Varcarolis Chpt 1 Exam Questions and Answers With Verified Solutions 2025
1. A staff nurse completes orientation to a psychiatric unit. This nurse may expect an advanced practice
nurse to perform which additional intervention?
a. Conduct mental health assessments.
b. Prescribe psychotropic medication.
c. Establish therapeutic relationships.
d. Individualize nursing care plans. - ✔✔b. Prescribe psychotropic medication.
2. A nursing student expresses concerns that mental health nurses "lose all their clinical nursing skills."
Select the best response by the mental health nurse.
a. "Psychiatric nurses practice in safer environments than other specialties. Nurse-to-patient ratios must
be better because of the nature of the patients' problems."
b. "Psychiatric nurses use complex communication skills as well as critical thinking to solve
multidimensional problems. I am challenged by those situations."
c. "That's a misconception. Psychiatric nurses frequently use high technology monitoring equipment and
manage complex intravenous therapies."
d. "Psychiatric nurses do not have to deal with as much pain and suffering as medical-surgical nurses do.
That appeals to me." - ✔✔b. "Psychiatric nurses use complex communication skills as well as critical
thinking to solve multidimensional problems. I am challenged by those situations."
3. When a new bill introduced in Congress reduces funding for care of persons diagnosed with mental
illness, a group of nurses write letters to their elected representatives in opposition to the legislation.
Which role have the nurses fulfilled?
a. Recovery
b. Attending
c. Advocacy
d. Evidence-based practice - ✔✔c. Advocacy
4. A family has a long history of conflicted relationships among the members. Which family member's
comment best reflects a mentally healthy perspective?
a. "I've made mistakes but everyone else in this family has also."
, b. "I remember joy and mutual respect from our early years together."
c. "I will make some changes in my behavior for the good of the family."
d. "It's best for me to move away from my family. Things will never change." - ✔✔c. "I will make some
changes in my behavior for the good of the family."
5. Which assessment finding most clearly indicates that a patient may be experiencing a mental illness?
The patient
a. reports occasional sleeplessness and anxiety.
b. reports a consistently sad, discouraged, and hopeless mood.
c. is able to describe the difference between "as if" and "for real."
d. perceives difficulty making a decision about whether to change jobs. - ✔✔b. reports a consistently
sad, discouraged, and hopeless mood.
6. Which finding best indicates that the goal "Demonstrate mentally healthy behavior" was achieved for
an adult patient? The patient
a. sees self as capable of achieving ideals and meeting demands.
b. behaves without considering the consequences of personal actions.
c. aggressively meets own needs without considering the rights of others.
d. seeks help from others when assuming responsibility for major areas of own life. - ✔✔a. sees self as
capable of achieving ideals and meeting demands.
7. A nurse encounters an unfamiliar psychiatric disorder on a new patient's admission form. Which
resource should the nurse consult to determine criteria used to establish this diagnosis?
a. International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10)
b. The ANA's Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice
c. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)
d. A behavioral health reference manual - ✔✔c. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-V)
8. A nurse wants to find a description of diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorders. Which resource would
have the most complete information?
a. Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC)
1. A staff nurse completes orientation to a psychiatric unit. This nurse may expect an advanced practice
nurse to perform which additional intervention?
a. Conduct mental health assessments.
b. Prescribe psychotropic medication.
c. Establish therapeutic relationships.
d. Individualize nursing care plans. - ✔✔b. Prescribe psychotropic medication.
2. A nursing student expresses concerns that mental health nurses "lose all their clinical nursing skills."
Select the best response by the mental health nurse.
a. "Psychiatric nurses practice in safer environments than other specialties. Nurse-to-patient ratios must
be better because of the nature of the patients' problems."
b. "Psychiatric nurses use complex communication skills as well as critical thinking to solve
multidimensional problems. I am challenged by those situations."
c. "That's a misconception. Psychiatric nurses frequently use high technology monitoring equipment and
manage complex intravenous therapies."
d. "Psychiatric nurses do not have to deal with as much pain and suffering as medical-surgical nurses do.
That appeals to me." - ✔✔b. "Psychiatric nurses use complex communication skills as well as critical
thinking to solve multidimensional problems. I am challenged by those situations."
3. When a new bill introduced in Congress reduces funding for care of persons diagnosed with mental
illness, a group of nurses write letters to their elected representatives in opposition to the legislation.
Which role have the nurses fulfilled?
a. Recovery
b. Attending
c. Advocacy
d. Evidence-based practice - ✔✔c. Advocacy
4. A family has a long history of conflicted relationships among the members. Which family member's
comment best reflects a mentally healthy perspective?
a. "I've made mistakes but everyone else in this family has also."
, b. "I remember joy and mutual respect from our early years together."
c. "I will make some changes in my behavior for the good of the family."
d. "It's best for me to move away from my family. Things will never change." - ✔✔c. "I will make some
changes in my behavior for the good of the family."
5. Which assessment finding most clearly indicates that a patient may be experiencing a mental illness?
The patient
a. reports occasional sleeplessness and anxiety.
b. reports a consistently sad, discouraged, and hopeless mood.
c. is able to describe the difference between "as if" and "for real."
d. perceives difficulty making a decision about whether to change jobs. - ✔✔b. reports a consistently
sad, discouraged, and hopeless mood.
6. Which finding best indicates that the goal "Demonstrate mentally healthy behavior" was achieved for
an adult patient? The patient
a. sees self as capable of achieving ideals and meeting demands.
b. behaves without considering the consequences of personal actions.
c. aggressively meets own needs without considering the rights of others.
d. seeks help from others when assuming responsibility for major areas of own life. - ✔✔a. sees self as
capable of achieving ideals and meeting demands.
7. A nurse encounters an unfamiliar psychiatric disorder on a new patient's admission form. Which
resource should the nurse consult to determine criteria used to establish this diagnosis?
a. International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10)
b. The ANA's Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice
c. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)
d. A behavioral health reference manual - ✔✔c. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-V)
8. A nurse wants to find a description of diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorders. Which resource would
have the most complete information?
a. Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC)
