) Mental and Behavioral
Health Nursing - Rasmussen
Questions with Verified Answers | 100% Correct | Grade A -
Rasmussen
Below is a comprehensive set of 55 questions and verified answers for the NUR2459 Mental and
Behavioral Health Nursing Exam 1, aligned with Rasmussen University’s 2024/2025 curriculum.
These questions cover key concepts from Modules 1–3, including foundations of mental health
nursing, therapeutic communication, legal/ethical issues, and mental status assessment.
1. What is the primary goal of psychiatric mental health nursing?
o a. Cure mental disorders
o b. Promote mental health and manage mental illness
o c. Administer medications only
o d. Prevent physical illness
o ANS: b. Promote mental health and manage mental illness
▪ Explanation: Psychiatric nursing focuses on promoting mental health,
preventing mental illness, and managing care for those with mental
disorders.
2. What historical event significantly influenced mental health care by discharging
patients from hospitals?
o a. deinstitutionalization
o b. Psychoanalysis
o c. Community-based care
o d. Psychopharmacology
o ANS: a. deinstitutionalization
▪ Explanation: deinstitutionalization led to the release of psychiatric
patients to community settings due to inhumane hospital conditions,
medication advancements, and funding cuts.
3. What was a major impact of deinstitutionalization?
o a. Improved hospital conditions
o b. Increased homelessness among psychiatric patients
o c. Reduced need for medications
o d. Elimination of mental illness
o ANS: b. Increased homelessness among psychiatric patients
, ▪ Explanation: Many patients faced inadequate community support, leading
to homelessness and increased risk of harm.
4. Which theorist developed the concept of the four humors?
o a. Freud
o b. Hippocrates
o c. Peplau
o d. Maslow
o ANS: b. Hippocrates
▪ Explanation: Hippocrates (382–322 BC) proposed the four humors
(blood, water, yellow bile, black bile) to explain emotional balance.
5. According to Peplau, what are the levels of anxiety?
o a. Mild, moderate, severe, panic
o b. Low, medium, high
o c. Acute, chronic, terminal
o d. Primary, secondary, tertiary
o ANS: a. Mild, moderate, severe, panic
▪ Explanation: Peplau’s levels of anxiety range from mild (heightened
alertness) to panic (disorganized thinking).
6. A client experiencing panic-level anxiety is likely to display:
o a. Calm behavior
o b. Screaming and clinging to others
o c. Focused attention
o d. Logical reasoning
o ANS: b. Screaming and clinging to others
▪ Explanation: Panic-level anxiety causes disorganized behavior, such as
screaming or clinging.
7. What is the primary purpose of the DSM-5?
o a. Prescribe medications
o b. Standardize mental disorder diagnoses
o c. Outline treatment plans
o d. Define nursing interventions
o ANS: b. Standardize mental disorder diagnoses
▪ Explanation: The DSM-5 provides standardized diagnostic criteria for
mental disorders.
8. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, from bottom to top, is:
o a. Self-actualization, esteem, love, safety, physiological
o b. Physiological, safety, love, esteem, self-actualization
o c. Safety, physiological, love, esteem, self-actualization
o d. Love, safety, physiological, esteem, self-actualization
o ANS: b. Physiological, safety, love, esteem, self-actualization
▪ Explanation: Maslow’s hierarchy prioritizes basic needs (physiological,
safety) before higher needs (love, esteem, self-actualization).
9. What is a key feature of a therapeutic nurse-client relationship?
o a. Focus on nurse’s needs
o b. Focus on client’s needs and agreed-upon goals
o c. Social interaction