,NU 137 — Exam 1 Comprehensive Questions &
Verified Answers | 2026 Edition
1. Which of the following best describes therapeutic communication?
A) Open-ended questioning, active listening, and conveying empathy
B) Giving advice and personal opinions
C) Using closed-ended questions to gather facts quickly
D) Changing the subject when the client becomes emotional
Correct Answer: Open-ended questioning, active listening, and conveying empathy
Rationale: Therapeutic communication builds trust and encourages clients to express feelings. Open-
ended questions invite sharing, active listening validates the client, and empathy conveys
understanding. Giving advice, closed questions, and changing the subject are non-therapeutic blocks.
2. The nurse is caring for a client with anxiety. Which statement demonstrates active listening?
A) “Don’t worry; everything will be fine.”
B) “It sounds like you are feeling worried about the upcoming surgery. Can you tell me more?”
C) “You should focus on the positive.”
D) “Why are you so anxious?”
Correct Answer: “It sounds like you are feeling worried about the upcoming surgery. Can you tell me
more?”
Rationale: Active listening involves reflecting feelings and inviting elaboration without judgment or false
reassurance. “Why” questions can feel accusatory; advising or minimizing dismisses the client’s
experience.
3. According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, which defense mechanism involves attributing one’s own
unacceptable feelings to another person?
A) Denial
,B) Rationalization
C) Projection
D) Sublimation
Correct Answer: Projection
Rationale: Projection places one’s own unacceptable impulses or thoughts onto someone else. Denial
refuses reality, rationalization makes excuses, and sublimation channels impulses into acceptable
activities.
4. A client reports feeling detached from their body as if observing themselves from outside. The nurse
identifies this as
A) Derealization
B) Hallucination
C) Dissociative amnesia
D) Depersonalization
Correct Answer: Depersonalization
Rationale: Depersonalization is the sensation of being detached from one’s own body or thoughts.
Derealization is a sense that the environment is unreal. Hallucinations are false sensory perceptions, and
dissociative amnesia involves memory loss.
5. The nurse is educating a group about anxiety disorders. Which description corresponds to panic-level
anxiety?
A) The individual cannot process information, may have irrational thinking, and experiences a complete
loss of control with possible physical collapse.
B) Mild anxiety enhances focus.
C) Moderate anxiety narrows perception.
D) Severe anxiety impairs attention but still allows some problem-solving.
, Correct Answer: The individual cannot process information, may have irrational thinking, and
experiences a complete loss of control with possible physical collapse.
Rationale: Panic-level anxiety is the most severe, causing disorganized thinking, physical symptoms, and
potential immobility. Mild and moderate levels are adaptive; severe still allows partial function but with
distorted perceptions.
6. Which nursing intervention is the highest priority for a client experiencing a panic attack?
A) Teach relaxation techniques
B) Stay with the client and provide a calm, quiet environment
C) Ask detailed questions about triggers
D) Encourage the client to describe physical sensations
Correct Answer: Stay with the client and provide a calm, quiet environment
Rationale: During a panic attack, the client’s ability to process information is severely limited. The
nurse’s presence and a low-stimulus environment reduce fear. Teaching relaxation can occur after the
acute episode.
7. The nurse is assessing a client with major depressive disorder. Which symptom is considered a
vegetative sign?
A) Worthlessness
B) Anhedonia
C) Insomnia with early morning awakening
D) Guilt
Correct Answer: Insomnia with early morning awakening
Rationale: Vegetative signs include changes in sleep, appetite, energy, and psychomotor activity.
Insomnia with early morning awakening is a classic somatic symptom of depression.
Verified Answers | 2026 Edition
1. Which of the following best describes therapeutic communication?
A) Open-ended questioning, active listening, and conveying empathy
B) Giving advice and personal opinions
C) Using closed-ended questions to gather facts quickly
D) Changing the subject when the client becomes emotional
Correct Answer: Open-ended questioning, active listening, and conveying empathy
Rationale: Therapeutic communication builds trust and encourages clients to express feelings. Open-
ended questions invite sharing, active listening validates the client, and empathy conveys
understanding. Giving advice, closed questions, and changing the subject are non-therapeutic blocks.
2. The nurse is caring for a client with anxiety. Which statement demonstrates active listening?
A) “Don’t worry; everything will be fine.”
B) “It sounds like you are feeling worried about the upcoming surgery. Can you tell me more?”
C) “You should focus on the positive.”
D) “Why are you so anxious?”
Correct Answer: “It sounds like you are feeling worried about the upcoming surgery. Can you tell me
more?”
Rationale: Active listening involves reflecting feelings and inviting elaboration without judgment or false
reassurance. “Why” questions can feel accusatory; advising or minimizing dismisses the client’s
experience.
3. According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, which defense mechanism involves attributing one’s own
unacceptable feelings to another person?
A) Denial
,B) Rationalization
C) Projection
D) Sublimation
Correct Answer: Projection
Rationale: Projection places one’s own unacceptable impulses or thoughts onto someone else. Denial
refuses reality, rationalization makes excuses, and sublimation channels impulses into acceptable
activities.
4. A client reports feeling detached from their body as if observing themselves from outside. The nurse
identifies this as
A) Derealization
B) Hallucination
C) Dissociative amnesia
D) Depersonalization
Correct Answer: Depersonalization
Rationale: Depersonalization is the sensation of being detached from one’s own body or thoughts.
Derealization is a sense that the environment is unreal. Hallucinations are false sensory perceptions, and
dissociative amnesia involves memory loss.
5. The nurse is educating a group about anxiety disorders. Which description corresponds to panic-level
anxiety?
A) The individual cannot process information, may have irrational thinking, and experiences a complete
loss of control with possible physical collapse.
B) Mild anxiety enhances focus.
C) Moderate anxiety narrows perception.
D) Severe anxiety impairs attention but still allows some problem-solving.
, Correct Answer: The individual cannot process information, may have irrational thinking, and
experiences a complete loss of control with possible physical collapse.
Rationale: Panic-level anxiety is the most severe, causing disorganized thinking, physical symptoms, and
potential immobility. Mild and moderate levels are adaptive; severe still allows partial function but with
distorted perceptions.
6. Which nursing intervention is the highest priority for a client experiencing a panic attack?
A) Teach relaxation techniques
B) Stay with the client and provide a calm, quiet environment
C) Ask detailed questions about triggers
D) Encourage the client to describe physical sensations
Correct Answer: Stay with the client and provide a calm, quiet environment
Rationale: During a panic attack, the client’s ability to process information is severely limited. The
nurse’s presence and a low-stimulus environment reduce fear. Teaching relaxation can occur after the
acute episode.
7. The nurse is assessing a client with major depressive disorder. Which symptom is considered a
vegetative sign?
A) Worthlessness
B) Anhedonia
C) Insomnia with early morning awakening
D) Guilt
Correct Answer: Insomnia with early morning awakening
Rationale: Vegetative signs include changes in sleep, appetite, energy, and psychomotor activity.
Insomnia with early morning awakening is a classic somatic symptom of depression.
