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NCLEX · Crisis and Grief

During a community disaster with mass casualties, the mental health nurse is providing psychological first aid. What is the primary goal of psychological first aid?

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Correct answer

Reduce initial distress, meet immediate needs, and foster adaptive coping and a sense of safety — psychological first aid is supportive, practical, and aims to stabilize, not to provide formal therapy or force people to process the trauma

  1. A Identify who needs psychiatric hospitalization
  2. B Provide formal psychotherapy on-site
  3. C Reduce initial distress, meet immediate needs, and foster adaptive coping and a sense of safety — psychological first aid is supportive, practical, and aims to stabilize, not to provide formal therapy or force people to process the trauma
  4. D Diagnose mental health disorders

Why this is the answer

PSYCHOLOGICAL FIRST AID (PFA): An evidence-informed approach for helping people in the immediate aftermath of disaster or trauma.

Primary goals: Reduce initial distress; meet immediate practical needs (safety, food, shelter, information); foster adaptive coping and resilience; connect people with support and resources; promote a sense of safety, calm, connectedness, self-efficacy, and hope.

Pfa principles: Provide comfort and practical support; do NOT force people to talk about or 'process' the event (premature debriefing can be harmful); listen if they want to share; respect culture and individual coping; protect from further harm; reunite with loved ones; provide accurate information.

Not pfa: Formal psychotherapy; mandatory critical incident debriefing (no longer recommended — can interfere with natural recovery); diagnosing; pathologizing normal stress reactions.

Triage: Identify those needing higher-level care while supporting the majority who will recover with basic support; nursing role: provide practical and emotional support, ensure safety and basic needs, foster coping, connect to resources, avoid forcing trauma processing.

Source: NCLEX-RN Psychosocial — Crisis, Psychological First Aid

Practice more questions

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About this topic: Crisis and Grief

Crisis and grief questions cover crisis theory and intervention, suicide risk assessment and precautions, violence de-escalation, and supporting clients and families through loss. This is one of 9 RN: Psychosocial Integrity questions on crisis and grief, each with a full explanation on a single study page.

New to this exam? Our NCLEX exam guide explains the format, scoring, and how to prepare.

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