Personality and Mood Disorders Q 100
A young, handsome man with a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder is being discharged from the hospital next week. He asks the nurse for her phone number so that he can call her for a date. The nurse’s best response would be:
A. “We are not permitted to date clients.”
B. “No, you are a client and I am a nurse.”
C. “I like you, but our relationship is professional.”
D. “It’s against my professional ethics to date clients.”
Correct Answer: C. “I like you, but our relationship is professional.”
This accepts the client as a person of worth rather than being cold or implying rejection. However, the nurse maintains a professional rather than a social role. Maintain a neutral, calm, and respectful manner, although with some clients this is easier said than done. Helps a client see himself or herself as respected as a person even when behavior might not be appropriate.
Option A: Keep in mind clients with personality disorders might defend against feelings of low-self-esteem through blaming, projection, anger, passivity, and demanding behaviors. Many behaviors seen in PD clients cover a fragile sense of self. Often these behaviors are the crux of clients’ interpersonal difficulties in all their relationships.
Option B: Focus questions in a positive and active light; helps client refocus on the present and look to the future. For example, “What can you do differently now?” or “What have you learned from that experience?”. Allows the client to look at past behaviors differently, and gives the client a sense that he or she has choices in the future.
Option D: Give the client honest and genuine feedback regarding your observations as to his or her strengths, and areas that could use additional skills. Feedback helps give clients a more accurate view of self, strengths, areas to work on, as well as a sense that someone is trying to understand them.