Mental Health - Prep U - Chapter 21

Which drug classification has been shown to be effective in treating somatization disorders?

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

Which characteristic differentiates conversion disorder from malingering disorder?

Conversion disorder is an unconscious process, while malingering disorder is a deliberate fabrication of symptoms.

A client has been diagnosed with somatic symptom disorder. The client's assessment reveals high levels of anxiety. Which would the nurse expect to be prescribed?

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

In the care of a client with somatic symptom disorder, the nurse should anticipate that drug treatment will prioritize which class in order to treat the disorder?

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

After teaching a group of nursing students about somatic symptom disorder, the instructor determines that additional education is needed when the students identify which as true?

The client usually thinks anxiety is behind the symptoms.

In which disorder is the individual motivated solely by the desire to become a health care client?

Factitious disorder

Which is a significant obstacle in providing psychiatric care for clients who have somatic symptom illnesses?

Clients are often unrecognized because clients receive treatment in different primary care offices, and care is often fragmented.

The nurse is seeing a Chinese client who reports chronic pain that radiates to the lower back. The client reports the pain has been unresolved with analgesia, physical therapy and therapeutic massage. The client's diagnostic imaging reports are all unremarkable. Which statement by the nurse would be the most supportive response to this client?

"You must be so frustrated with this unexplained pain. Do you have other stresses in your life too?"

Clients from which continent or country may have symptoms of somatization disorder that include the nondelusional sensation of worms in the head or ants under the skin?

Africa

A client with pain who has been diagnosed with somatic symptom disorder and depression is prescribed medication therapy to treat both the pain and the symptoms of depression. When educating the client about the medication, which would the nurse emphasize?

Alcohol should be avoided

A nurse is reviewing the medical history of a client diagnosed with somatic symptom disorder. Which would the nurse expect to find as a comorbid condition?

Depression

The nurse is caring for a client with somatic symptom disorder. When assessing this client, the nurse would be especially alert for symptoms of what?

Depression

Which would be most important for a nurse to do when caring for a client with somatic symptom disorder?

Develop a sound, positive nurse-client relationship

Which disease process is influenced by stress and emotions?

Diabetes

A nurse is preparing a plan of care for a client diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder. Which nursing diagnosis would the nurse likely identify as the priority?

Disturbed body image

Which mental health disorder is characterized by a fear of developing a serious illness based on a misinterpretation of body sensation?

Hypochondriasis

When describing the major difference between somatic symptom disorder and factitious disorders, which would the nurse include?

In somatic symptom disorder, clients are not consciously aware that needs are being met through physical complaints.

Which occurs when an individual intentionally produces illness symptoms to avoid work?

Malingering

Which best describes the concept of somatization?

Manifestation of physical symptoms from psychological distress

A client is admitted to the mental health unit because the client was found trying to inject diluted feces into the client's hospitalized child's intravenous line. The client has a history of similar attempts of harming the child. The nurse would most likely suspect what?

Munchausen's syndrome by proxy

When assessing a client with somatic symptom disorder, which would the nurse most likely note?

Reports of physical symptoms do not have a demonstrable organic basis to fully account for them.

A client complains of severe low back pain that began shortly after the death of the client's mother 2 years ago. No physical cause has been found to account for the pain. The client has been largely responsible for the care of four younger siblings because the client's father spends much of the week out of town on work-related business. Based on the client's symptoms, which nursing diagnosis is most appropriate for the client at this time?

Somatic complaints due to anxiety related to life stressors

A client with conversion disorder talks at length about a loss of vision. The nurse talks to the client about good hygiene practices and encourages the client to talk about any topic of interest. What is the nurse's intention for this intervention? Choose the best answer.

The client should pay less attention to the physical problem.

In somatic symptom disorders, all except which are true?

The client usually believes he/she has some sort of anxiety disorder.

A client developed conversion blindness after witnessing the death of the client's twin in a car accident. When teaching the client's parent about the client's illness, the nurse explains what?

The client's blindness is a reaction to the trauma of losing the twin and has no physiologic basis.

A client with complex somatic symptom disorder is complaining of significant pain in the joints. When providing care to this client, which would be most important for the nurse to keep in mind?

The client's experience of pain is real.

A parent brings a teenaged child, who is complaining of having a severe headache, to the clinic. The teenager is groaning with pain. During assessment, the client asks the nurse for a note to excuse the absence from school. After further assessment, the nurse suspects that the client is malingering. What leads the nurse to come to this conclusion? Choose the best answer.

The client's symptoms disappeared after getting the medical note.

Which statement about the etiology of somatic symptom disorder is accurate?

The exact etiology is unknown.

A nurse was placed in charge of the pediatric care unit. Over a period of time it was discovered that most of the children on the unit experienced sudden cardiac arrest. Although the nurse went to great lengths to revive the children, most of these children died. On further investigation, it was found that the nurse had been injecting high doses of digoxin drug in the children, which caused the cardiac arrest. The nurse was arrested and found guilty. What would have been the most likely cause of the nurse's behavior?

The nurse might have Munchausen's syndrome by proxy.

The nurse is providing care to a client with somatic symptoms disorder. The client has been prescribed escitalopram one week ago. The client reports experiencing nausea after starting the medication and describes it as "worse than what the average person would have." Which intervention should the nurse recommend for this client?

To monitor the nausea using a daily journal for one week