A nurse assesses a 61-year-old adult who reveals that he can't process as quickly as when younger, and that "all these people talk about multi-tasking, but I can't do that!" Which of the following responses by the nurse is appropriate?
A) "Have you had any other symptoms of cognitive impairment?"
B) "Slower processing of information is an age-related change, and there are things you can do to help with this."
C) "The declines in cognitive skills usually begin around the age or 60."
D) "You shouldn't expect to see a decline the cognitive functions that you use all the time."
Ans: B
Healthy older adults will not experience any significant cognitive impairment that interferes with daily life, but they will notice minor deficits in some aspects of cognitive function and improvements in other aspects. The earliest cognitive changes are due to decreased perceptual speed. The other distracters do not answer his question. It is important for the nurse to address the client's concerns; in this case, the client is asking if it is expected to already have age-related functional consequences. Age-related declines in some cognitive skills begin around the age of 40, but there are substantial individual variations in these changes. Cognitive functions that depend on experience, accumulated knowledge, and well-practiced tasks (e.g., vocabulary) do not decline in healthy older adults, and may even improve.
You might also like to view...
The nurse monitoring a client with adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) would closely assess for
a. atelectasis. b. cor pulmonale. c. pneumonia. d. pulmonary edema.
A nurse assesses the factors that may place a client at risk for injury from a violent act by consid-ering the role these factors play before, during, and after the violent act. The work of which the-orist is being applied?
a. Matrix b. Maslow c. Haddon d. Hammer
The nurse is caring for a client with psychosis-like symptoms. Which explanation of these symptoms to the family is the most appropriate?
1. The only causes for psychosis are schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. 2. Psychotic symptoms are only seen in clients with schizoaffective disorder. 3. Psychosis-like symptoms can be caused by a brain tumor, infection, cocaine use, and schizophrenia. 4. Psychotic symptoms are only seen in clients with schizophrenia.
The volar surface of the forearm is the preferred site for administering a(n) ________ injection.
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).