During a home health visit, the nurse notices that her new elderly patient's home is in disarray and she states that her son takes care of her but only comes once a week. She also reports, "He has a hard job and gets mad easily."

Question

The nurse's plan of care would need to include:
A) Monitoring to see if the patient's situation improves over the next month.
B) Meeting with a social worker and the son to evaluate the situation further for elder abuse.
C) Moving the patient to a nursing home to protect her and have her son arrested.
D) Reporting the suspected abuse to federal law enforcement.

Answer 1

Ans: B
Feedback: Preventive action should be taken when caregiver strain is evident, before elder abuse occurs. Early detection and intervention may provide sufficient resources to the family or person at risk to ensure patient safety. Interdisciplinary team members, including the psychologist, social worker, or chaplain, should be enlisted to help the caregiver develop self-awareness, increased insight, and an understanding of the disease or aging process. Option A is a good answer, but proactive interventions are needed in this case. Option C is incorrect; the responsibility of the nurse is to assess the situation and report suspected elder abuse while developing a plan of care. Option D is incorrect; reporting suspected abuse is done at the state and local level.