A highly suicidal patient who has been hospitalized for 2 weeks committed suicide during the night. The measure that will be helpful to staff and patients having to deal with the event is:
a. asking the patient's roommate not to discuss the event with other patients.
b. keeping newspapers off the unit and sending the television "out for repair.".
c. holding a staff meeting to express feelings and plan care for other patients.
d. discharging the other patients as quickly as possible to prevent copycat attempts.
C
Interventions should be aimed at helping the staff and patients come to terms with the loss and grow as a result of the incident. A psychological postmortem assessment should be conducted by staff. A community meeting should be scheduled to inform patients and encourage them to share their feelings and responses. Staff should provide additional support and reassurance to patients and should seek opportunities for peer support and clinical supervision. Efforts to reduce exposure to information about the death would reduce trust, prevent opportunities to help survivors cope, and likely prove ineffective, since such news can almost never be contained. Rushing the discharge of surviving patients would be unsafe and unethical.
You might also like to view...
Severe chest pain is reported by a client during an acute myocardial infarction. Which of the following is the most appropriate drug for the nurse to administer?
A) Isosorbide mononitrate (Isordil) B) Meperidine hydrochloride (Demerol) C) Morphine sulfate (Morphine) D) Nitroglycerin transdermal patch
A patient with alcoholism is on a detoxification unit. What nutritional deficit would the nurse expect in this patient?
A) Vitamin C B) Vitamin A C) Vitamin K D) Vitamin D
The nurse is aware of the changing demographics and growth of ethnic subcultures of the community and is trying to ensure that residents' needs for psychotherapy are effectively met. How should the nurse best work toward this goal?
A) Ensure that therapists and clients always share the same ethnic background. B) Perform teaching for clients about the different cultures represented in the United States. C) Foster cultural competency among those caregivers who perform psychotherapy and counseling. D) Enlist the assistance of counselors in clients' home countries using e-therapy.
If a mistake in documenting is made, the correct method is to use a blue or black pen to draw a line through the mistake and place your initials beside the mistake
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.