The nurse caring for an elderly widow notes her patient making statements such as, "Ever since my husband died I can't seem to do anything right."
The patient was widowed 2 years prior to this current hospitalization, which is her fifth since losing her husband to cancer after a long struggle. The woman says to the nurse, "The doctor says my blood pressure is dangerously high. What is making my blood pressure so high?" What does the nurse know about the probable cause of this patient's hypertension?
A) Prolonged or unrelenting suffering can cause physical illness.
B) Physical illness is always caused by prolonged stress.
C) The elderly are at increased risk for hypertension due to stress.
D) Stress always exacerbates the physiologic processes of the elderly
Ans: A
Feedback: When a person endures prolonged or unrelenting suffering, the outcome is frequently the development of a stress-related illness. Physical illness is not always caused by prolonged stress. The elderly population is not the only population at increased risk for hypertension due to stress. Option D is incorrect because stress does not always exacerbate (or make worse) the physiologic processes of the elderly. This is an absolute statement, and in the physical world there are no absolutes.
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