| Course | NU674 PMHNP Diagnosis and Management Across the Lifespan Clinical I |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Mental status examination |
| Length | About 640 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MSN |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU674 Unit 2
Four Seconds Before Each Answer: A Mental Status Examination Written in Observational Language for a 53-Year-Old Crane Operator on Medical Leave
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU674: PMHNP Diagnosis and Management Across the Lifespan Clinical I
Unit 2 Mental Status Examination
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The patient is composite; times and details are bracketed.
Context
Outpatient intake, [Tuesday], [09:30 to 10:25], county psychiatry clinic. Preceptor present throughout. Mr. [D.], [53], a tower crane operator, has been off work for [three] months after a shoulder injury; his family physician sent him because of a persistently low mood.
Appearance
Tall man appearing his stated age, dressed in a clean work jacket and jeans, unshaven for what appeared to be several days. Left arm in a sling. Hair uncombed. No visible injuries other than the sling. Sat in the chair nearest the door.
Behavior and Psychomotor Activity
Sat with his right hand on his knee and moved it little during the interview. Eye contact was brief; he looked at the floor during most of his answers. Response latency, timed by the student's watch for the first [ten] questions, was about [four] seconds after each question before he began to speak, and did not shorten over the interview. No tremor or involuntary movements were seen. At the end he stood up slowly, pushing off the armrest with his right hand.
Psychomotor retardation is a core feature in many depressed patients, and reviews describe it in terms of observable changes in movement, speech and response time; measuring response latency directly is one way to record it objectively (Buyukdura et al., 2011).
Attitude
Polite and cooperative. Answered every question. Said at one point, "I don't know why they sent me, but okay."
Speech
Low volume, slow rate, with long pauses within sentences. Normal articulation. Spoke in short answers, usually one sentence, and did not add information unless asked.
Mood
In his words: "Flat. Like nothing's worth getting up for."
Affect
Restricted in range; his facial expression changed little throughout. Congruent with stated mood. Became tearful once, for about [20] seconds, when describing his daughter's wedding next month, and apologized.
Thought Process
Linear and goal-directed. Answers were relevant to the questions, though brief.
Thought Content
Preoccupied with the injury and whether he will return to work. No delusions elicited. Endorsed passive thoughts that "maybe I just wouldn't wake up and that would be fine" on some mornings in the past two weeks; denied intent, plan or preparatory behavior. Denied thoughts of harming others. Denied obsessions.
Perception
Said he has not heard voices or seen anything unusual. Throughout the hour he attended to the conversation without pauses that suggested he was listening to something else.
Cognition
Alert. Oriented to person, place and date. Recalled [two] of [three] words after five minutes, and the third with a cue. Serial sevens: [four] of [five] correct, completed slowly. Named the current and previous presidents.
Insight
Partial. Recognizes that he has been "down" but attributes it entirely to the injury and does not see it as a condition that could be treated.
Judgment
Fair. Has kept his physical therapy appointments and came to this visit when referred.
Interpretation
The four-second latency, slow speech, reduced movement and restricted affect, recorded here as observations, together suggest psychomotor retardation. Psychomotor changes have long been recognized as part of depression and may help identify more severe or melancholic presentations (Sobin & Sackeim, 1997). The examination is consistent with a major depressive episode, which the history must confirm. Passive death wishes without intent require a structured risk assessment at this visit. The slow cognitive performance is consistent with depression, but a baseline cognitive screen should be repeated when mood improves.
A careful examination records what was observed in each domain before any inference is drawn, so that another clinician can compare it with later examinations (Trzepacz & Baker, 1993).
References
Buyukdura, J. S., McClintock, S. M., & Croarkin, P. E. (2011). Psychomotor retardation in depression: Biological underpinnings, measurement, and treatment. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 35(2), 395-409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.10.019
Sobin, C., & Sackeim, H. A. (1997). Psychomotor symptoms of depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(1), 4-17. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.154.1.4
Trzepacz, P. T., & Baker, R. W. (1993). The psychiatric mental status examination. Oxford University Press.
NU674 Unit 2 instructions, in plain terms
For Unit 2 you write a complete mental status examination from an interview you conducted or observed. Prompts usually want every standard domain, from appearance through judgment, written in objective, observable terms, with the patient's own words for mood, and a short interpretation kept separate from the observations. The examination is usually one to two pages. Graders reward descriptions that another clinician could confirm, such as timed latencies, specific behaviors and exact quotes, and they penalize labels used in place of observations. Recording the context of the interview, including who was present, lets a reader judge how the observations were made. Suicidal thoughts must be documented with enough detail to show whether intent or plan was asked about.
Inside the NU674 Unit 2 example
A context line records the date, the clinic, the preceptor's presence and the reason for referral. Each domain follows under its own heading. Appearance notes the sling and several days of stubble. Behavior records response latency timed for the first ten questions, cited to the Buyukdura review on measuring psychomotor change. Speech, mood in his words, and affect follow, with the tearful moment recorded with its trigger and length. Thought content records passive death wishes and the specific denials. Cognition gives recall and serial sevens. Insight and judgment are supported by examples. The interpretation paragraph, with a highlighted sentence, draws the inference and cites Sobin and Sackeim and Trzepacz and Baker.
Reading the NU674 Unit 2 grading rubric
Mental status examinations in this course are commonly graded on completeness, observational language, accuracy of terms, documentation of risk and separation of observation from interpretation. Completeness earns full points when every domain appears. Observational language rewards descriptions a preceptor could verify, and it is where most points are lost. Accuracy is judged on correct use of terms such as affect, thought process and insight. Risk documentation is scored on whether passive and active ideation, intent, plan and behavior were each addressed. Separation of observation from interpretation earns credit when inferences appear only in a final paragraph and are linked to the specific observations that support them.
NU674 Unit 2 help from the desk
Students often write conclusions such as hostile, guarded or slowed without the behavior that led to them. Another frequent error is confusing mood, which is the patient's report, with affect, which is what the examiner observes. Some examinations record "denies SI" without showing that passive ideation, intent and plan were each asked about. Others omit cognition or test it without recording the results. Many mix interpretation into each domain, which makes it impossible to check. And writing the examination days later, from memory, invites exactly the kind of labeling that the observational standard is meant to prevent, so write it the same day. Timing a few answers with a watch takes seconds and gives the examination a number no reader can dispute.
Get an NU674 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Which domains does the NU674 template list, and in what order? Send that template with the rubric and the interview you observed, stripped of identifiers. Returned within 24-48h and free as a first sample, the examination recasts a comparable composite patient in findings your preceptor could confirm line by line, conclusions held back for a closing summary. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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NU674 Unit 2 questions, answered
Why time response latency instead of writing psychomotor retardation?
Because a number can be checked and a label cannot. Latency counted in seconds, still hands and sparse gestures let a reader judge the severity of slowing and compare it at the next visit. The clinical term still appears, placed after the observations that justify it, so the examination is both readable and verifiable.
Can the sample be based on a patient I interviewed?
Only as a de-identified outline, and the sample itself describes a composite. Details that could point to a real person, such as an employer, a town or an unusual event, are changed or left out. Your own examination of your own patient remains your work, written from what you observed and reviewed with your preceptor.
Where can I find a free NU674 Unit 2 sample paper?
The whole NU674 Unit 2 mental status examination is on this page, with every domain written in observational terms, the timed response latency, the risk documentation and a separate interpretation, plus three references. An examination based on your own observed interview can be requested.
How are mood and affect recorded differently in NU674 Unit 2?
Mood is recorded in the patient's own words, here flat, like nothing is worth getting up for. Affect is what the examiner observes: restricted in range, with little change in facial expression and one tearful moment of about twenty seconds.
How is suicidal thinking documented in NU674 Unit 2?
The examination records passive thoughts on some mornings over two weeks, in his words, and states that intent, plan and preparatory behavior were each asked about and denied, along with thoughts of harming others. A structured risk assessment at the same visit is recommended.