When a patient is experiencing a panic attack, how should the nurse best assist the patient?

For the past 3 weeks, the nurse has observed a patient interacting with staff and other patients, helping decorate the dining room for a party, and leading the singing in the activity room. Today, the patient tearfully refuses to dress or get out of bed. The nurse recognizes these behaviors as evidence of which psychiatric disorder?

A patient admitted to the hospital after a motorcycle crash that has left him paralyzed from the waist down tells the nurse he has feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. What other feelings may the patient have that should be recognized?

The patient talks with his dead brother and arranges furniture so that his brother will have a place to sit. How should the nurse document this behavior?

A patient developed a severe contact dermatitis of the hands, arms, and lower legs after spending an afternoon picking strawberries. The patient states that the itching is severe and cannot keep from scratching. Which instruction will be helpful in managing the pruritus?

A young adult patient has come into a dermatology clinic and reports having had a single 1-in lesion that was scaly with a raised border and a pink center on the chest. Now, a little more than a week later, there are smaller matching spots of the rash on both sides of the chest. The nurse observes pink, oval-shaped spots that are 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in across. What condition does the nurse suspect the health care provider will diagnose?

The nurse recommends a breathing technique to help a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to empty the lungs of used air and to promote inhalation of adequate oxygen. What is this method of breathing called?

A college student has brought his hallucinating roommate to the college clinic. The young man says his roommate has been experimenting with phencyclidine (PCP). How long should the nurse expect the hallucinations to last?

A family is informed that the brain damage to their daughter is irreversible. The father is later overheard making vacation plans and discussing what the family will do when his daughter leaves the hospital. The nurse recognizes the father is in which crisis stage?

For what is the older adult patient at increased risk because of age-related changes in the musculoskeletal system?

When assessing the skin of an older adult patient who is complaining of pruritus, what should the nurse advise the patient to avoid to reduce further drying of her skin?