A rape victim with multiple injuries has
been brought to the emergency depart- ment for evaluation and treatment. The
first thing that the psychiatric
... [Show More] and mental
health nurse should communicate is:
A. I'm so sorry this happened to you
B.You are safe here. No one can hurt you
C.This was not your fault
D. I'm thankful you survived this attack
A patient has signed the consent form
for electroconvulsive therapy under pres- sure from her spouse but confides in
the psychiatric and mental health nurse
that she does not want the treatment
and is terrified but afraid to stand up to
her spouse. The psychiatric and mental
health nurse should:
A. ask the patient if she wants to rescind
the consent form. B. tell the patient that she must tell her
spouse she does not want the treatment. C.Tell the patient she must go through
the treatment since she singed the con- sent. D. notify the physician of the patient's
feelings about the treatment.
Answer:B.You are safe here. No one can
hurt you. Rationale:Patients who have been raped
are often severely traumatized emotion- ally as well as physically and are com- monly very fearful and panicked, so the
first thing that the mental health nurse
should communicate is "You are safe
here No one can hurt you." The psy- chiatric and mental health nurse may
need to repeat this a number of times
because traumatized patients may block
out what people are saying. The nurse
should also reassure the patient that the
attack was not the patient's fault and the
nurse is sorry for what the patient has
gone through. Answer: D. notify the physician of the patient's feelings about the treatment. Rationale: Because the patient is intimi- dated by her spouse and has stated she
is afraid to stand up to him, as an advo- cate for the patient, the nurse should notify the physician of the patient's feelings
about the treatment. Being coerced into
signing a consent form is not the same
as giving informed consent, which is re- quired by law. Because patients are vul- nerable to manipulation, the nurse must
ensure that the actual wishes of the patient are respected. [Show Less]