Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing Flashcards
7 cards from real Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Exam practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing flashcards as text
A PMHNP evaluates a 70-year-old patient with new-onset paranoid delusions and visual hallucinations. Which assessment finding would most strongly suggest a medical etiology rather than a primary psychiatric disorder?
Answer: Acute onset with fluctuating consciousness and disorientation
Acute onset, fluctuating consciousness, and disorientation are hallmarks of delirium—a medical emergency—rather than a primary psychiatric illness like schizophrenia.
Under Tarasoff duty-to-warn statutes, a PMHNP is legally obligated to take protective action when a patient:
Answer: Makes a specific, credible threat against an identifiable third party
The Tarasoff ruling established the duty to protect identifiable third parties when a patient makes a specific, serious, credible threat of harm toward them.
A patient on a stable dose of an SSRI reports decreased libido and inability to achieve orgasm. The PMHNP's BEST initial intervention is:
Answer: Add bupropion to address sexual side effects
Augmenting with bupropion (which has pro-dopaminergic/noradrenergic activity) is a common evidence-based strategy to counteract SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction.
Which of the following is a cardinal feature that differentiates borderline personality disorder (BPD) from bipolar II disorder?
Answer: Mood episodes lasting less than one hour triggered by interpersonal events
In BPD, dysphoric mood episodes are typically brief (hours), reactive to interpersonal stressors, and return to baseline, unlike the days-long episodes seen in bipolar disorder.
A nurse practitioner is using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Which item would place a patient at the HIGHEST level of suicide ideation on this scale?
Answer: Active ideation with a specific plan and intent to act
The C-SSRS categorizes ideation from passive wish to die up to active ideation with a specific plan and intent, with the latter representing the highest and most critical risk level.
A PMHNP conducting a mental status exam notes that a patient's speech jumps from one topic to another based on the sound of words rather than logical meaning. This is documented as:
Answer: Clang associations
Clang associations occur when the patient's speech is driven by the rhyme or sound of words rather than their semantic meaning, commonly seen in mania.
A PMHNP is treating a 10-year-old with ADHD whose parents prefer to avoid stimulants. Which non-stimulant medication is FDA-approved for ADHD in children and has the most evidence base?
Answer: Atomoxetine (Strattera)
Atomoxetine is a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor FDA-approved for ADHD in children aged 6 and older and is the most studied non-stimulant option.