Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders

1. A client is pacing and complains of racing thoughts. Nurse Rachel asks the client if something upsetting happened, and the client’s response is vague and not focused on the nurse’s question. Nurse Rachel assesses the client’s anxiety level as:

• Mild

• Moderate

• Severe

• Panic

2. A client is scheduled for surgery and the nurse assesses a severe level of preoperative anxiety. Which of the following nursing actions is the priority for the client?

• Asking the client about her perceptions and concern about the surgery.

• Informing the surgeon about the client’s anxiety level.

• Requesting family members to come and stay with the client.

• Teaching the client facts about the upcoming preoperative and postoperative care.

3. Which of the following responses by the nurse would be the best way to encourage the client to talk about her fear of being alone?

• “Why do you think you get so frightened?”

• “What is it like to be so handicapped?”

• “Tell me how you feel when your family goes off to work and school?”

• “You must feel really discouraged and disappointed in yourself.”

4. Which of the following nursing actions would be least helpful when a client is experiencing severe to panic levels of anxiety?

• Maintain a calm manner

• Attend to physical needs if necessary.

• Help the client identify thoughts or feelings prior to the onset of the anxiety

• Assess the client’s need for medication or seclusion if other interventions have failed to reduce anxiety.

5. An anxious client also may benefit greatly from:

• Muscle relaxation

• Psychodrama

• Confrontation

• Biofeedback

6. The nurse is assessing a client for recent stressful life events. The nurse recognizes that stressful events are both:

• Desirable and growth-promoting

• Positive and Negative

• Undesirable and harmful

• Predictable and controllable

7. Troy limits his social events to those in which a family member or friend is also present. He is exhibiting behavior typical of which of the following anxiety disorders?

• Agoraphobia

• GAD

• OCD

• PTSD

8. Mr. Dela Paz is newly admitted to the psychiatric unit because of severe obsessive-compulsive behavior. Which of the following initial responses would be most therapeutic for him?

• The nurse being accepting of Mr. Dela Paz’s ritualistic behavior

• The nurse challenging Mr. Dela Paz’s needs for rituals

• The nurse expressing concern about the harmfulness of Mr. Dela Paz’s rituals

• The nurse limiting Mr. Dela Paz’s that are excessive

9. A nurse is planning care for Mr. Llanera, s former soldier diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Which of the following would nurse initially do?

• Avoid discussion of the traumatic event/events.

• Encourage the client to verbalize thoughts and feelings about the trauma.

• Encourage the client to put the past in proper perspective.

• Instruct the client to use distraction techniques to cope with flashbacks.

10. One of the goals the nurse and the client with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) mutually agreed upon is that he will increase his participation in out-of-the-apartment activities. Which of the following recommendations will be most therapeutic while achieving that goal?

• Take a day trip with a friend

• Take an eleven-minute bus ride alone

• Join a support group and participate in a victim-assistance organization

• Take a 10-minute walk with his wife around the block