NSG 4067: GERONTOLOGICAL NURSING AND HEALTH PROMOTION
1. A nurse is explaining to a new colleague the similarities and differences between gerontology
and geriatrics. Which of the following situations would most likely be addressed by a geriatrician
rather than a gerontologist?
A) Teaching older adults techniques to identify and deal with age-related changes
B) Organizing and leading exercise classes to facilitate mobility
C) Identifying and treating a client's vascular dementia
D) Rearranging an older adult's apartment to minimize the risk of falls
Ans: C
Feedback:
Geriatricians are medical specialists concerned with the treatment of diseases and disabilities
common among older adults. The focus of gerontologists is a multidisciplinary approach aimed
at emphasizing healthy and successful aging. Options A, B, and D fall under the auspices of
gerontology.
2. A nurse works with a program that performs interviews, blood work, and digital rectal
examinations aimed at identifying older men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The
program also facilitates bathroom alterations in older adults' homes to ensure men with BPH
have easy access to a toilet. Which of the following components of health promotion has yet to
be implemented in the program?
A) Screening
B) Risk assessment
C) Environmental modification
D) Risk-reduction interventions
Ans: D
Feedback:
Risk-reduction interventions are actions that have a direct bearing on preventing an older adult
from acquiring a health problem in the future; none of the components of the program have this
effect. Screening and risk assessment are accomplished through interviewing older adults and
performing blood work and digital rectal examinations. Bathroom alterations are an example of
environmental modification.
3. A nurse is teaching nursing students about the importance of health promotion among older
adults. Which of the following statements by a student indicates a need for further teaching?
A) "Teaching older adults how to live with diabetes would be a useful health promotion
initiative."
, B) "I can see why we would want to promote timely discharge back to the community
following hospitalization."
C) "I think that attending to spiritual growth could likely be a part of health promotion."
D) "If we could promote healthy, simple diets, then some diseases could likely be
prevented."
Ans: B
Feedback:
Discharge planning is not a core component of health promotion. Health promotion denotes
interventions or programs that focus on behavior changes that can improve health and well-
being. Teaching older adults how to live with a particular disease, fostering spiritual growth, and
promoting good nutrition are all components of health promotion.
4. Which of the following interventions most closely aligns with the practices of health
promotion?
A) Leading a flexibility and mobility class among older adults
B) Providing presurgical teaching to an older adult prior to hip replacement
C) Administering an anti-inflammatory and analgesics to an older adult with osteoarthritis
D) Teaching an older adult how to administer her inhaled bronchodilators independently
Ans: A
Feedback:
The practice that best characterizes health promotion is facilitating exercise. Presurgical
teaching, administering drugs, and teaching independence with medication are useful
interventions, but they do not characterize the behavior changes of health promotion as well as
an intervention such as an exercise class.
5. Which of the following circumstances would be most likely to render a screening program
unnecessary?
A) Treatment of the disease is available at low cost.
B) The disease follows a predictable course.
C) The disease is more common among older adults than among younger and middle-aged
adults.
D) The symptoms of the disease appear at the same time that it is detectable by screening.
Ans: D
Feedback:
For a screening program to be effective, the test must be able to detect the disease in question
earlier than it would be detected without screening. While cost-effectiveness is a consideration in
1. A nurse is explaining to a new colleague the similarities and differences between gerontology
and geriatrics. Which of the following situations would most likely be addressed by a geriatrician
rather than a gerontologist?
A) Teaching older adults techniques to identify and deal with age-related changes
B) Organizing and leading exercise classes to facilitate mobility
C) Identifying and treating a client's vascular dementia
D) Rearranging an older adult's apartment to minimize the risk of falls
Ans: C
Feedback:
Geriatricians are medical specialists concerned with the treatment of diseases and disabilities
common among older adults. The focus of gerontologists is a multidisciplinary approach aimed
at emphasizing healthy and successful aging. Options A, B, and D fall under the auspices of
gerontology.
2. A nurse works with a program that performs interviews, blood work, and digital rectal
examinations aimed at identifying older men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The
program also facilitates bathroom alterations in older adults' homes to ensure men with BPH
have easy access to a toilet. Which of the following components of health promotion has yet to
be implemented in the program?
A) Screening
B) Risk assessment
C) Environmental modification
D) Risk-reduction interventions
Ans: D
Feedback:
Risk-reduction interventions are actions that have a direct bearing on preventing an older adult
from acquiring a health problem in the future; none of the components of the program have this
effect. Screening and risk assessment are accomplished through interviewing older adults and
performing blood work and digital rectal examinations. Bathroom alterations are an example of
environmental modification.
3. A nurse is teaching nursing students about the importance of health promotion among older
adults. Which of the following statements by a student indicates a need for further teaching?
A) "Teaching older adults how to live with diabetes would be a useful health promotion
initiative."
, B) "I can see why we would want to promote timely discharge back to the community
following hospitalization."
C) "I think that attending to spiritual growth could likely be a part of health promotion."
D) "If we could promote healthy, simple diets, then some diseases could likely be
prevented."
Ans: B
Feedback:
Discharge planning is not a core component of health promotion. Health promotion denotes
interventions or programs that focus on behavior changes that can improve health and well-
being. Teaching older adults how to live with a particular disease, fostering spiritual growth, and
promoting good nutrition are all components of health promotion.
4. Which of the following interventions most closely aligns with the practices of health
promotion?
A) Leading a flexibility and mobility class among older adults
B) Providing presurgical teaching to an older adult prior to hip replacement
C) Administering an anti-inflammatory and analgesics to an older adult with osteoarthritis
D) Teaching an older adult how to administer her inhaled bronchodilators independently
Ans: A
Feedback:
The practice that best characterizes health promotion is facilitating exercise. Presurgical
teaching, administering drugs, and teaching independence with medication are useful
interventions, but they do not characterize the behavior changes of health promotion as well as
an intervention such as an exercise class.
5. Which of the following circumstances would be most likely to render a screening program
unnecessary?
A) Treatment of the disease is available at low cost.
B) The disease follows a predictable course.
C) The disease is more common among older adults than among younger and middle-aged
adults.
D) The symptoms of the disease appear at the same time that it is detectable by screening.
Ans: D
Feedback:
For a screening program to be effective, the test must be able to detect the disease in question
earlier than it would be detected without screening. While cost-effectiveness is a consideration in
