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PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSING NCLEX EXAM
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS EXAM 2026 LATEST EDITION
SOLVED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS VERIFIED 100 %
Exam 1 - Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing practice questions
Which of the following medical conditions has similar signs and symptoms as
those seen in a major depressive episode?
A. Pancreatitis.
B. Cholecystitis.
C. Tuberculosis.
D. Hypothyroidism.
D. Hypothyroidism.
Reason: Signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism include changes in weight, sleep
disturbances, decreased energy, and difficulty in thinking—just like in depression.
Once a patient is diagnosed with a major depressive episode, the primary
nursing intervention should be associated with
A. Safety.
B. Pharmacology.
C. Administration of gastric lavage.
D. Hemodialysis.
A. Safety.
Reason: Safety is the primary focus for an intervention, as 25% to 30% of depressed
patients are at risk for suicide.
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A 35-year-old male patient has been brought to your hospital unit after making
a suicide attempt at his workplace. Which of the following interventions can
you legally implement?
A. Call the patient's girlfriend and inform her of his admission and visiting
hours.
B. Physically search the patient for weapons and harmful materials.
C. Call the patient's boss at work and report him as in need of extended
medical leave.
D. Place the patient in four-point restraints and begin an IV for sedation.
B. Physically search the patient for weapons and harmful materials.
Reason: A suicide attempt is a serious and self-destructive behavior that demands
searching for weapons and harmful materials to increase safety.
Your patient has just received his sixth electroconvulsant therapy outpatient
treatment. He tells you that he plans to drive himself home because his wife is
working at her part-time job today. What is your best response?
A. Be careful and drive slowly.
B. You need to wait 30 minutes and then you will be safe to drive.
C. Let me take your vital signs; if they are stable, then you can drive.
D. You cannot drive. I can call you a cab, or would you prefer to call your wife
or someone for a ride home?
D. You cannot drive. I can call you a cab, or would you prefer to call your wife or
someone for a ride home?
Reason: Patients cannot drive after ECT, as its effects can include disorientation,
muscle pain, central nervous system depression, and cardiac dysrhythmias.
Which of the following patients is at risk for depression?
A. A patient with history of diabetes mellitus.
B. A patient with a depressive genetic predisposition.
C. A patient who recently bought a puppy.
D. A patient who had only 6 hours of sleep last night due to watching a TV
movie.
B. A patient with a depressive genetic predisposition.
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Reason: Risk factors include genetic predisposition, a recent loss or trauma, and a
feeling of sadness or hopelessness.
A patient has been admitted to your unit with a drug overdose, and you need
to assess for acidosis and hypoxemia. Which test should you perform?
A. Complete blood count (CBC).
B. Serum electrolytes.
C. Partial thromboplastin time (PTT).
D. Arterial blood gases (ABG).
D. Arterial blood gases (ABG).
Reason: ABGs assess for acidosis [pH, bicarbonate, and hypoxemia (pO2)].
Which of the following is an example of a bite/sting that can cause a poison
exposure?
A. Butterfly.
B. Grass seed.
C. Jellyfish.
D. Fly.
C. Jellyfish.
Reason: A jellyfish sting can cause a poison exposure.
When a patient shares with a psychiatrist that he plans to harm a specific
person and includes the person's name, the health professional must notify
the intended identified victim. What is this rule called?
A. Seclusion and restraints rule.
B. Voluntary commitment rule.
C. Right to treatment rule.
D. Duty to warn rule.
D. Duty to warn rule.
Reason: Duty to warn is a protective privilege and ends where public peril begins, so
an intended, identifiable victim needs to be notified.
A client has just been transferred to the locked psychiatric unit from the
emergency department after attempting suicide by taking 200 acetaminophen
(Tylenol) tablets. Now the client is awake and alert but refuses to speak with
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the nurse. What is the nurse's first priority?
- Establish a rapport with the client
- Place the client in full leather restraints
- Try to communicate with the client in writing
- Maintain safety by initiating suicide precautions
Maintain safety by initiating suicide precautions.
A client with major depression tells the nurse, "Life isn't worth living. I can't
stand the pain any longer." The nurse should recognize this statement as
indicative of:
- The need for a suicide assessment
- the need for a pain assessment
- the need to administer an antidepressant
- the need to provide diversional stimuli
The need for a suicide assessment
A client is admitted to the psychiatric unit for treatment of bipolar disorder.
The client is exhibiting symptoms of pressured speech, racing thoughts,
frequent pacing, and an inability to sleep more than 3 hours every 36 to 48
hours. Which client goal should the nurse address first?
- Demonstrate a clear-thinking pattern
- Demonstrate nonpressured speech pattern
- Reestablish sleeping patterns
- Examine reasons for pacing.
Reestablish sleeping patterns
A client on the psychiatric unit refuses to take his oral medication. The nurse
threatens the client and tells him that, if the medication isn't taken, restraints
will be applied and the medication will be given by IV injection. The nurse's
statement constitutes which legal tort?
- Right to refuse care
- Negligence
- Battery
- Assault.
Assault
A 36-year-old client with paranoid schizophrenia believes the room is bugged
by the Central Intelligence Agency and a roommate is a foreign spy. The client
PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSING NCLEX EXAM
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS EXAM 2026 LATEST EDITION
SOLVED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS VERIFIED 100 %
Exam 1 - Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing practice questions
Which of the following medical conditions has similar signs and symptoms as
those seen in a major depressive episode?
A. Pancreatitis.
B. Cholecystitis.
C. Tuberculosis.
D. Hypothyroidism.
D. Hypothyroidism.
Reason: Signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism include changes in weight, sleep
disturbances, decreased energy, and difficulty in thinking—just like in depression.
Once a patient is diagnosed with a major depressive episode, the primary
nursing intervention should be associated with
A. Safety.
B. Pharmacology.
C. Administration of gastric lavage.
D. Hemodialysis.
A. Safety.
Reason: Safety is the primary focus for an intervention, as 25% to 30% of depressed
patients are at risk for suicide.
, Page 2 of 173
A 35-year-old male patient has been brought to your hospital unit after making
a suicide attempt at his workplace. Which of the following interventions can
you legally implement?
A. Call the patient's girlfriend and inform her of his admission and visiting
hours.
B. Physically search the patient for weapons and harmful materials.
C. Call the patient's boss at work and report him as in need of extended
medical leave.
D. Place the patient in four-point restraints and begin an IV for sedation.
B. Physically search the patient for weapons and harmful materials.
Reason: A suicide attempt is a serious and self-destructive behavior that demands
searching for weapons and harmful materials to increase safety.
Your patient has just received his sixth electroconvulsant therapy outpatient
treatment. He tells you that he plans to drive himself home because his wife is
working at her part-time job today. What is your best response?
A. Be careful and drive slowly.
B. You need to wait 30 minutes and then you will be safe to drive.
C. Let me take your vital signs; if they are stable, then you can drive.
D. You cannot drive. I can call you a cab, or would you prefer to call your wife
or someone for a ride home?
D. You cannot drive. I can call you a cab, or would you prefer to call your wife or
someone for a ride home?
Reason: Patients cannot drive after ECT, as its effects can include disorientation,
muscle pain, central nervous system depression, and cardiac dysrhythmias.
Which of the following patients is at risk for depression?
A. A patient with history of diabetes mellitus.
B. A patient with a depressive genetic predisposition.
C. A patient who recently bought a puppy.
D. A patient who had only 6 hours of sleep last night due to watching a TV
movie.
B. A patient with a depressive genetic predisposition.
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Reason: Risk factors include genetic predisposition, a recent loss or trauma, and a
feeling of sadness or hopelessness.
A patient has been admitted to your unit with a drug overdose, and you need
to assess for acidosis and hypoxemia. Which test should you perform?
A. Complete blood count (CBC).
B. Serum electrolytes.
C. Partial thromboplastin time (PTT).
D. Arterial blood gases (ABG).
D. Arterial blood gases (ABG).
Reason: ABGs assess for acidosis [pH, bicarbonate, and hypoxemia (pO2)].
Which of the following is an example of a bite/sting that can cause a poison
exposure?
A. Butterfly.
B. Grass seed.
C. Jellyfish.
D. Fly.
C. Jellyfish.
Reason: A jellyfish sting can cause a poison exposure.
When a patient shares with a psychiatrist that he plans to harm a specific
person and includes the person's name, the health professional must notify
the intended identified victim. What is this rule called?
A. Seclusion and restraints rule.
B. Voluntary commitment rule.
C. Right to treatment rule.
D. Duty to warn rule.
D. Duty to warn rule.
Reason: Duty to warn is a protective privilege and ends where public peril begins, so
an intended, identifiable victim needs to be notified.
A client has just been transferred to the locked psychiatric unit from the
emergency department after attempting suicide by taking 200 acetaminophen
(Tylenol) tablets. Now the client is awake and alert but refuses to speak with
, Page 4 of 173
the nurse. What is the nurse's first priority?
- Establish a rapport with the client
- Place the client in full leather restraints
- Try to communicate with the client in writing
- Maintain safety by initiating suicide precautions
Maintain safety by initiating suicide precautions.
A client with major depression tells the nurse, "Life isn't worth living. I can't
stand the pain any longer." The nurse should recognize this statement as
indicative of:
- The need for a suicide assessment
- the need for a pain assessment
- the need to administer an antidepressant
- the need to provide diversional stimuli
The need for a suicide assessment
A client is admitted to the psychiatric unit for treatment of bipolar disorder.
The client is exhibiting symptoms of pressured speech, racing thoughts,
frequent pacing, and an inability to sleep more than 3 hours every 36 to 48
hours. Which client goal should the nurse address first?
- Demonstrate a clear-thinking pattern
- Demonstrate nonpressured speech pattern
- Reestablish sleeping patterns
- Examine reasons for pacing.
Reestablish sleeping patterns
A client on the psychiatric unit refuses to take his oral medication. The nurse
threatens the client and tells him that, if the medication isn't taken, restraints
will be applied and the medication will be given by IV injection. The nurse's
statement constitutes which legal tort?
- Right to refuse care
- Negligence
- Battery
- Assault.
Assault
A 36-year-old client with paranoid schizophrenia believes the room is bugged
by the Central Intelligence Agency and a roommate is a foreign spy. The client
