WK3 Assignment 2 Success Strategy

A study plan is one of the essential things that I think that it contributes to my success as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Through the study, a plan can ensure that I meet all the objectives and tasks before the national certification examination. The study plan will also stay organized and avoid procrastination during my studies. Taking the pretests has enabled me to develop various skills that will help me prepare for exams. Every Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner student must do an examination to be licensed for the practice. My main aim in studying is to attain enough competence to do well in my examinations. This paper seeks to elaborate on my strengths and weaknesses in the practice test examination, opportunities for improvement, tasks, and goals in addition to resources that will guide me in doing my best during the national certification examination.

Strengths and weaknesses

Through the test results, I could identify the laces that I am best at and those that I need to work harder on before the final examinations. I feel that the areas of my strengths involve areas that I feel secure about and have enough knowledge of, while those areas of weakness are those that I need to review the course content to refresh my memory and answer well. The main areas that I feel I did well include the areas of physical assessment across lifespan, starting from children, adolescents, and the adult population, in addition to psychotherapy and advanced pathophysiology. I did my best in the area that involved assessments and identifying various diagnoses. I could distinguish patients with various disorders such as depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) through various assessment tools. The tools I utilized most include; Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), DSM-5, and Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ). I have learned how to use various scales when assessing patients who present in the healthcare setting. My preceptor has played a great role in enabling me to identify the various signs and symptoms of the various mental health conditions. WK3 Assignment 2 Success Strategy

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The areas I consider my weakness include psychopharmacology, ethical issues, and legal principles. Although I was able to answer various questions about ethical and legal principles, I am not confident, and I should study more on that. Considering I have both strengths and weaknesses, I will ensure I focus on improving my weaknesses and maintaining my strengths by studying so I can do my best in my national exam.

Goals

1. I will study all the weekly readings in my course materials for the term to help me revise for the national certification examination. To achieve the goal, I will;

• Create a timetable that will include specific topics that will cover the course objectives
• Set some hours in the timetable for revising the national certification examination
• Ask my preceptor challenging questions and topics so that I can gain knowledge on how to answer my exam questions.

2. I will identify the areas of my strengths, such as assessment across lifespan, psychotherapy, and advanced pathophysiology; through this, I will be able to know the areas that need less revision. To realize this goal, I will;

• Identify and write down new areas of strength weekly
• Attempt various questions on my areas of strength and aim to score higher
• Attend group discussions with my coursemates to enable me to learn more

3. I will identify my areas of weakness, such as psychopharmacology and ethical and legal issues; I will then concentrate on them more. To achieve the goal, I will;

• Identify and write down my areas of weakness weekly
• Find additional time in my study plan to review the topics of my weaknesses and summarize the most important information
• Attempt 30 questions daily on the various topics

4. I will buy a review book for psychopharmacology and read it within one month. To achieve this goal, I will WK3 Assignment 2 Success Strategy

• Divide the book into sections and review each section weekly
• Make notes and summarize essential information in flashcards
• Attempt various questions and sections and aim to score more than 80%

I need to evaluate the goals and measure whether I have achieved them. I will measure my progress by identifying the goals I have successfully achieved and those I am still working on. Another way is through my assignments and tests, which will include evaluating the overall grades and the feedback from my preceptor. Overall, I will measure my progress by passing my national certification examination and becoming a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner.

Resources to accomplish goals and tasks.

There are various resources that I plan to utilize since they will help me accomplish the various goals and tasks. Reading extensively through the course materials and other online sources will enable me to attain and retain much information. The resources include; online review books, videos, online review questions, and group discussions. I will utilize the “psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner review manual” because it is a good review manual that contains all the information vital for a PMHNP. There are various online review questions and videos that will play a role in providing opportunities for improvement and learning more. I will utilize the American Nurses Credentialing Examination app to know how to utilize critical thinking and evidence-based judgment.

We also have various group discussions with my coursemates, and we can therefore meet through Microsoft teams or zoom and discuss the various course contents. Through group discussions, we learn from one another and brainstorm all the course contents we have already studied in class. I will also take the initiative of self-directed learning by adhering to the set goals. Self-directed learning involves a process where learners play a role in planning and evaluating their learning experiences (Tekkol & Demirel, 2018). Through self-directed learning, I will gain confidence, motivation, autonomy, andand skills that will enable me to carry out the final examination confidently.

Conclusion

To sum up, all students need to set a study plan by setting goals and utilizing the available resources to help achieve the goals. As a PMHNP, the goals and objectives can help me work towards my main goal of passing the national certification examinations. From the test I did, I could identify the various areas of strength and weakness in my studies through these goals: studying all the weakly readings, identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses, and buying a review book for psychopharmacology. The resources I would utilize to achieve the goals include; online review books, videos, online review questions, self-directed learning, and group discussions. All this will play a role in helping me acquire knowledge and enough information to pass the examination. WK3 Assignment 2 Success Strategy

Reference

Tekkol, İ. A., & Demirel, M. (2018). An investigation of self-directed learning skills of undergraduate students. Frontiers in Psychology, 2324. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02324

PRACTICE TEST

QUESTIONS

1. A 42-year-old male with alcohol use disorder for 5 years is referred to

the PMHNP from his primary care provider for addiction treatment.

Which of the following laboratory findings would be consistent with

his diagnosis?

1. Increased urine and serum creatinine levels
2. Increased mean corpuscular volume and triglycerides
3. Increased potassium and chloride levels
4. Decreased mean corpuscular volume and normal triglyceride level
5. A 9-year-old girl with a history of generalized anxiety disorder has been

stable on fluoxetine 10 mg for 6 months and presents for follow-up

complaining of bilateral leg pain. The physical exam, complete blood

count, and metabolic profile are normal except for an elevated alkaline

phosphatase. The PMHNP understands that this finding is:

1. Consistent with liver disease
2. Abnormal and should be repeated immediately
3. Abnormal and requires further evaluation of autoimmune hepatitis
4. A commonly occurring pre-puberty finding known as growing

pains

3. A 50-year-old physician presents with complaints of fatigue, headache,

abdominal distress, and weight loss. His husband reports increasing

irritability, inattentiveness, and low libido over the last month. He was

seen by his primary care provider, who just notified him he had pre-

diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension despite weight loss.

These findings are most consistent with

1. Dysthymia
2. Major depression
3. Generalized anxiety disorder
4. Seasonal affective disorder
5. The purpose of a professional organization’s scope and standards of

practice is to: WK3 Assignment 2 Success Strategy

1. Define the roles and actions for that particular profession
2. Define the differences between professions
3. Establish the legal authority to practice for a profession
4. Define the legal statutes that are governing a profession
5. An APRN recognizes the essential nature of primary prevention

strategies for a community. Which of the following is an example of a

primary prevention strategy?

1. A skills class for at risk adolescents
2. A suicide hotline
3. Mandated treatment
4. A psychosocial clubhouse for the mentally ill
5. Which of the following is representative of legal ruling trends over the

past 30 years?

1. Juries have been encouraged to find defendants not guilty because

of insanity

1. People with mental illness retain their inalienable rights even when

committed to a mental hospital

1. Courts place increased trust in the professional judgment of mental

healthcare providers to make ethical decisions

1. The time in bringing cases before a magistrate for commitment

hearings has been reduced

7. A patient who has been voluntarily committed is experienc2i3n6g

symptoms of psychosis; he declares he has the right to refuse his

medications despite the court order because God told him he would be

healed by his faith alone. Based on your knowledge of court-ordered

treatment, which of the following statements is true?

1. Psychiatric clients cannot refuse treatment
2. Psychiatric clients can refuse treatment unless it is court ordered
3. Psychiatric clients cannot act in their own best judgment
4. The professional judgment of the PMHNP supersedes the client’s

right to refuse medication

8. Which of the following elements is reflective of a professional

relationship rather than a social relationship?

1. In a professional relationship, there is no place for social

interactions

1. In a professional relationship, the PMHNP is solely responsible for

making the relationship work

1. In a professional relationship, the primary focus is on the client

and their needs

1. In a professional relationship, goals are left vague so that the client

feels any issue can be discussed

9. In light of the recent school shootings, the local high schools have

noticed an unusually high incidence of depressive symptoms and illicit

drug use among their students. The PMHNP formulates a plan to

address the problem. The goal of the program is to enhance the

capabilities of families and teachers to identify antecedents of

depression and drug use and to prevent new cases from developing.

What level of prevention is this strategy?

1. Tertiary prevention
2. Secondary prevention
3. Solution-focused prevention
4. Primary prevention

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10. A 45-year-old White female agreed to hospitalization after presenting to

the emergency department with passive suicidal ideations. After 24

hours she states that she wishes to leave because “this place cannot

help me.” Which of the following actions reflects the legal right of the

client?

1. The patient should be discharged immediately
2. The patient is discharged after she signs forms indicating her

actions and acknowledging her actions are against medical advice

1. Contact a collaborating physician to convert the patient to an

involuntary status

1. Explain that the patient cannot leave until further assessments are

completed and collateral information is obtained

11. The PMHNP is aware that the essentials of the therapeutic alliance

include all of the following except:

1. Formulating a differential diagnosis
2. Genuineness
3. Acceptance
4. Authenticity
5. A 39-year-old woman has been in therapy for the last 3 months. She has

shown much improvement in her functioning and has developed much

insight into her illness. This week during her session you discuss

service determination, and she suddenly begins to demonstrate the first

symptoms that brought her into therapy initially. She is now hesitant

for discharge and wants to continue services as she is displaying

regressed behavior. What is the best explanation for her symptom

return? WK3 Assignment 2 Success Strategy

1. Acute stress reaction
2. Reaction formation
3. A normal resistance seen in the termination time of therapy
4. A sign of undiagnosed pathological attachment
5. A 30-year-old man reports low self-esteem, demonstrates poor selfcontrol, exhibits much self-doubt, and requires a high degree of

reassurance. What developmental task has he failed to master?

1. Trust versus mistrust
2. Industry versus inferiority
3. Generativity versus stagnation
4. Integrity versus despair
5. A 25-year-old male has been seeing his psychoanalyst four times a week

for the last year and is bothered by recent episodes of forgetfulness

including misplacing everyday items and missing appointments.

Which Freudian psychodynamic principle assumes all behavior

conveys purpose?

1. The Ego development principle
2. Psychic determinism principle
3. The Id principle
4. The Superego mediation principle
5. Which of the following is an example of a mature defense mechanism?
6. Projection
7. Repression
8. Altruism
9. Regression
10. A Black man in the fifth decade of life has been seen for several weeks

of psychotherapy to discuss his current stressors. He proceeds to curl

up in the fetal position and lie on the floor. Which defense mechanism

is he manifesting?

1. Repression
2. Projection
3. Denial
4. Regression
5. An ambulance brings a 26-year-old female to the emergency department

after a suicide attempt by self-mutilation. Which of the following is the

most critical factor to consider when conducting your assessment?

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1. Past medical and psychiatric history
2. Hemodynamic stability
3. The current level of suicidality
4. Effective coping mechanisms
5. For which of the following reasons are selective serotonin reuptake

inhibitors (SSRIs) considered the first-line drug of choice for

depression without psychotic features?

1. Ease of dosing for step-wise titration
2. Promote sleep
3. Difficulty in overdosing for suicidal patients
4. Drug level monitoring capabilities
5. A man diagnosed with major depressive disorder is started on a selective

serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Which of the following ways is

most effective for the PMHNP to monitor the client’s response to

medication? WK3 Assignment 2 Success Strategy

1. An EKG for QTc prolongation
2. Basic metabolic profile
3. Urine toxicology screen
4. A standardized rating scale for depression
5. The following statement is reflective of which type of therapy: “If a

miracle were to happen and all of your symptoms that brought you into

therapy no longer existed, what would be different?”

1. Cognitive behavioral therapy
2. Dialectical behavioral therapy
3. Solution-focused therapy
4. Psychoanalysis
5. According to family systems theory, which of the following is

reflective of homeostasis?

1. Family members placate each other to keep the peace
2. Family members behave erratically to reduce predictability
3. Stability in the interpersonal relationships despite dysfunctions
4. A crisis restores peace
5. A married couple of 7 years presents for therapy because the wife

perceives her husband to be a constant nag. He believes that he is

correct and only trying to help. You assign him a paradoxical directive

to schedule 1 hour per day in which he nags her, and once that hour is

over to keep a list and save it until the next day. The PMHNP

recognizes this type of therapy as:

1. Experiential therapy
2. Strategic therapy
3. Structural therapy
4. Solution-focused therapy
5. Which of the following is an essential principle of cognitive behavioral

therapy?

1. Recognizing and accepting automatic thoughts
2. Recognizing and changing automatic thoughts
3. Seeing reality as the private provider sees it
4. Changing reality through environmental restructuring
5. Which of the following principles of group dynamics enhances

therapeutic efficacy?

1. Cost efficiency
2. Acquiring curative factors
3. Enhancing social skills
4. All of the above
5. The patient is referred by his primary care physician for the treatment of

panic disorder with agoraphobia. He had been titrated on paroxetine

CR 37.5 mg daily and clonazepam 0.5 mg daily as needed. He has

been on this regimen for the last year, but he admits that he sometimes

requires as many as five clonazepam tablets to get the same effect.

Which pharmacokinetic property is influencing this phenomenon?

1. Potency

239

1. Tolerance
2. Kindling
3. Addiction
4. The process by which the body affects the drug is known as:
5. Metabolism
6. Distribution
7. Pharmacokinetics
8. Pharmacodynamics
9. Which of the following neuroleptic mood stabilizing medications

commonly used to treat bipolar disorder is associated with which

teratogenic effects?

1. Divalproex (shortened limbs); lithium (seizure disorder)
2. Lithium (Ebstein’s anomaly); divalproex (neural tube defects)
3. Divalproex (Ebstein’s anomaly); lithium (cleft lip and palate)
4. Lithium (spina bifida); divalproex (neural tube defects
5. Which of the following conditions that occur with the aging process

affects drug metabolism?

1. Increased muscle mass
2. Reduced protein binding
3. Increased liver metabolization pathways leading to toxicity
4. Decreased body fat
5. Which of the following classes of medications is thought to exacerbate

or cause depression?

1. Proton pump inhibitors
2. Beta blockers
3. Antihistamines
4. PD 5 inhibitors
5. A patient with chronic renal failure and type 2 diabetes is sent to the WK3 Assignment 2 Success Strategy

PMHNP with symptoms of depression marked by increasing fatigue,

confusion, irritability, anhedonia, and apathy. Which of the following

is the best action to take at this time?

1. Increase his antidepressant medication
2. Augment his selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) with a

partial agonist antipsychotic

1. Order blood work to evaluate his renal function and electrolytes
2. Order a 12-lead EKG
3. A 36-year-old pharmacist has a history of depression and suicide attempt

1 month ago by hanging. She had been started on a tricyclic

antidepressant but abruptly stopped taking the medication a week after

she started saying it was “ineffective.” The PMHNP meets with this

patient to plan care. Which of the following is the most appropriate

initial action?

1. Ask the patient how to help her
2. Provide teaching about the long timeframe it takes for tricyclic

antidepressants (TCAs) to work

1. Contract with the patient for six sessions of therapy
2. Tell the patient how suicide might affect her family
3. A 90-year-old Black woman tells the PMHNP “some days life is just not

worth living. I would be less of a burden if I were not here anymore.”

The most therapeutic response for the PMHNP to make is

1. “Everybody loves you and likes being around you”
2. “Tell me what you mean when you say ‘life is not worth living’”

Assignment 2: Study Plan
Based on your practice exam question results from Week 2, identify strengths and areas of opportunity and create a tailored study plan to use throughout this course to help you prepare for the national certification exam. This will serve as an action plan to help you track your goals, tasks, and progress. You will revisit and update your study plan in NRNP 6675, and you may continue to refine and use it until you take the exam.

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Photo Credit: [Jacob Ammentorp Lund]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images

To Prepare
Reflect on your practice exam question results from Week 2. Identify content-area strengths and opportunities for improvement.
Also reflect on your overall test taking. Was the length of time allotted comfortable, or did you run out of time? Did a particular question format prove difficult?
The Assignment
Based on your practice test question results, and considering the national certification exam, summarize your strengths and opportunities for improvement. Note: Your grade for this Assignment will not be derived from your test results but from your self-reflection and study plan.
Create a study plan for this quarter to prepare for the certification exam, including three or four SMART goals and the tasks you need to complete to accomplish each goal. Include a timetable for accomplishing them and a description of how you will measure your progress.
Describe resources you would use to accomplish your goals and tasks, such as ways to participate in a study group or review course, mnemonics and other mental strategies, and print or online resources you could use to study.

By Day 7 of Week 3 (9/18/22 @ MN EST) Submit your study plan. WK3 Assignment 2 Success Strategy