Negative emotions and prolonged stress interfere with the body's ability to protect itself and can increase the likelihood of illness.
The adult child of a client diagnosed with severe anxiety asks, "Do you think anxiety and physical illness are connected?" "Since my father's death, my mother has had shingles and the flu, but she's usually not one who gets sick.”. Which answer by the nurse best reflects current knowledge?

Choice A rationale

While individual rights are critically important, they do not supersede the safety and well-being of the entire therapeutic milieu. In a behavioral crisis, the primary goal is to ensure the safety of all clients and staff. Therefore, an intervention, even if it restricts a client's rights temporarily, may be necessary to prevent harm. The principle of using the least restrictive method is paramount, but it is applied within the context of maintaining safety.

Choice B rationale

A client's opportunity to regain control is a desirable outcome, but it is not the highest priority during a crisis. The immediate priority is de-escalation and ensuring safety for everyone involved. If a client's behavior poses an immediate risk of harm, a swift intervention is necessary, even if it limits the client's immediate ability to self-de-escalate. The goal of regaining control is a secondary objective once safety has been established.

Choice C rationale

Maintaining the integrity of the therapeutic milieu is a high priority, but it does not justify using a more restrictive intervention than necessary. The principle of using the least restrictive intervention possible is a fundamental ethical and legal standard. It mandates that a crisis be managed with interventions that are safe, effective, and minimally intrusive. Intervening swiftly is important, but it must be done with the least restrictive means possible.

Choice D rationale

The principle of using the least restrictive intervention possible is the highest priority in a behavioral crisis. This ethical and legal standard dictates that nurses must first attempt less invasive measures, such as verbal de-escalation, before moving to more restrictive actions like seclusion or physical restraint. This approach respects the client's autonomy and dignity while ensuring the safety of all clients and staff in the inpatient setting.

Choice A rationale

Eastern cultural traditions, such as traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, often view health and disease as a dynamic balance of forces within the body, such as yin and yang or the three doshas. Disease is not always seen as having a single, stable cause but rather as a manifestation of imbalance. This perspective differs significantly from the Western biomedical model, which relies on a linear cause-and-effect relationship to explain illness.

Choice B rationale

Indigenous cultural traditions typically attribute disease to a complex interplay of spiritual, social, and environmental factors. Healing practices often involve ceremonies, rituals, and the restoration of harmony between the individual and their community or nature. The concept of reality and disease causation in this framework is highly interconnected and holistic, rather than being based on a single, stable, and scientifically verifiable cause in the biomedical sense.

Choice C rationale

The Western cultural tradition, heavily influenced by the biomedical model, is characterized by a belief in a stable reality where diseases have identifiable, single, or multiple causes. This tradition is founded on the scientific method, which seeks to establish clear cause-and-effect relationships. This perspective views illness as a biological malfunction caused by pathogens, genetic factors, or other physical agents, allowing for targeted medical interventions and diagnoses.

Choice D rationale

The term "Southern" is not a standard cultural or philosophical tradition used in this context. While it could refer to various regional cultures, it does not represent a unified framework for understanding reality and disease causation in the same way that Eastern, Indigenous, or Western traditions do. Therefore, it is an inappropriate choice in this comparison of established cultural paradigms.