A mental health nurse is working with a client experiencing severe depression. The nurse wants to provide supportive care while avoiding becoming emotionally overwhelmed. Which statement best reflects the difference between sympathy and empathy in this context?
Sympathy involves understanding and sharing the client’s feelings, while empathy is feeling sorry for them.
Sympathy is feeling sorry for the client, while empathy is the ability to understand and communicate that understanding without judgment.
Sympathy creates emotional distance, whereas empathy fosters a deeper emotional connection without losing objectivity.
Sympathy and empathy are interchangeable terms that both involve feeling the client’s emotions deeply.
The Correct Answer is B
Choice A reason: This reverses the definitions of sympathy and empathy. Empathy is not about feeling sorry but about understanding and reflecting feelings.
Choice B reason: Sympathy is pity or sorrow for someone else’s suffering, while empathy means perceiving and validating the client’s experience without judgment, which is essential for therapeutic communication.
Choice C reason: Sympathy does not create emotional distance; instead, it often involves pity that can actually reduce meaningful connection. Empathy provides closeness while maintaining professional boundaries.
Choice D reason: Sympathy and empathy are not interchangeable. They differ in depth and therapeutic effectiveness, making this statement incorrect.
Nursing Test Bank
Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams
Related Questions
Correct Answer is B
Explanation
Choice A reason: Processing auditory information and comprehension is primarily the function of the temporal lobe, not the parietal lobe.
Choice B reason: The parietal lobe is responsible for integrating sensory input such as touch, pain, pressure, and temperature, allowing the brain to form a coherent understanding of the body’s physical state.
Choice C reason: Voluntary muscle movement coordination and balance are functions of the cerebellum and motor cortex, not the parietal lobe.
Choice D reason: Emotions and memory formation are primarily regulated by the limbic system, especially the amygdala and hippocampus, not the parietal lobe.
Correct Answer is D
Explanation
Choice A reason: While exploring childhood experiences may provide insight into the origins of fear, this approach does not directly help the client build the confidence and skills needed to engage socially in the present. It may keep the focus on the past rather than promoting immediate coping strategies.
Choice B reason: Offering reassurance without addressing the underlying cognitive distortions minimizes the client’s distress and may come across as dismissive. This response fails to provide practical tools for overcoming fear of rejection.
Choice C reason: Encouraging participation in large social gatherings too quickly can overwhelm a client with avoidant traits. Such exposure without proper preparation and gradual buildup is more likely to increase anxiety and avoidance rather than reduce it.
Choice D reason: Supporting the client in recognizing and challenging self-defeating beliefs, while practicing gradual social exposure, is evidence-based and therapeutic. This method uses cognitive-behavioral strategies that are effective in reducing avoidance, building self-esteem, and encouraging healthier relationships.
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