CARE OF OLDER ADULTS
SAS 8
1. A hospice nurse is visiting with a dying patient. During the interaction, the patient is
silent for some time. What is the best response?
*
Recognize the patient’s need for silence, and sit quietly at the
bedside. Try distraction with the patient.
Change the subject, and try to stimulate
conversation. Leave the patient alone for a period.
What is the rationale?
*
Silence is frequently associated with the intense emotions felt near the end of life.
Silence might give you time to collect your thoughts. It conveys acceptance and comfort
to listen to the silence.
2. Which information obtained by the home health nurse when making a visit to an 88-
year-old with mild forgetfulness is of the most concern?
*
The patient’s son uses a marked pillbox to set up the patient’s medications
weekly. The patient has lost 10 pounds (4.5 kg) during the last month.
The patient is cared for by a daughter during the day and stays with a son
at night. The patient tells the nurse that a close friend recently died.
What is the rationale?
*
A 10-pound weight loss may be a sign of sadness or elder abuse, and the nurse has
to conduct additional testing.
3. Which of the following statements accurately reflects data that the nurse should use in
planning care to meet the needs of the older adult?
*
50% of older adults have two chronic health problems.
Cancer is the most common cause of death among older adults.
Nutritional needs for both younger and older adults are essentially the same.
Adults older than 65 years of age are the greatest users of prescription
medications. What is the rationale?
*
A third of all prescriptions are written for older persons, who make up about two thirds
of older adults who use prescription and nonprescription medications.
SAS 8
1. A hospice nurse is visiting with a dying patient. During the interaction, the patient is
silent for some time. What is the best response?
*
Recognize the patient’s need for silence, and sit quietly at the
bedside. Try distraction with the patient.
Change the subject, and try to stimulate
conversation. Leave the patient alone for a period.
What is the rationale?
*
Silence is frequently associated with the intense emotions felt near the end of life.
Silence might give you time to collect your thoughts. It conveys acceptance and comfort
to listen to the silence.
2. Which information obtained by the home health nurse when making a visit to an 88-
year-old with mild forgetfulness is of the most concern?
*
The patient’s son uses a marked pillbox to set up the patient’s medications
weekly. The patient has lost 10 pounds (4.5 kg) during the last month.
The patient is cared for by a daughter during the day and stays with a son
at night. The patient tells the nurse that a close friend recently died.
What is the rationale?
*
A 10-pound weight loss may be a sign of sadness or elder abuse, and the nurse has
to conduct additional testing.
3. Which of the following statements accurately reflects data that the nurse should use in
planning care to meet the needs of the older adult?
*
50% of older adults have two chronic health problems.
Cancer is the most common cause of death among older adults.
Nutritional needs for both younger and older adults are essentially the same.
Adults older than 65 years of age are the greatest users of prescription
medications. What is the rationale?
*
A third of all prescriptions are written for older persons, who make up about two thirds
of older adults who use prescription and nonprescription medications.
