A 30-year-old grandchild lives with and provides care for the 75-year-old grandparent. The grandparent has congestive heart failure, hypothyroidism, and chronic pain from a compression fracture and osteoporosis
The grandchild supervises the older adult's medications. The home health nurse notes that the older adult has extra diuretic pills and that the pain medications for a month have been used and cannot be refilled for 2 more weeks. The older adult tells the nurse: "Those pain pills don't work, my back is always hurting." The nurse notes that the older adult's ankles are very swollen. Which of the following things should the nurse do first?
A) Call adult protective services and ask for an immediate evaluation.
B) Assess the grandchild's understanding of her grandmother's needs.
C) Take the grandmother to the emergency department immediately.
D) Tell the older adult that her grandchild is probably taking her pain medications.
Ans: B
Physical neglect can arise from the caregiver's lack of knowledge. It is important to assess the caregiver's understanding of the dependent person's needs before drawing other conclusions.
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