A client is prescribed lithium carbonate tablets PO at a dose of 900 mg/day divided into three doses. Each tablet contains 300 mg. How many tablets should the client take per dose?

Choice A reason: Hildegard Peplau is widely regarded as the "mother of psychiatric nursing." She published Interpersonal Relations in Nursing in 1952, which shifted the focus of nursing from what is done "to" the patient to what is done "with" the patient, establishing the phases of the therapeutic relationship.

Choice B reason: Mary Mahoney was the first African American professional nurse in the United States. While her contributions to nursing and civil rights are monumental, particularly in breaking racial barriers within the profession, she is not primarily recognized for developing the foundational theories of the psychiatric nurse-patient therapeutic relationship.

Choice C reason: Harriet Bailey wrote the first psychiatric nursing textbook, Nursing Mental Diseases, in 1920. While she was a pioneer in advocating for specialized training for nurses caring for the mentally ill, she did not develop the specific interpersonal theory that Hildegard Peplau is famous for within the field.

Choice D reason: Florence Nightingale is the founder of modern nursing, known for her work in the Crimean War and developing the Environmental Theory. Although she emphasized the importance of a healing environment and professional education, her primary focus was on general nursing, hygiene, and sanitation rather than psychiatric interpersonal dynamics.

Choice A reason: Medication adherence is vital for the long-term management of major depressive disorder; however, antidepressants often take weeks to reach therapeutic levels. In the acute phase of suicidal ideation, education about pills is secondary to preventing the client from acting on self-destructive impulses in the immediate present.

Choice B reason: Group therapy sessions provide peer support and help reduce social isolation, which are important components of psychiatric rehabilitation. However, a client with active suicidal ideation may be too unstable or withdrawn to participate meaningfully, and these sessions do not provide the high level of security required.

Choice C reason: Patient safety is the absolute priority in psychiatric nursing. One-to-one supervision (constant observation) and rigorous environmental safety checks to remove potential ligatures or sharps are the most effective immediate interventions to prevent self-harm and ensure the client remains alive to receive further therapeutic treatment.

Choice D reason: While depressed clients often suffer from nutritional deficits or weight changes, dietary coordination is a lower-level priority on Maslow's hierarchy compared to immediate physical safety. Addressing nutritional needs is part of holistic care but only after the immediate risk of suicide has been mitigated.