Author Question: To assist a patient with a somatic system disorder, a nursing intervention of high priority is to: ... (Read 119 times)

serike · **on:** Jul 19, 2018

To assist a patient with a somatic system disorder, a nursing intervention of high priority is to:

a. imply that somatic symptoms are not real.
b. help the patient suppress feelings of anger.
c. shift the focus from somatic symptoms to feelings.
d. investigate each physical symptom as it is offered.

Question 2

A patient with blindness related to a functional neurological (conversion) disorder says, All the doctors and nurses in this hospital stop by often to check on me. Too bad people outside the hospital don't find me interesting.

Which nursing diagnosis is most relevant?

a. Social isolation
b. Chronic low self-esteem
c. Interrupted family processes
d. Ineffective health maintenance

tashiedavis420 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 19, 2018

Answer to Question 1

ANS: C
Shifting the focus from somatic symptoms to feelings or to neutral topics conveys an interest in the patient as a person rather than as a condition. The need to gain attention with the use of symptoms is reduced over the long term. A desired outcome is that the patient expresses feelings, including anger, if it is present. Once physical symptoms have been investigated, they do not need to be reinvestigated each time the patient reports them.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: B
The patient mentions that the symptoms make people more interested, which indicates that the patient believes he or she is uninteresting and unpopular without the symptoms, thus supporting the nursing diagnosis of Chronic low self-esteem. Defining characteristics for the other nursing diagnoses are not present in this scenario.