The nurse overhears the supervisor reprimand the charge nurse for not discussing feelings with a client. Shortly after, a client asks the charge nurse for an extra blanket. The charge nurse angrily responds, 'Get it yourself!' The nurse recognizes the charge nurse is displaying which defense mechanism?
- A. Compensation.
- B. Displacement.
- C. Conversion.
- D. Projection.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Displacement involves redirecting emotions from one target to another. The charge nurse, upset from the reprimand, displaces anger onto the client by responding harshly to a simple request, rather than addressing the supervisor.
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When performing an assessment on a client who is suicidal, which question is the most appropriate for the nurse to ask?
- A. Do you have a death wish?'
- B. Do you wish your life was over?'
- C. Do you ever think about ending it all?'
- D. Do you have any thoughts of killing yourself?'
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: A lethality assessment requires direct communication between the client and the nurse concerning the client's intent. It is important to provide a question that is directly related to lethality. Euphemisms should be avoided.
When planning for the care of the client who is dying of diagnosed cancer, one of the goals is that the client verbalizes her or his acceptance of impending death. Which client statement indicates to the nurse that this goal has been reached?
- A. I just want to live until my 100th birthday.
- B. I would like to have my family here when I die.
- C. I'll be ready to die when my children finish school.
- D. I want to go to my daughter's wedding. Then I'll be ready to die.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Acceptance is often characterized by plans for death. Often the client wants loved ones nearby. The remaining options all reflect the bargaining stage of coping during which the client tries to negotiate with her or his higher power or fate.
A client diagnosed with cardiomyopathy stops eating, takes long naps, and turns away from the nurse when the nurse talks to the client. The nurse should make which interpretation about this behavior?
- A. The client is depressed.
- B. The client is noncompliant.
- C. The client has intractable pain.
- D. The client is unable to tolerate activity.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Depression is a common problem related to clients who have long-term and debilitating illnesses. None of the remaining options are related to the symptoms present in the question and therefore are not appropriate interpretations.
A client who is in halo traction states to the visiting nurse, 'I can't get used to this contraption. I can't see properly on the side, and I keep misjudging where everything is.' Which therapeutic response should the nurse make to the client?
- A. If I were you, I would have had the surgery rather than suffer like this.
- B. No one ever gets used to that thing! It's horrible. Many of our sports people who are in it complain vigorously.
- C. Halo traction involves many difficult adjustments. Practice scanning with your eyes after standing up and before you move around.
- D. Why do you feel like this when you could have died from a broken neck? This is the way it is for several months. You need to be more accepting, don't you think?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: In option 3, the nurse employs empathy and reflection. The nurse then offers a strategy for problem-solving, which helps increase the peripheral vision of the client in halo traction. In option 1, the nurse undermines the client's faith in the medical treatment being employed by giving advice that is insensitive and unprofessional. In option 2, the nurse provides a social response that contains emotionally charged language that could increase the client's anxiety. In option 4, the nurse uses excessive questioning and gives advice, which is nontherapeutic.
A client is suspected of having posttraumatic stress disorder. Which problem is the most important for the nurse to assess?
- A. panic attacks
- B. anorexia
- C. suicide
- D. short-term memory loss
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Suicide risk is the most critical to assess in PTSD due to high rates of suicidal ideation and attempts.