ATI LPN
Test Bank for Psychiatric Nursing: Contemporary Practice
Chapter 28 : Personality and Borderline Personality Disorder: Management of Emotional Dysregulation and Self-Harm Questions
Question 1 of 5
The nurse is assessing a client who is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Which client statement indicates the client is at risk for self-injurious behavior?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The statement about the mind going somewhere else during extreme anxiety (
C) suggests dissociation, a common precursor to self-injurious behavior in borderline personality disorder (BP
D) as a way to cope with intense emotions. Feeling down (
A) indicates depression, following others (
B) suggests suggestibility, and impulsivity (
D) is a risk but less directly linked to self-injury than dissociation.
Question 2 of 5
A woman with borderline personality disorder has been admitted to the inpatient unit because she has been engaging in wrist cutting. The client?s sister is visiting, and the sister asks the nurse to explain why her sister sometimes does this to herself. Which response by the nurse would be most appropriate?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Self-injurious behavior in BPD, such as wrist cutting, is often a maladaptive coping mechanism to relieve intense emotional stress or distress (
A). It does not typically calm or sedate (
B), is unrelated to delusions (
C), and does not directly address mood swings (
D), which are more characteristic of bipolar disorder.
Question 3 of 5
The nurse has explained some of the biologic theories of causation to a client diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and his family. The nurse determines that the client and family have understood the instructions when they state which of the following?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Frontal lobe dysfunction (
C), particularly in areas like the prefrontal cortex, is implicated in BPD due to its role in emotional regulation and impulsivity. Increased serotonin activity (
A) is not typically associated, decreased dopamine (
B) is more relevant to other disorders, and hormonal decreases (
D) lack specific evidence in BPD causation.
Question 4 of 5
The nurse is assessing a client who has borderline personality disorder. Which of the following would be a priority?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Physical functioning (
C) is a priority in BPD assessment due to the risk of self-harm or impulsivity affecting safety and health. Nutrition (
A), hygiene (
B), and somatic complaints (
D) are important but secondary, as they are less immediately tied to life-threatening risks like self-injury.
Question 5 of 5
A client diagnosed with borderline personality disorder tells the nurse that she frequently spaces out. Which response by the nurse would be most appropriate?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The client?s description of ?spacing out? suggests dissociation, common in BPD. Asking if she feels out of her body (
D) directly assesses the nature of this dissociative experience. Asking about stress (
A), fear (
B), or external events (
C) is less specific to confirming dissociation.