NIMHANS Nursing Officer - 2021
Mental Health Nursing
Medium
A patient is diagnosed with conversion-Hysteria. Which is an appropriate action?
Appeared in: NIMHANS Nursing Officer - 2021
Explanation
- Conversion disorder is a mental health condition where psychological stress manifests as physical, neurological symptoms.
- The cornerstone of care is addressing the underlying psychological distress. Therefore, providing psychological support is the most critical and targeted nursing action.
- This involves building a therapeutic alliance, encouraging the patient to express feelings, and helping them develop adaptive coping strategies.
- The goal is to shift the focus from the physical symptom to the emotional conflict causing it.
Why Other Options Were Wrong
- Option A: The phrase 'avoid the patient for a while' is inappropriate and non-therapeutic. While nurses should avoid reinforcing the physical symptom with excessive attention, they must not withdraw care or support from the patient.
- Option B: While providing comfort is always an important part of nursing care, it is a general intervention. For conversion disorder, a more specific action that targets the psychological root of the problem is required.
- Option D: This option is incorrect because it includes Option A, which contains an inappropriate action ('avoid the patient for a while'). In a multiple-choice question, if any part of an 'All of the above' option is incorrect, the entire option is incorrect.
Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
- Nursing practice connection: Use the key finding related to Nursing management of Conversion Disorder (Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder) to guide bedside assessment, documentation, and the next nursing action.
- A non-judgmental and empathetic attitude is crucial. Patients are not faking their symptoms (malingering); the symptoms are real to them and are an involuntary expression of distress.
- Nurses play a key role in a multidisciplinary team, collaborating with therapists, psychiatrists, and physical therapists to create a consistent care plan.
- What if? The patient develops a new, alarming symptom like sudden blindness. The nurse's first action is to ensure physical safety (e.g., prevent falls). Then, calmly assess the situation without showing alarm, reassure the patient, and then redirect the conversation toward their feelings or recent stressors, while reporting the change to the team.
How to Approach the Question
- First, identify the diagnosis: 'Conversion-Hysteria' is an older term for Conversion Disorder, a psychological condition.
- Analyze the core of the question: It asks for the 'appropriate action' for a psychological disorder.
- Evaluate each option's therapeutic value. Does it address the psychological root? Is it safe and ethical?
- Critically assess Option A. 'Provide Independence' is good, but 'avoid the patient' is a red flag for inappropriate care.
- Recognize that if one component of an 'All of the above' option is incorrect, the entire option is incorrect. This eliminates Option D.
- Compare the remaining valid options. 'Provide comfort' is good, but 'Provide Psychological support' is better because it is more specific and directly targets the cause of the disorder.
Concept Tested & Keywords
- Concept Tested: Nursing management of Conversion Disorder (Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder)
- Stem keywords: conversion-Hysteria, diagnosed, appropriate action
- Lead-in keywords: appropriate action
Question ID
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Reference Book
E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) p. 1485-1487
E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 6098-6100, 1600-1602
Practise the full NIMHANS Nursing Officer - 2021
Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.
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