Which statement is true regarding the elderly patient's response to multiple organ dysfunction in a critical care setting?
1. Preexisting medical conditions cause worse outcomes in the elderly.
2. The nurse should focus on the patient's chronologic age and not on physiologic age.
3. A change in the elderly's mentation is associated with aging.
4. Elderly patients have quick physiological responses to multiple organ dysfunction.
1
Rationale: The correct answer is preexisting medical conditions cause worse outcomes in the elderly because preexisting conditions cause organs that are already compromised to fail faster. The nurse should focus on the patient's chronologic age and not on physiologic age is incorrect because aging changes depend on lifestyle. Not all elderly have total body function decline or the same degree of decline. A change in the elderly's mentation is associated with aging is incorrect because changes in levels of consciousness are not associated with aging but usually indicate disease process, medication-related problems, malnutrition, depression, or dehydration. Elderly patients have quick physiological responses to MODS is incorrect because the elderly have delayed responses as a result of physiological changes associated with aging.
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