NSG 351 TEST BANK TEST 2! correctly
answered
During an examination, the nurse can assess mental status by which activity?
a. Examining the patients 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 patients response to a specific set of questions - correct answer ✔✔c. Observing the
patient and inferring health or dysfunction
The nurse is assessing the mental status of a child. Which statement about children and mental status is
true?
a. All aspects of mental status in children are interdependent.
b. Children are highly labile and unstable until the age of 2 years.
c. Childrens mental status is largely a function of their parents level of functioning until the age of 7
years.
d. A childs mental status is impossible to assess until the child develops the ability to concentrate. -
correct answer ✔✔a. All aspects of mental status in children are interdependent.
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. - correct answer ✔✔c. May take a little longer to respond, but his general
knowledge and abilities should not have declined.
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 - correct answer ✔✔d. Sensory-perceptive abilities
The nurse is preparing to conduct a mental status examination. Which statement is true regarding the
mental status examination?
a. A patients family is the best resource for information about the patients 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 patients level of functioning, performing a complete mental status
examination is usually necessary. - correct answer ✔✔b. Gathering mental status information during the
health history interview is usually sufficient.
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 nurses 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. - correct
answer ✔✔a. Perform a complete mental status examination.
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. - correct answer ✔✔c. I never did too good in school.
,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 nurses 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. - correct answer ✔✔a. Plan to defer the rest of the mental status
examination.
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. - correct answer
✔✔d. More information should be gathered to decide whether her dress is appropriate.
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. - correct answer ✔✔c. Will be
oriented to place and person, but the patient may not be certain of the date.
During a mental status examination, the nurse wants to assess a patients 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? - correct answer ✔✔a. How do you feel
today?
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. - correct
answer ✔✔c. Give him the Four Unrelated Words Test.
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 - correct answer ✔✔c. Recall; after a 30-minute delay
During a mental status assessment, which question by the nurse would best assess a persons judgment?
a. Do you feel that you are being watched, followed, or controlled?
b. Tell me what you plan to do once you are discharged from the hospital.
c. What does the statement, People in glass houses shouldnt throw stones, mean to you?
d. What would you do if you found a stamped, addressed envelope lying on the sidewalk? - correct
answer ✔✔b. Tell me what you plan to do once you are discharged from the hospital.
Which of these individuals would the nurse consider at highest risk for a suicide attempt?
a. Man who jokes about death
b. Woman who, during a past episode of major depression, attempted suicide
c. Adolescent who just broke up with her boyfriend and states that she would like to kill herself
answered
During an examination, the nurse can assess mental status by which activity?
a. Examining the patients 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 patients response to a specific set of questions - correct answer ✔✔c. Observing the
patient and inferring health or dysfunction
The nurse is assessing the mental status of a child. Which statement about children and mental status is
true?
a. All aspects of mental status in children are interdependent.
b. Children are highly labile and unstable until the age of 2 years.
c. Childrens mental status is largely a function of their parents level of functioning until the age of 7
years.
d. A childs mental status is impossible to assess until the child develops the ability to concentrate. -
correct answer ✔✔a. All aspects of mental status in children are interdependent.
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. - correct answer ✔✔c. May take a little longer to respond, but his general
knowledge and abilities should not have declined.
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 - correct answer ✔✔d. Sensory-perceptive abilities
The nurse is preparing to conduct a mental status examination. Which statement is true regarding the
mental status examination?
a. A patients family is the best resource for information about the patients 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 patients level of functioning, performing a complete mental status
examination is usually necessary. - correct answer ✔✔b. Gathering mental status information during the
health history interview is usually sufficient.
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 nurses 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. - correct
answer ✔✔a. Perform a complete mental status examination.
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. - correct answer ✔✔c. I never did too good in school.
,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 nurses 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. - correct answer ✔✔a. Plan to defer the rest of the mental status
examination.
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. - correct answer
✔✔d. More information should be gathered to decide whether her dress is appropriate.
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. - correct answer ✔✔c. Will be
oriented to place and person, but the patient may not be certain of the date.
During a mental status examination, the nurse wants to assess a patients 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? - correct answer ✔✔a. How do you feel
today?
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. - correct
answer ✔✔c. Give him the Four Unrelated Words Test.
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 - correct answer ✔✔c. Recall; after a 30-minute delay
During a mental status assessment, which question by the nurse would best assess a persons judgment?
a. Do you feel that you are being watched, followed, or controlled?
b. Tell me what you plan to do once you are discharged from the hospital.
c. What does the statement, People in glass houses shouldnt throw stones, mean to you?
d. What would you do if you found a stamped, addressed envelope lying on the sidewalk? - correct
answer ✔✔b. Tell me what you plan to do once you are discharged from the hospital.
Which of these individuals would the nurse consider at highest risk for a suicide attempt?
a. Man who jokes about death
b. Woman who, during a past episode of major depression, attempted suicide
c. Adolescent who just broke up with her boyfriend and states that she would like to kill herself
