Chapter 16 PREPU- MedSurg
Which statement, made by the nurse, can be most helpful when caring for a client in the third stage of Kubler-Ross' emotional reactions to dying?
"I understand that it would be wonderful to see your daughter's graduation."
Which statements made by the nurse demonstrates that the nurse is providing spiritually sensitive care?
"Tell me who or what gives you strength."
A nurse is providing hospice care in Portland, Oregon to a client with terminal liver cancer. The client confides to the nurse, "I'm in agony all the time. I want this to be over now—please help me." Which interventions should the nurse implement? Select all that apply.
Advise the client's health care provider of the client's condition. Encourage the client to explain his or her wishes. Control the client's pain with prescribed medication.
Which term refers to the period of time during which mourning of a loss takes place?
Bereavement
A client diagnosed with a terminal illness appoints her oldest son as the authorized individual to make medical decisions on her behalf when she is no longer able to speak for herself. Which proxy directive is the patient using?
Durable power of attorney for health care
Which is also known as a proxy directive?
Durable power of attorney for health care
The family members of a dying patient are finding it difficult to verbalize feelings and show tenderness for the dying person. Which of the following nursing interventions should a nurse perform in such situations?
Encourage the family members to express their feelings and listen to them in their frank communication.
A terminally ill client is receiving morphine around-the-clock for pain control. As part of the client's plan of care focusing on pain management, which nursing diagnosis would the nurse most likely identify?
Risk for constipation related to the effects of an opioid
A nurse has been providing in-home hospice care to an older adult client with lung cancer for more than six months. The family asks the nurse how long the Medicare hospice services will continue. What is the nurse's best response?
The Medicare hospice services can continue as long as the physician and hospice director agree about the client's terminal condition.
Which of the following is the nurse's primary concern when providing end-of-life care for a client and the family? Select all that apply.
Maintaining client comfort Supporting family members Providing personal care
Which of the following is a term that refers to individual, family, group, and cultural expressions of grief and associated behaviors?
Mourning
Which "awareness context" is characterized by the client, family, and health care professionals understanding that the client is dying, but all pretend otherwise?
Mutual pretense awareness
Nursing students are reviewing information about attitudes related to death and dying. The students demonstrate understanding of the information when they identify which of the following as most accurate?
There remains a conspiracy of silence about dying despite progress in the area.
Evidence-based medical and nursing research (2009) has identified cardiovascular disease as the most prevalent chronic disease in the United States. Under this classification, one condition is the most common. Using this information, a nurse practitioner, treating a 50-year-old man, would do which of the following?
Write a prescription for a serum cholesterol level.
A client is experiencing anorexia and the physician is to order a medication to stimulate the client's appetite. Which of the following would the nurse least likely expect the physician to prescribe?
atropine
The nurse is caring for a client who just learned of his terminal diagnosis. After the physician leaves, the nurse remains to answer further questions so that the client can make an informed decision about further treatment. By providing all available information, the nurse is promoting which ethical principle?
autonomy
A family of a dying client reports that their loved one is experiencing more shortness of breath. Which nursing intervention is most appropriate at this time?
Call the health care provider to obtain an oxygen order
A nurse is providing care to a client experiencing symptoms associated with terminal illness. Which of the following would be most appropriate to use as a means for managing the client's symptoms?
Client's goals
Medicare and Medicaid hospice benefit criteria allow clients with a life expectancy of 6 months or less to be admitted to hospice. However, the median length of stay in a hospice program is just 21.3 days. Which reason explains the underuse of hospice care services?
Clients and families view palliative care as giving up
Which term is used to describe the personal feelings that accompany an anticipated or actual loss?
Grief
While providing care to a client near death, the nurse is helping the family to prepare by teaching them what to expect. Which of the following would the nurse include in the teaching plan as a sign of approaching death? Select all that apply.
Gurgling as the client breathes through the mouth Decrease in amount of urine produced Refusal to ingest food or fluids
A 50-year-old client is an alcoholic. The client has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Despite the tumor being removed, the physician informs the client that chemotherapy needs to be started immediately. Using evidence-based practice, which intervention might the nurse expect the physician to include, with the goal of improving quality of life, mood, and median survival.
Palliative care
A group of nursing students is reviewing information about palliative care. The students demonstrate a need for additional review when they identify which of the following?
Palliative care is the same as hospice care.
A client has been declared to have a terminal illness. What intervention will a nurse perform regarding the final decision of a dying client?
Respect the client's and family members' choices
As the moment of death approaches, which of the following does the nurse encourage the family to do?
Speak to the client in a calm and soothing voice.
A nurse is caring for a client with end-stage testicular cancer who has been referred to hospice care. Which criterion indicates that the client requires more teaching about hospice care?
The client entered a clinical trial through the National Cancer Institute.
A patient's family member asks the nurse what the purpose of hospice is. What is the best response by the nurse?
"It will enable the patient to remain home if that is what is desired."
A mother of three young children has been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer and is distraught. Which statement best communicates a spirit of hopefulness to this client?
"Let's take this one day at a time; remember you have your daughter's dance recital next month."
A terminally ill patient is admitted to the hospital. The patient grabs the nurse's hand and asks, "Am I dying?" What response would be best for the nurse to give?
"Tell me more about what's on your mind."
Based on the most common concern of a dying patient, the hospice nurse should:
Administer pain medication on a schedule that prevents pain from intensifying.
The family of a terminally ill client tells the nurse that the client has been breathing irregularly and, at times, it appears that he is not breathing at all. The client's daughter states, "He moans when he breathes. Is he in pain?" Which response by the nurse would be most appropriate?
"The moaning you hear is from air moving over very relaxed vocal cords."
While talking with a client who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, the client asks, " Am I dying?" Which response from the nurse would be appropriate? Select all that apply.
"This must be very difficult for you." "Tell me more about what's on your mind."
The nurse identifies a nursing diagnosis of Imbalanced nutrition: less than body requirements for a terminally ill client who is near the end of life. Which of the following would the nurse expect to include in the client's plan of care?
Advice for the family to have fruit juices readily available at the client's bedside.
A patient with end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is admitted to a hospice facility and asks the admitting nurse, "How long will I be allowed to stay here?" What is the best response by the nurse?
"When your stay reaches 6 months, you will be recertified for a continued stay."
A 25-year-old client with cancer who is experiencing unrelieved pain rated a 9 on the pain scale requests that the hospice nurse induce a state of unconsciousness until the client dies. Which statement by the nurse demonstrates an understanding of a key difference between conscious sedation and euthanasia?
"Your doctor can prescribe medications necessary to relieve pain; however; this treatment will not hasten death."
According to federal guidelines, hospices may provide no more than what percentage of the aggregate annual patient-days at the inpatient level?
20
While providing care to a terminally ill client, the client's niece asks the nurse about the client's condition and prognosis. Which of the following would be most appropriate?
Ask the client's consent before sharing any information with the niece.
A nurse is providing in-home hospice care to a terminally ill client. The client experiences a medical crisis requiring monitoring and medication administration. Which level of hospice care would the nurse implement?
Continuous care
The nurse practitioner has four patients with chronic illness that require consistent medical and nursing management. Select the condition that is the best example of a "chronically critical and progressively ill" condition.
End-stage renal disease
For individuals known to be dying by virtue of age and/or diagnosis, which sign indicates approaching death?
Increased restlessness
A client with a brain tumor recently stopped radiation and chemotherapy for treatment of the cancer. The client recently reported dry mouth. Which intervention by the hospice nurse demonstrates that the nurse understands treatment measures for dry mouth?
Provide gentle oral care after each meal
A client in hospice has end-stage renal failure. The client states that, of late, he has lost his appetite and feels like everyday situations have become more stressful. The client reports feeling restless. In addition, the client's spouse notices that the client is becoming more confused. What is the most important nursing intervention that needs to be carried out at this point?
Provide the spouse with an emergency kit that contains small doses of oral morphine liquid.
Which of the following does not coincide with Kübler-Ross's stages related to a dying client?
The dying client usually exhibits anger first.
A nurse is developing a teaching plan for a terminally ill client and his family about the stages of dying and emotional reactions experienced. The nurse integrates knowledge of which of the following in the teaching plan?
The stages are applicable to any loss.
In spite of administering the prescribed pain medication, a dying client is still experiencing dyspnea due to fear and anxiety. Which nursing intervention should the nurse use to potentiate the effects of pain medication and help reduce the dyspnea?
Use imagery, humor, and progressive relaxation
How does a nurse who has been providing home care to a terminally ill client know that the client's condition is beginning to deteriorate?
apical pulse reaches 100 beats/minute
The spouse of a terminally ill client is confused by the new terminology being used during discussions regarding the client's treatment. The nurse should explain that palliative care is:
care that will reduce the client's physical discomfort and manage clinical symptoms.
A patient diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer is unaware of the diagnosis and his daughter has requested that he not be told. What awareness context does the nurse determine this is?
closed awareness
Glaser and Strauss (1965) identified four "awareness contexts." Which awareness context occurs when the client is unaware of their terminal state, whereas others are aware?
closed awareness
A nurse is conducting a spiritual assessment of a terminally ill client using the four step FICA process and asks the question, "What gives your life meaning?" The nurse is assessing which of the following?
faith and belief
A nurse is evaluating a client with a terminal illness. What should the nurse report so that the health care team can consider alternative nutritional approaches and fluid administration routes for the client at the end of life?
weight loss and inadequate food intake
Which term best describes a living will?
medical directive
The family of a client in hospice decides to place their loved one in a long-term care facility to establish an effective pain control regimen. Which aspects of hospice care is the family using?
palliative care
A type of comprehensive care for clients whose disease is not responsive to cure is
palliative care.
A patient authorizes a son to make medical decisions and brings the completed forms for the nurse to place on the chart. What form does the nurse understand this is?
A proxy directive
The physician is attending to a 72-year-old client with a malignant brain tumor. Family members report that the client rarely sleeps and frequently reports seeing things that are not real. Which intervention is an appropriate request for the hospice nurse to suggest to the physician?
Add haloperidol to the client's treatment plan.
All nurses care for clients who are grieving. It is important for the nurse to understand the grieving process for which reason?
Allows for the nurse to facilitate the grieving process
A nurse is providing care to a client who has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Which of the following would be most appropriate for the nurse to do?
Listen nonjudgmentally while allowing time for client reflection.
A nurse is caring for a client with a terminal illness. The client asks the nurse to help him end his own life to alleviate his suffering and that of his family. When responding to the client, the nurse integrates knowledge of which of the following?
Participating in assisted suicide violates the Code of Ethics for Nurses.
A client has learned of a terminal illness and impending death. The client asks the nurse to explain the concepts and care that are provided under the definition of palliative care. Which of the following would the nurse include in the explanation for this client? Select all that apply.
Provides pain relief Integrates spirituality Offers a team approach to care Enhances quality of life
When a person authorizes another to make medical decisions on his or her behalf, the person has written which of the following?
Proxy Directive
A hospice nurse performs a follow-up telephone call to the spouse of a client who died about 1 year ago. The spouse tells the nurse, "I'm always feeling so sad. Life just doesn't feel worth living." Further conversation reveals that the spouse is having trouble sleeping and eating since her husband's death and that the spouse is "drinking more since he died." The nurse identifies which nursing diagnosis as the priority?
complicated grieving
