Answer Choices:
a. Assessing the lethality of any suicide plan
b. Encouraging expression of anger
c. Establishing a rapport with the patient
d. Determining risk factors for suicide
Answer:
C
Question: The parents of identical twins ask a nurse for advice when one twin committed suicide a month ago. Now the parents are concerned that the other twin may also have suicidal tendencies. Which comment by the nurse is accurate?
Answer Choices:
a. “Genetics are associated with suicide risk. Monitoring and support are important.”
b. “Apathy underlies suicide. Instilling motivation is the key to health maintenance.”
c. “Your child is unlikely to act out suicide when identifying with a suicide victim.”
d. “Fraternal twins are at higher risk for suicide than identical twins.”
Answer:
A
Question: When assessing a patient’s plan for suicide, what aspect has priority?
Answer Choices:
a. Patient’s financial and educational status
b. Patient’s insight into suicidal motivation
c. Availability of means and lethality of method
d. Quality and availability of patient’s social support
Answer:
C
Question: A nurse uses the modified SAD PERSONS scale to interview a patient. This tool provides data relevant to assessing what?
Answer Choices:
a. Current stress level
b. Mood disturbance
c. Suicide potential
d. Level of anxiety
Answer:
C
Question: A patient recently hospitalized for 2 weeks committed suicide during the night. Which initial measure will be most helpful for staff members and other patients regarding this event?
Answer Choices:
a. Request the public information officer to address inquiries from the local media.
b. Hold a staff meeting to express feelings and plan the care for other patients.
c. Ask the patient’s roommate not to discuss the event with other patients.
d. Quickly discharge as many patients as possible to prevent panic.
Answer:
B
Question: A depressed patient says, “Nothing matters anymore. What is the most appropriate response by the nurse?
Answer Choices:
a. “Are you having thoughts of suicide?”
b. “I am not sure I understand what you are trying to say.”
c. “Try to stay hopeful. Things have a way of working out.”
d. “Tell me more about what interested you before you began feeling depressed.”
Answer:
A
Question: A nurse and patient construct a no-suicide contract. Select the preferable wording for the contract.
Answer Choices:
a. “I will not try to harm myself during the next 24 hours.”
b. “I will not make a suicide attempt while I am hospitalized.”
c. “For the next 24 hours, I will discuss any thoughts of killing or harming myself with staff.”
d. “I will not kill myself until I call my primary nurse or a member of the staff.”
Answer:
C
Question: A patient with suicidal impulses is on the highest level of suicide precautions. Which measures should the nurse incorporate into the patient’s plan of care? (Select all that apply.)
Answer Choices:
a. Allow no glass or metal on meal trays.
b. Remove all potentially harmful objects from the patient’s possession.
c. Maintain patient’s length, one-on-one nursing observation around the clock.
d. Check the patient’s whereabouts every 15 minutes and ensure frequent verbal contacts.
e. Keep the patient within visual range while he or she is awake. Check every 15 to 30 minutes while the patient is sleeping.
Answer:
A, B, C
Question: When a person intentionally overdoses on antidepressant drugs, which nursing diagnosis has the highest priority?
Answer Choices:
a. Powerlessness
b. Social isolation
c. Risk for suicide
d. Ineffective management of the therapeutic regimen
Answer:
C
Question: What is the most helpful response for a nurse to make when a patient being treated as an outpatient states, “I am considering suicide.”?
Answer Choices:
a. “I’m glad you shared this. Please do not worry. We will handle it together.”
b. “I think you should admit yourself to the hospital to get help.”
c. “We need to talk about the good things you have to live for.”
d. “Bringing this up is a very positive action on your part.”
Answer:
D
Question: A nurse answers a suicide crisis line. A caller says, “I live alone in a home several miles from my nearest neighbors. I have been considering suicide for 2 months. I have had several drinks and now my gun is loaded. I’m going to shoot myself in the heart.” How would the nurse assess the lethality of this plan?
Answer Choices:
a. No risk
b. Low level
c. Moderate level
d. High level
Answer:
D
Question: A new nurse says to a peer, “My new patient is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. At least I won’t have to worry about suicide risk.” Which response by the peer would be most helpful?
Answer Choices:
a. “Let’s reconsider your plan. Suicide risk is high in patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder.”
b. “Suicide is a risk for any patient diagnosed with bipolar disorder who uses alcohol or drugs.”
c. “The thought processes of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder are usually too disorganized to attempt suicide.”
d. “Racing thoughts during mania often prompt suicide among patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder.”
Answer:
A
Question: An adult after an attempted suicide is hospitalized and takes an antidepressant medication for 5 days. The patient is now more talkative and shows increased energy. Select the highest priority nursing intervention.
Answer Choices:
a. Supervise the patient 24 hours a day.
b. Begin discharge planning for the patient.
c. Refer the patient to art and music therapists.
d. Consider the discontinuation of the suicide precautions.
Answer:
A
Question: Which change in brain biochemical function is most associated with suicidal behavior?
Answer Choices:
a. Dopamine excess
b. Serotonin deficiency
c. Acetylcholine excess
d. Gamma-aminobutyric acid deficiency
Answer:
B
Question: A nurse assesses five newly hospitalized patients. Which patients have the highest suicide risk? (Select all that apply.)
Answer Choices:
a. An 82-year-old white man
b. A 17-year-old white female adolescent
c. A 39-year-old African-American man
d. A 29-year-old African-American woman
e. A 22-year-old man with a traumatic brain injury
Answer:
A, B, E
Question: Which individual in the emergency department should be considered at the highest risk for completing suicide?
Answer Choices:
a. An adolescent Asian-American girl with superior athletic and academic skills who has asthma
b. A 38-year-old single African-American female church member with fibrocystic breast disease
c. A 60-year-old married Hispanic man with 12 grandchildren who has type 2 diabetes
d. A 79-year-old single white man with cancer of the prostate gland
Answer:
D