WGU D449 PRACTICE EXAM 2 –
MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, 2025
VERIFIED SOLUTIONS & RATIONALES
Comprehensive Guide for Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
Prepared for Western Governors University, Semester 1, 2025
Curated by Nursing Education Experts
,Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Psychiatric Nursing Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1 Question 1: Role of Psychiatric Nurse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Question 2: Therapeutic Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3 Question 3: Mental Status Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.4 Question 4: DSM-5 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.5 Question 5: Therapeutic Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.6 Question 6: Milieu Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.7 Question 7: De-escalation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.8 Question 8: Professional Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.9 Question 9: Mental Health Stigma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.10 Question 10: Patient Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.11 Question 11: Psychosocial Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.12 Question 12: Crisis Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.13 Question 13: Informed Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.14 Question 14: Cultural Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.15 Question 15: Recovery Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.16 Question 16: Risk Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.17 Question 17: Therapeutic Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.18 Question 18: Ethical Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.19 Question 19: Confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.20 Question 20: Nurse Self-Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.21 Question 21: Biopsychosocial Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.22 Question 22: Active Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.23 Question 23: Mental Health Screening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.24 Question 24: Trauma-Informed Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.25 Question 25: Group Therapy Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.26 Question 26: Mental Health Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.27 Question 27: Patient-Centered Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.28 Question 28: Suicide Risk Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.29 Question 29: Role of Empathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.30 Question 30: Evidence-Based Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3 Psychiatric Disorders and Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.1 Anxiety Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Question 31: Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptom . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3 Question 32: First-Line Treatment for Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 Question 33: Panic Attack Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.5 Question 34: Benzodiazepine Side Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.6 Question 35: Anxiety Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.7 Question 36: Panic Disorder Trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.8 Question 37: CBT for Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.9 Question 38: Social Anxiety Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.10 Question 39: Nursing Priority for Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.11 Question 40: Patient Education for Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.12 Mood Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.13 Question 41: Major Depressive Disorder Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1
, WGU D449 Practice Exam 2 Mental Health Nursing 2025 July 5, 2025
3.14 Question 42: First-Line Treatment for MDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.15 Question 43: SSRI Side Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.16 Question 44: Depression Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.17 Question 45: Nursing Intervention for MDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.18 Question 46: Bipolar I Disorder Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.19 Question 47: Bipolar Disorder Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.20 Question 48: Lithium Side Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.21 Question 49: Nursing Priority for Bipolar Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.22 Question 50: CBT for Bipolar Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.23 Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.24 Question 51: Positive Symptom of Schizophrenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.25 Question 52: Negative Symptom of Schizophrenia . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.26 Question 53: Schizophrenia Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.27 Question 54: Antipsychotic Side Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.28 Question 55: Schizophrenia Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.29 Question 56: Nursing Intervention for Schizophrenia . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.30 Question 57: Delusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.31 Question 58: Reality Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.32 Question 59: Nursing Priority for Psychotic Disorders . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.33 Question 60: Family Education in Schizophrenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.34 Substance Use Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.35 Question 61: Substance Use Disorder Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.36 Question 62: Opioid Use Disorder Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.37 Question 63: Alcohol Withdrawal Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.38 Question 64: Nursing Intervention for Substance Use . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.39 Question 65: Addiction Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.40 Question 66: Motivational Interviewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.41 Question 67: Substance Use Risk Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.42 Question 68: Alcohol Use Complication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.43 Question 69: Nursing Priority for Substance Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.44 Question 70: Support Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.45 Personality Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.46 Question 71: Borderline Personality Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.47 Question 72: BPD Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.48 Question 73: Antisocial Personality Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.49 Question 74: Nursing Intervention for Personality Disorders . . . . . . 17
3.50 Question 75: Personality Disorder Causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.51 Eating Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.52 Question 76: Anorexia Nervosa Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.53 Question 77: Bulimia Nervosa Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.54 Question 78: Eating Disorder Complication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.55 Question 79: Nursing Intervention for Eating Disorders . . . . . . . . . 18
3.56 Question 80: Anorexia Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.57 Trauma-Related Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.58 Question 81: PTSD Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.59 Question 82: PTSD Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.60 Question 83: Nursing Intervention for PTSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.61 Question 84: PTSD Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.62 Question 85: PTSD Risk Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.63 Child and Adolescent Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Page 2 of 25
MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, 2025
VERIFIED SOLUTIONS & RATIONALES
Comprehensive Guide for Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
Prepared for Western Governors University, Semester 1, 2025
Curated by Nursing Education Experts
,Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Psychiatric Nursing Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1 Question 1: Role of Psychiatric Nurse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Question 2: Therapeutic Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3 Question 3: Mental Status Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.4 Question 4: DSM-5 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.5 Question 5: Therapeutic Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.6 Question 6: Milieu Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.7 Question 7: De-escalation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.8 Question 8: Professional Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.9 Question 9: Mental Health Stigma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.10 Question 10: Patient Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.11 Question 11: Psychosocial Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.12 Question 12: Crisis Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.13 Question 13: Informed Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.14 Question 14: Cultural Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.15 Question 15: Recovery Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.16 Question 16: Risk Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.17 Question 17: Therapeutic Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.18 Question 18: Ethical Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.19 Question 19: Confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.20 Question 20: Nurse Self-Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.21 Question 21: Biopsychosocial Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.22 Question 22: Active Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.23 Question 23: Mental Health Screening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.24 Question 24: Trauma-Informed Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.25 Question 25: Group Therapy Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.26 Question 26: Mental Health Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.27 Question 27: Patient-Centered Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.28 Question 28: Suicide Risk Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.29 Question 29: Role of Empathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.30 Question 30: Evidence-Based Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3 Psychiatric Disorders and Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.1 Anxiety Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Question 31: Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptom . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3 Question 32: First-Line Treatment for Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 Question 33: Panic Attack Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.5 Question 34: Benzodiazepine Side Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.6 Question 35: Anxiety Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.7 Question 36: Panic Disorder Trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.8 Question 37: CBT for Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.9 Question 38: Social Anxiety Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.10 Question 39: Nursing Priority for Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.11 Question 40: Patient Education for Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.12 Mood Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.13 Question 41: Major Depressive Disorder Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1
, WGU D449 Practice Exam 2 Mental Health Nursing 2025 July 5, 2025
3.14 Question 42: First-Line Treatment for MDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.15 Question 43: SSRI Side Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.16 Question 44: Depression Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.17 Question 45: Nursing Intervention for MDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.18 Question 46: Bipolar I Disorder Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.19 Question 47: Bipolar Disorder Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.20 Question 48: Lithium Side Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.21 Question 49: Nursing Priority for Bipolar Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.22 Question 50: CBT for Bipolar Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.23 Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.24 Question 51: Positive Symptom of Schizophrenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.25 Question 52: Negative Symptom of Schizophrenia . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.26 Question 53: Schizophrenia Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.27 Question 54: Antipsychotic Side Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.28 Question 55: Schizophrenia Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.29 Question 56: Nursing Intervention for Schizophrenia . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.30 Question 57: Delusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.31 Question 58: Reality Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.32 Question 59: Nursing Priority for Psychotic Disorders . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.33 Question 60: Family Education in Schizophrenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.34 Substance Use Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.35 Question 61: Substance Use Disorder Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.36 Question 62: Opioid Use Disorder Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.37 Question 63: Alcohol Withdrawal Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.38 Question 64: Nursing Intervention for Substance Use . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.39 Question 65: Addiction Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.40 Question 66: Motivational Interviewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.41 Question 67: Substance Use Risk Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.42 Question 68: Alcohol Use Complication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.43 Question 69: Nursing Priority for Substance Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.44 Question 70: Support Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.45 Personality Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.46 Question 71: Borderline Personality Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.47 Question 72: BPD Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.48 Question 73: Antisocial Personality Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.49 Question 74: Nursing Intervention for Personality Disorders . . . . . . 17
3.50 Question 75: Personality Disorder Causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.51 Eating Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.52 Question 76: Anorexia Nervosa Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.53 Question 77: Bulimia Nervosa Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.54 Question 78: Eating Disorder Complication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.55 Question 79: Nursing Intervention for Eating Disorders . . . . . . . . . 18
3.56 Question 80: Anorexia Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.57 Trauma-Related Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.58 Question 81: PTSD Symptom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.59 Question 82: PTSD Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.60 Question 83: Nursing Intervention for PTSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.61 Question 84: PTSD Pathophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.62 Question 85: PTSD Risk Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.63 Child and Adolescent Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
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