A mother brings her 10-year-old daughter in and tells the nurse that she believes the child has a brain tumor and quickly runs through a list of some classic symptoms associated with brain cancer. On examination and after performing routine blood work, however, the nurse finds nothing wrong with the child. The child says that she feels fine. When the nurse reviews the patient's chart, she finds that this is the sixth time the mother has brought the girl in for various serious conditions in the past six months. What does the nurse suspect?

Rationale: A. Physical neglect involves failure to provide basic needs such as food, shelter, and medical care—not excessive, unnecessary medical care. B. Psychological maltreatment includes verbal abuse or emotional neglect, but does not specifically involve fabricating medical conditions. C. Failure to thrive refers to poor growth or weight gain and is unrelated to repeated, unfounded medical complaints. D. Munchausen syndrome by proxy (also known as factitious disorder imposed on another) involves a caregiver, often a parent, fabricating or inducing illness in a child to gain attention or sympathy. Multiple unnecessary medical visits and inconsistent findings are classic red flags.