Exam 11: Working with the Family

A family expresses helplessness related to dealing with a mentally ill member's odd behaviors, mood swings, and argumentativeness. An appropriate nursing intervention for the family would be to:

A nurse interviews a homeless parent with two teenage children. To best assess the family's use of resources, the nurse should ask:

A parent says, "My son and I argue constantly since he started using drugs. When I talk to him about not using drugs, he tells me to stay out of his business." What is the nurse's most appropriate action?

When a nurse assesses a family, which family task has the highest priority to healthy family functioning?

A parent is admitted to a chemical dependency treatment unit. The patient's spouse and adolescent children participate in a family session. What is the most important aspect of family assessment?

A 15-year-old patient is hospitalized after a suicide attempt. The adolescent lives with his mother, stepfather, and several siblings. When performing a family assessment, the nurse must first determine:

Which option describes a healthy family?

The patient's parent asks the nurse, "Why do you want to do a family assessment? My child is the patient, not the rest of us." Select the nurse's best response.

Which situations are most likely to place severe, disabling stress on a family? Select all that apply.

Two divorced people plan to marry. The man has a teenager, and the woman has a toddler. This family will benefit most from:

A parent is admitted to a chemical dependency treatment unit. The patient's spouse and adolescent children attend a family session. What is the priority assessment question to ask family members?

Which scenario best illustrates scapegoating within a family?

A parent has become verbally abusive toward the spouse and oldest child since losing a job 6 months ago. The child ran away twice, and the spouse has become depressed. What is the most appropriate nursing diagnosis for this family?

Which documentation of family assessment indicates a healthy and functional family?

An adult diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia lives with older adult parents. The patient was recently hospitalized with acute psychosis. One parent is very anxious, and the other is ill from all the stress. Select the most applicable nursing diagnosis.

Which information is the nurse most likely to find when assessing the family of a patient with a serious and persistent mental illness?

Select the best question to assess a family's ability to cope.

An adult recently diagnosed with AIDS is hospitalized with pneumonia. The patient and family are very anxious. Select the best outcome to add to the plan of care for this family.

Parents of a mentally ill teenager say, "We've never known anyone who was mentally ill. We have no one to talk to because none of our friends understand the problems." The nurse's most helpful intervention would be to:

Parents of a teenager recently diagnosed with serious mental illness express dismay. One parent says, "Our child sometimes acts so strangely that we don't invite friends to the house. Sometimes we don't get any sleep. We quit taking vacations." Which nursing diagnosis applies?