A client has flashbacks of sexual abuse by her uncle. She had not been aware of these memories until recently, when she became sexually active with her boyfriend. A nurse should identify this experience as which part of Sullivans concept of the self-system?
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A
The good me
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B
The bad me
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C
The not me
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D
The bad you
The choice that aligns with the client data is The not me.
A. The good me
This might be chosen when the idea in “The good me” addresses a different mechanism or priority than the one emphasized by the stem The wording does not track the stem’s main cue, so selecting it would shift the nurse away from the most precise interpretation or priority.
B. The bad me
This would apply in a different scenario where the idea in “The bad me” addresses a different mechanism or priority than the one emphasized by the stem The wording does not track the stem’s main cue, so selecting it would shift the nurse away from the most precise interpretation or priority.
C. The not me
This works since The nurse should identify a client remembering sexual abuse when becoming sexually active with her boyfriend as experiencing the not me part of the personality. According to Sullivan, the not me part of the personality develops in response to situations that produced intense anxiety in childhood. Need: Psychosocial Integrity Developmental theories help the nurse connect present coping and relationship patterns to age-expected tasks, which can inform realistic goals, communication style, and supportive interventions. From a nursing standpoint, this selection guides assessment and interventions toward what is most clinically meaningful in the moment—risk reduction, safety, accurate appraisal, and support for adaptive coping.
D. The bad you
This sounds reasonable when the idea in “The bad you” addresses a different mechanism or priority than the one emphasized by the stem The wording does not track the stem’s main cue, so selecting it would shift the nurse away from the most precise interpretation or priority.
Conclusion
The scenario is best handled by identifying what the nurse must interpret or prioritize first and then choosing the statement that fits that requirement with the least distortion. The distractors have surface appeal, but they do not align as tightly with the clinical cue embedded in the stem