STRESS AND ADAPTATION QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Explanation: The nurse should introduce the client to a person who demonstrates a
positive attitude or behavior as this promotes the ability to learn an adaptive response.
The nurse should not ask the client to change her exercise regime, cut down on her
food intake, or undergo liposuction surgery as that could lead to further medical
complications.
- CORRECT ANSWER A nurse is assessing an obese teenager who is unhappy and
stressed out because she has not lost weight despite working out at the gym. The
physician asks the nurse to try the modeling intervention for stress management for the
client. Which of the following actions should the nurse perform when adhering to the
modeling intervention?
a) Ask the client to undergo liposuction surgery.
b) Introduce the client to someone with a positive attitude.
c) Ask the client to cut down on her food intake.
d) Ask the client to change her exercise regimen.
a) Seek assistance from family and friends
Explanation: The nurse should suggest that the client seek assistance from family and
friends as a crisis intervention. Adequate support during a crisis and its resolution can
help clients realistically perceive the problem and reinstitute coping strategies.
Performing meditation, tensing and relaxing muscle groups systematically for
progressive relaxation, and keeping the home environment noise free are methods to
calm and relax the client that may not necessarily help in crisis intervention.
- CORRECT ANSWER A nurse is assessing a client who has recently lost her
husband. During the interview the nurse realizes that the client is unable to cope with
the loss. The client finds it difficult to organize daily tasks or solve problems effectively.
Which suggestion would be most appropriate for the nurse to suggest as a crisis
intervention?
a) Seek assistance from family and friends
b) Perform meditation to relax
c) Tense and relax muscle groups systematically
d) Keep the home environment noise free
d) Exhaustion stage
Explanation: The client is in the exhaustion stage when one or more adaptive/resistive
mechanisms can no longer protect the person experiencing a stressor; this results in
exhaustion. The effects of stress-related neurohormones suppress the immune system
and the body is open to various ailments. In the alarm stage, the person is prepared for
a fight-or-flight response. In the resistance stage, the client's body is returned to the
homeostasis state. Consequently, one or more organs or physiologic processes may
, eventually lead to increased vulnerability to stress-related disorders or progression to
the stage of exhaustion. The secondary stage is not a stage related to stress.
- CORRECT ANSWER The nurse is caring for a client who is a doctor in a general
hospital. He complains about the stressful condition of his job. Lately, he has become
increasingly susceptible to colds, headaches, muscular tension, excessive tiredness,
and many other symptoms. At what stage of stress is the client?
a) Secondary stage
b) Alarm stage
c) Resistance stage
d) Exhaustion stage
d) Heart rate of 102 beats/minute
Explanation: When stressed, the client's sympathetic system is activated, which causes
an increase in heart rate. The sympathetic system also stimulates release of glycogen,
which increases blood glucose levels and dilates skeletal muscle blood vessels. This
would most likely cause warm skin. The parasympathetic system, which functions under
normal conditions and at rest, stimulates secretion of digestive juices and the smooth
muscle of the digestive tract, thus leading to increased peristalsis.
- CORRECT ANSWER The client is under immediate stress. The nurse assesses
which sign as an effect of the sympathetic system?
a) Increased bowel sounds
b) Blood sugar of 65 mg/dL
c) Cool, clammy skin
d) Heart rate of 102 beats/minute
a) Alarm stage
Explanation: The client is most likely in the alarm stage of stress if the blood glucose
level is increasing rapidly. This occurs when the body is responding to a stressor by
raising the blood glucose as a reserve for meeting increased energy requirements. The
stage of resistance is characterized by restoration of normalcy. Physiologic exhaustion
occurs when one or more adaptive/resistive mechanisms can no longer protect the
person experiencing a stressor. There is no tertiary stage; however, tertiary prevention
minimizes the consequences of a disorder through aggressive rehabilitation or
appropriate management of the disease.
- CORRECT ANSWER While conducting the physical assessment of a client, the nurse
notes an increase in the blood glucose levels. Upon inquiry, the client discloses that
lately he has been under a lot of stress at work. Which stage of stress is the client
experiencing?
a) Alarm stage
b) Tertiary stage
c) Exhaustion stage
d) Resistance stage
AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Explanation: The nurse should introduce the client to a person who demonstrates a
positive attitude or behavior as this promotes the ability to learn an adaptive response.
The nurse should not ask the client to change her exercise regime, cut down on her
food intake, or undergo liposuction surgery as that could lead to further medical
complications.
- CORRECT ANSWER A nurse is assessing an obese teenager who is unhappy and
stressed out because she has not lost weight despite working out at the gym. The
physician asks the nurse to try the modeling intervention for stress management for the
client. Which of the following actions should the nurse perform when adhering to the
modeling intervention?
a) Ask the client to undergo liposuction surgery.
b) Introduce the client to someone with a positive attitude.
c) Ask the client to cut down on her food intake.
d) Ask the client to change her exercise regimen.
a) Seek assistance from family and friends
Explanation: The nurse should suggest that the client seek assistance from family and
friends as a crisis intervention. Adequate support during a crisis and its resolution can
help clients realistically perceive the problem and reinstitute coping strategies.
Performing meditation, tensing and relaxing muscle groups systematically for
progressive relaxation, and keeping the home environment noise free are methods to
calm and relax the client that may not necessarily help in crisis intervention.
- CORRECT ANSWER A nurse is assessing a client who has recently lost her
husband. During the interview the nurse realizes that the client is unable to cope with
the loss. The client finds it difficult to organize daily tasks or solve problems effectively.
Which suggestion would be most appropriate for the nurse to suggest as a crisis
intervention?
a) Seek assistance from family and friends
b) Perform meditation to relax
c) Tense and relax muscle groups systematically
d) Keep the home environment noise free
d) Exhaustion stage
Explanation: The client is in the exhaustion stage when one or more adaptive/resistive
mechanisms can no longer protect the person experiencing a stressor; this results in
exhaustion. The effects of stress-related neurohormones suppress the immune system
and the body is open to various ailments. In the alarm stage, the person is prepared for
a fight-or-flight response. In the resistance stage, the client's body is returned to the
homeostasis state. Consequently, one or more organs or physiologic processes may
, eventually lead to increased vulnerability to stress-related disorders or progression to
the stage of exhaustion. The secondary stage is not a stage related to stress.
- CORRECT ANSWER The nurse is caring for a client who is a doctor in a general
hospital. He complains about the stressful condition of his job. Lately, he has become
increasingly susceptible to colds, headaches, muscular tension, excessive tiredness,
and many other symptoms. At what stage of stress is the client?
a) Secondary stage
b) Alarm stage
c) Resistance stage
d) Exhaustion stage
d) Heart rate of 102 beats/minute
Explanation: When stressed, the client's sympathetic system is activated, which causes
an increase in heart rate. The sympathetic system also stimulates release of glycogen,
which increases blood glucose levels and dilates skeletal muscle blood vessels. This
would most likely cause warm skin. The parasympathetic system, which functions under
normal conditions and at rest, stimulates secretion of digestive juices and the smooth
muscle of the digestive tract, thus leading to increased peristalsis.
- CORRECT ANSWER The client is under immediate stress. The nurse assesses
which sign as an effect of the sympathetic system?
a) Increased bowel sounds
b) Blood sugar of 65 mg/dL
c) Cool, clammy skin
d) Heart rate of 102 beats/minute
a) Alarm stage
Explanation: The client is most likely in the alarm stage of stress if the blood glucose
level is increasing rapidly. This occurs when the body is responding to a stressor by
raising the blood glucose as a reserve for meeting increased energy requirements. The
stage of resistance is characterized by restoration of normalcy. Physiologic exhaustion
occurs when one or more adaptive/resistive mechanisms can no longer protect the
person experiencing a stressor. There is no tertiary stage; however, tertiary prevention
minimizes the consequences of a disorder through aggressive rehabilitation or
appropriate management of the disease.
- CORRECT ANSWER While conducting the physical assessment of a client, the nurse
notes an increase in the blood glucose levels. Upon inquiry, the client discloses that
lately he has been under a lot of stress at work. Which stage of stress is the client
experiencing?
a) Alarm stage
b) Tertiary stage
c) Exhaustion stage
d) Resistance stage
