After teaching a class to a group of nursing students about the historical perspectives of mental health care, the instructor determines that the group has understood the information when they identify which of the following as a common belief about mental illness during the medieval period?
- A. Mental illness in an individual was the result of being possessed by demons.
- B. A person was removed from a contaminated environment to protect him or her.
- C. Exorcisms were used as primary mode of treatment to cleanse the person of his or her sins.
- D. The focus was on moral treatment to promote the individual?s safety and comfort.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: During the medieval period, mental illness was commonly believed to result from demonic possession, with treatments often involving exorcisms or other religious interventions, reflecting the era?s spiritual understanding of mental disorders.
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The following are important legislative and policy efforts influencing current mental health care. Which of the following is the most recent?
- A. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General
- B. New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
- C. Action for Mental Health
- D. Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003) is the most recent, followed by *Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General* (1999), *Action for Mental Health* (1961), and the *Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act* (1963).
A group of nursing students are reviewing information about the evolution of mental health care and are discussing the recommendations of the final report of the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health. The students demonstrate understanding of this information when they identify that the report recommended an increase in which of the following?
- A. Numbers of mental health hospitals
- B. State funding for mental health care
- C. Clinics supplemented by general hospital units
- D. Use of psychotherapy by psychiatrists
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health (1961) recommended increasing community-based mental health services, including clinics supplemented by general hospital units, to shift care from large state institutions to more accessible, community-oriented settings.
Two nursing students are discussing psychiatric-mental health nursing and the role it has played in nursing?s overall history. Which statement is most accurate?
- A. The importance of using therapeutic communication was stressed by Nightingale.
- B. The use of self-care to enhance the immune system was taught by Dorothea Dix.
- C. The moral treatment of mental illness was a primary focus of deinstitutionalization.
- D. Peplau was the first nurse to stress the importance of therapeutic communication.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Hildegard Peplau, in her work Interpersonal Relations in Nursing (1952), was the first nurse to emphasize the importance of therapeutic communication, focusing on the nurse-patient relationship as a cornerstone of psychiatric nursing practice.
A psychiatric-mental health nurse is asked to be a guest speaker at a community fund-raising event for mental health services. Which of the following would the nurse emphasize as the primary goal of mental health services?
- A. Access to affordable mental health care
- B. Removal of exclusions because of preexisting conditions
- C. Recovery from mental illness
- D. Effective treatment for mental health care needs
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The primary goal of mental health services, as emphasized in modern mental health policy (e.g., New Freedom Commission on Mental Health), is recovery from mental illness, focusing on enabling individuals to live fulfilling lives despite mental health challenges.
When reviewing the evolution of mental health and illness care, which event is associated with mental disorders beginning to be viewed as illnesses requiring treatment?
- A. Establishment of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia
- B. Quaker establishment of asylums
- C. Creation of the state hospital system
- D. Freud?s views on the causes of mental illnesses
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The establishment of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia (1751) included a section for the mentally ill, marking one of the earliest instances in the U.S. where mental disorders were recognized as illnesses requiring treatment, rather than mere social deviance.
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