Nursing practice questions with comprehensive rationales
NurseDive Free Nursing Practice Question
A registered nurse assesses a confused older adult, The nurse experiences sadness and reflects. "The patient is like one of my grandparents, so helpless." What feelings does the nurse describe?
Select one:
A. Sublimation
B. Transference
C. Counter transference
Countertransference refers to the feelings and emotions that a healthcare provider may have towards a patient. In this case, the nurse is experiencing sadness and reflecting on their own personal experiences with their grandparents while assessing the confused older adult. This can lead to the nurse projecting their own feelings and emotions onto the patient.
D. Repression
This question is an excerpt from Nurse Dive's nursing test bank - Mental Health - Proctored Exam 2. Take the full exam now
Full Explanation
Countertransference refers to the feelings and emotions that a healthcare provider may have towards a patient. In this case, the nurse is experiencing sadness and reflecting on their own personal experiences with their grandparents while assessing the confused older adult. This can lead to the nurse projecting their own feelings and emotions onto the patient.

Similar Questions
Group therapy is encouraged but not mandatory. on an inpatient psychiatric unit, the unit manager's policy is that clients can make a choice about whether or not to attend group therapy.
Which ethical principle does the unit manager preserve?
A. Non-maleficence
B. Beneficence
C. Justice
D. Autonomy
Autonomy is the ethical principle that upholds an individual's right to self-determination and decision- making regarding their own life and treatment. In this case, the unit manager's policy of allowing clients to make their own choice about whether or not to attend group therapy preserves the principle of autonomy. By not mandating group therapy, the unit manager respects the clients' right to make decisions about their own treatment and encourages them to participate in a way that feels comfortable and aligned with their own goals and values. This promotes a sense of empowerment and self-efficacy in clients, which is important for their overall recovery and well-being. While beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice are also important ethical principles in healthcare, they are not directly applicable to this particular situation.
Full Explanation
Autonomy is the ethical principle that upholds an individual's right to self-determination and decision- making regarding their own life and treatment. In this case, the unit manager's policy of allowing clients to make their own choice about whether or not to attend group therapy preserves the principle of autonomy.
By not mandating group therapy, the unit manager respects the clients' right to make decisions about their own treatment and encourages them to participate in a way that feels comfortable and aligned with their own goals and values. This promotes a sense of empowerment and self-efficacy in clients, which is important for their overall recovery and well-being.
While beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice are also important ethical principles in healthcare, they are not directly applicable to this particular situation.
Which best describes a characteristic of bulimia nervosa?
A. Always avoiding social gatherings and family meals
Avoiding social gatherings and family meals is a characteristic of social anxiety disorder, not bulimia nervosa.
B. Bingeing on unhealthy food and purging after, to induce vomiting.
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, or excessive exercise. Binge eating refers to the consumption of an abnormally large amount of food within a short period, accompanied by a feeling of loss of control overeating. After bingeing, individuals with bulimia nervosa feel guilty, ashamed, and anxious about their behavior, and try to compensate by purging. Options a, c, and d are incorrect as they do not accurately describe the characteristic features of bulimia nervosa.
C. Restricting caloric intake all the time
Restricting caloric intake all the time is a characteristic of anorexia nervosa, a different type of eating disorder.
D. Following a very strict diet and exercise program
Following a strict diet and exercise program is not necessarily a characteristic of bulimia nervosa, although some individuals with bulimia nervosa may engage in excessive exercise as a compensatory behavior.
Full Explanation
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, or excessive exercise. Binge eating refers to the consumption of an abnormally large amount of food within a short period, accompanied by a feeling of loss of control overeating. After bingeing, individuals with bulimia nervosa feel guilty, ashamed, and anxious about their behavior, and try to compensate by purging.
Options a, c, and d are incorrect as they do not accurately describe the characteristic features of bulimia nervosa.
Avoiding social gatherings and family meals is a characteristic of social anxiety disorder, not bulimia nervosa. Restricting caloric intake all the time is a characteristic of anorexia nervosa, a different type of eating disorder. Following a strict diet and exercise program is not necessarily a characteristic of bulimia nervosa, although some individuals with bulimia nervosa may engage in excessive exercise as a compensatory behavior.

A nurse uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to plan care for a psychotic patient. Which problem will receive higher priority? The patient who:
Select one:
A. needs to be taught about medication action and side effects.
B. refuses to eat or bathe.
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physiological needs such as food and hygiene are the most basic and fundamental needs that must be met before higher-level needs can be addressed. Therefore, a patient who refuses to eat or bathe would receive higher priority in care planning.
C. reports feelings of alienation from family.
D. is reluctant to participate in unit social activities.
Full Explanation
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physiological needs such as food and hygiene are the most basic and fundamental needs that must be met before higher-level needs can be addressed. Therefore, a patient who refuses to eat or bathe would receive higher priority in care planning.
