An older adult lives alone at home and is being treated for chronic pain. The home health care nurse ...

An older adult lives alone at home and is being treated for chronic pain. The home health care nurse notes the adult is disheveled and has dirty dishes piled up in the sink. What action by the nurse is best?
 
  a. Notify adult protective services.
  b. Arrange for hospitalization.
  c. Assess the patient's pain.
  d. Assess the patient's cognitive status.

Question 2

An older patient has moved into an adult child's home after an extended stay at a rehabilitation facility. The patient complains the child is now the boss and the child complains about care-giving duties. What action by the nurse is best?
 
  a. Help the older patient find another place to live.
  b. Suggest that it is time for assisted living.
  c. Mediate a family meeting to discuss roles.
  d. Listen empathetically but let them work it out.

Question 3

An older adult patient diagnosed with colon cancer is being evaluated for surgical removal of the tumor. The nurse explains that the primary consideration is the
 
  a. absence of any chronic disorders.
  b. absence of metastasis.
  c. tumor's staging status.
  d. patient's presurgical health status.

Question 4

The nurse is preparing an educational facts sheet on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) for older adults. What information does the nurse include? (Select all that apply.)
 
  a. Tainted blood transfusions are the greatest risk factor in older adults.
  b. Delayed recognition of HIV contributes to its poor prognosis.
  c. Twenty-five percent of AIDS cases in the United States are in persons older than 60.
  d. There is a short interval from HIV infec-tion to AIDS in older adults.
  e. HIV and AIDS cases in this age cohort have stabilized since the late 1990s.

Question 5

When working with older adults with chronic illness and exacerbations, what action by the nurse is most appropriate?
 
  a. Continually assess the patients for adhe-rence to the regime.
  b. Assess the patients for ways they can re-main in control.
  c. Teach the patients about the illness tra-jectory.
  d. Routinely review all medications the pa-tients are taking.

Question 6

A hospice nurse shows the best understanding of the personal commitment to the dying patient by
 
  a. providing the patient with sufficient, ef-fective pain management therapies.
  b. addressing the patient's need to feel va-lued by those attending to his or her death.
  c. being available emotionally and physically throughout the dying process.
  d. empathizing with the patient and his or her family and friends during the process.