If the source of stress continues and the body can no longer adapt, the general adaptation syndrome moves into its final stage, called exhaustion.
Missing Word
exhaustion
Exhaustion is the last stage of Selye's model, reached when the body's resources are depleted by an unresolved stressor. Prolonged exposure at this stage can lead to illness and even death, so nurses work to identify and reduce ongoing stressors.
Category: Adaptation Models
Question 2
A technique in which a person watches real-time readings of heart rate or muscle tension to learn to control those body functions is called biofeedback.
Missing Word
biofeedback
Biofeedback teaches conscious control of functions that are normally automatic. Combined with breathing techniques, it can lower heart rate and blood pressure during stress.
Category: Stress Management Care
Question 3
Negative stress that leads to unhealthful outcomes such as illness or disease is called distress.
Missing Word
distress
Distress is the harmful side of stress. Whether a stressor becomes distress depends on the person's appraisal of it, coping ability, and available resources.
Category: Coping and Appraisal
Question 4
The practice that treats symptoms with highly diluted extracts of plants or other substances is called homeopathy.
Missing Word
homeopathy
Homeopathy is a biologically based complementary practice built on highly diluted extracts. The nurse asks about its use without judgment as part of a full medication and remedy history.
Category: Stress Management Care
Question 5
Positive stress that leads to healthful outcomes and personal growth, such as the challenge of starting a new job, is called eustress.
Missing Word
eustress
Eustress is the beneficial side of stress, the counterpart of distress. Whether an event becomes eustress or distress depends largely on how the person appraises it and the resources available to cope.
Category: Coping and Appraisal
Question 6
An event or stimulus that activates a person's stress response, such as a new diagnosis, a job loss, or surgery, is called a stressor.
Missing Word
stressor
A stressor is whatever triggers the stress response. The same stressor affects people differently depending on their physical and emotional state, so the nurse asks each patient what they find stressful.
Category: Recognizing Stress
Question 7
The capacity to adapt well and recover after adversity, which can be strengthened by social support and effective coping skills, is called resilience.
Missing Word
resilience
Resilience lets a person bounce back from illness, loss, or trauma, and it can change across the lifespan. Nurses support it by identifying the patient's strengths, supports, and past successful coping.
Category: Coping and Appraisal
Question 8
When the brain perceives a threat, the hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland, which in turn stimulates the adrenal cortex to release cortisol.
Missing Word
hypothalamus
The hypothalamic-pituitary pathway links the brain's perception of a threat to hormone release: the pituitary stimulates the adrenal cortex, which releases cortisol. Prolonged cortisol elevation raises blood glucose and suppresses immune function.
Category: Physiologic Stress Response
Question 9
A state of emotional depletion, detachment from work, and a reduced sense of accomplishment caused by prolonged job stress, a known risk for nurses, is called burnout.
Missing Word
burnout
Burnout develops when work stress outlasts a person's ability to cope. Nurses lower their risk through rest, peer support, and stress management, which also protects the quality of patient care.
Category: Recognizing Stress
Question 10
Grinding or clenching the teeth, often during sleep and linked to stress, is called bruxism.
Missing Word
bruxism
Bruxism is one of the physical signs of stress a nurse may detect, along with headaches, jaw pain, and worn teeth. Stress management and dental care address it.
Category: Recognizing Stress
Question 11
Becoming motionless and unable to act when neither fighting nor fleeing seems possible is the freeze response to a threat.
Missing Word
freeze
Freezing is a recognized response to threat alongside fighting and fleeing. Recognizing it helps nurses understand reactions to trauma without judgment.
Category: Physiologic Stress Response
Question 12
Stressors are classified as either internal or external; worry that arises from a person's own interpretation of an event is the first kind.
Missing Word
internal
An internal stressor comes from a person's mental or emotional interpretation of an event, while an external stressor comes from an outside source such as a job loss. Asking about both helps the nurse see the full picture of a patient's stress.
Category: Recognizing Stress
Question 13
A vivid, intrusive reliving of a traumatic event, in which the person feels as if it is happening again, is called a flashback.
Missing Word
flashback
Flashbacks are a hallmark intrusion symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder and can be set off by sights, sounds, or smells linked to the trauma. The nurse stays calm, helps the patient focus on the present surroundings, and limits unnecessary triggers.
Category: Recognizing Stress
Question 14
Stress that is short term, such as the reaction to a near miss in traffic, is classified as acute stress, in contrast to chronic stress.
Missing Word
acute
Acute stress is brief, with effects that pass once the stressor ends. Acute and chronic stressors can occur together, and untreated acute stress can progress to a chronic condition.
Category: Recognizing Stress
Question 15
A temporary state of disequilibrium in which a stressful event overwhelms a person's usual coping methods is called a crisis.
Missing Word
crisis
A crisis occurs when usual coping fails, not simply when an event is severe, so the same event may be a crisis for one person and not for another. Crisis intervention offers short-term, focused support to restore the person's previous level of functioning.
Category: Stress Management Care