An older patient who lives alone is brought to the clinic by an adult child who reports the patient has become "depressed" and no longer wants to go out of the home. What action by the nurse is best?
a. Assess the patient for depression.
b. Ask the patient why activities are avoided.
c. Assess the patient for pain.
d. Assess the patient for elder abuse.
C
Many older adults have pain that goes untreated. Consequences of untreated pain are numerous and include depression and withdrawal. The nurse should first assess for pain. Assessing for de-pression or elder abuse may be warranted as well. Asking "why" questions is not therapeutic, as patients tend to become defensive.
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An excellent source of information about national, regional, and local job openings for Licensed Practical/Vocational nurses is
A) the Internet. B) the local newspaper. C) nursing journals. D) trade magazines.
A pediatric nurse is conducting patient education with a 13-year-old girl who has just been diagnosed with asthma. What subject should the nurse prioritize when teaching this patient and her parents about the management of asthma?
A) Identification of the triggers that exacerbate her asthma B) The appropriate use of antibiotics in the treatment of asthma C) Techniques for managing long-term oxygen therapy D) Demonstrating the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)
The nurse is caring for a preschool-age child with acute nasopharyngitis. Which information should the nurse include when teaching the parents about this health problem?
A) Healthy children rarely have more than one cold per year. B) Typically, the child will pull the ear when a cold is present. C) A cough that accompanies a cold should rarely be suppressed. D) An antibiotic is prescribed for children younger than 5 years of age.
A patient who is immunosuppressed asks the nurse why he is experiencing so many illnesses. How should the nurse respond?
1. "You are unable to develop immunity to common bacteria, so you experience more illnesses." 2. "Your body takes longer to develop an immune response." 3. "Your body thinks everything is foreign matter and responds with an illness." 4. "You are under severe stress, which is causing the illnesses."