unrelated Words Test, the nurse would be concerned if she could not ____ four unrelated words ____. a. Invent; within 5 minutes b. Invent; within 30 seconds c. Recall; after a 30-minute delay d. Recall; after a 60-minute delay - ANS-C During a mental status assessment, which question by the nurse would best assess a person's judgment? CONTINUES...