The psychiatric home health nurse is evaluating whether a ...

[piesebel]

The psychiatric home health nurse is evaluating whether a client's level of functioning has improved since starting the prescribed psychotropic medication. What evidence does the nurse look for?
 
  1. There is no change in the GAF score.
  2. There is a significant decrease (by 10 or more points) in the client's GAF score.
  3. The client no longer qualifies for a GAF score.
  4. There is an increase in the client's GAF score.

Question 2

The nurse and a client are discussing the diagnosis of depression. The client asks, Where in my brain does the depression come from? The nurse is aware that:
 
  1. The occipital lobe governs perceptions of events, judging them as positive or negative.
  2. The parietal lobe has been linked to depression.
  3. The limbic system is thought to be the emotional center of the brain.
  4. The medulla regulates key biological and psychological activities.

[Tonny]

Answer to Question 1

4
Rationale: The range of the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score is 0100 with 0 indicating there is inadequate information and 100 indicating the client has superior functioning in a wide range of activities, life's problems never seem to get out of hand, the client is sought out by others because of his or her many positive qualities, and the client is having no symptoms. When evaluating the GAF score, generally an increase over the score at admission indicates there is some improvement in the client's level of functioning.

Answer to Question 2

3
Rationale: The limbic system is thought to be the emotional center of the brain. The parietal lobe has not been linked to depression. The medulla does regulate key biological activities, but not psychological activities. The frontal lobe, not the occipital lobe, governs perceptions of events, judging them as positive or negative.