NR 326 Mental Health Nursing Week 2 Study Guide 2026
|Chamberlain College
1. During the orientation phase of the nurse-patient relationship, which of the
following is a primary task for the nurse?
A. Promoting the patient’s insight and perception of reality
B. Evaluating the progress toward goals
C. Overcoming resistance behaviors to solve problems
D. Establishing a contract for intervention and establishing boundaries
Answer: D
Rationale: The orientation phase involves establishing trust, rapport, boundaries, and a
contract for the relationship.
2. A patient is pacing, has a narrowed perceptual field, and reports a headache
and nausea. Which level of anxiety is the patient experiencing?
A. Mild
B. Severe
C. Moderate
D. Panic
Answer: C
Rationale: Moderate anxiety is characterized by a narrowed perceptual field, selective
inattention, and physical symptoms like tension, headache, or nausea.
,3. The nurse’s legal obligation to notify a third party of a patient’s threat to
harm them is known as:
A. Beneficence
B. Fidelity
C. Autonomy
D. Duty to Warn
Answer: D
Rationale: Duty to Warn (Tarasoff ruling) requires mental health professionals to breach
confidentiality if a patient poses a specific threat to an identifiable person.
4. A patient who is angry with their physician yells at the nurse instead. This is
an example of which defense mechanism?
A. Projection
B. Displacement
C. Reaction Formation
D. Rationalization
Answer: B
Rationale: Displacement is the transfer of feelings from one target to another that is
considered less threatening.
5. Which task is characteristic of the working phase of the therapeutic
relationship?
A. Promoting problem-solving and behavioral change
B. Setting the meeting frequency and location
C. Identifying why the patient sought help
D. Discussing the patient’s feelings about discharge
Answer: A
Rationale: The working phase focuses on maintaining the relationship, gathering data, and
promoting problem-solving skills and self-esteem.
, 6. Which therapeutic communication technique is being used when the nurse
says, ‘You say you are feeling nervous about the surgery?’
A. Reflecting
B. Focusing
C. Restating
D. Exploring
Answer: C
Rationale: Restating involves repeating the main idea of what the patient has said to let
them know they were heard.
7. A patient is admitted involuntarily to a mental health unit. Which right does
the patient still retain?
A. The right to refuse psychotropic medications
B. The right to leave the hospital at any time
C. The right to possess dangerous personal items
D. The right to avoid all clinical assessments
Answer: A
Rationale: Involuntary admission does not automatically strip a patient of the right to
refuse medication, unless they are an immediate danger to self or others.
8. A nurse begins to feel protective of a patient because the patient reminds
them of their younger sister. This is known as:
A. Transference
B. Sympathy
C. Empathy
D. Countertransference
Answer: D
Rationale: Countertransference occurs when the nurse displaces onto the patient feelings
related to people in the nurse’s past.
|Chamberlain College
1. During the orientation phase of the nurse-patient relationship, which of the
following is a primary task for the nurse?
A. Promoting the patient’s insight and perception of reality
B. Evaluating the progress toward goals
C. Overcoming resistance behaviors to solve problems
D. Establishing a contract for intervention and establishing boundaries
Answer: D
Rationale: The orientation phase involves establishing trust, rapport, boundaries, and a
contract for the relationship.
2. A patient is pacing, has a narrowed perceptual field, and reports a headache
and nausea. Which level of anxiety is the patient experiencing?
A. Mild
B. Severe
C. Moderate
D. Panic
Answer: C
Rationale: Moderate anxiety is characterized by a narrowed perceptual field, selective
inattention, and physical symptoms like tension, headache, or nausea.
,3. The nurse’s legal obligation to notify a third party of a patient’s threat to
harm them is known as:
A. Beneficence
B. Fidelity
C. Autonomy
D. Duty to Warn
Answer: D
Rationale: Duty to Warn (Tarasoff ruling) requires mental health professionals to breach
confidentiality if a patient poses a specific threat to an identifiable person.
4. A patient who is angry with their physician yells at the nurse instead. This is
an example of which defense mechanism?
A. Projection
B. Displacement
C. Reaction Formation
D. Rationalization
Answer: B
Rationale: Displacement is the transfer of feelings from one target to another that is
considered less threatening.
5. Which task is characteristic of the working phase of the therapeutic
relationship?
A. Promoting problem-solving and behavioral change
B. Setting the meeting frequency and location
C. Identifying why the patient sought help
D. Discussing the patient’s feelings about discharge
Answer: A
Rationale: The working phase focuses on maintaining the relationship, gathering data, and
promoting problem-solving skills and self-esteem.
, 6. Which therapeutic communication technique is being used when the nurse
says, ‘You say you are feeling nervous about the surgery?’
A. Reflecting
B. Focusing
C. Restating
D. Exploring
Answer: C
Rationale: Restating involves repeating the main idea of what the patient has said to let
them know they were heard.
7. A patient is admitted involuntarily to a mental health unit. Which right does
the patient still retain?
A. The right to refuse psychotropic medications
B. The right to leave the hospital at any time
C. The right to possess dangerous personal items
D. The right to avoid all clinical assessments
Answer: A
Rationale: Involuntary admission does not automatically strip a patient of the right to
refuse medication, unless they are an immediate danger to self or others.
8. A nurse begins to feel protective of a patient because the patient reminds
them of their younger sister. This is known as:
A. Transference
B. Sympathy
C. Empathy
D. Countertransference
Answer: D
Rationale: Countertransference occurs when the nurse displaces onto the patient feelings
related to people in the nurse’s past.
