Nokea
A critically injured child has died and is being removed from a ventilator in the pediatric intensive care unit. What is a priority nursing intervention for the family at this time?
- A. Ensure that parents are in the waiting room while the ventilator is removed.
- B. Help the parents understand that the child is already dead and no further interventions are necessary.
- C. Control the environment around the child and family to provide privacy.
- D. Encourage them to wait to see their child until the funeral home has prepared the body.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Controlling the environment to provide privacy respects the family?s need for dignity and space during this sensitive time. Forcing parents to the waiting room, stating no further interventions are needed, or delaying their time with the child disregards their emotional needs.
You may also like to solve these questions
A child in the terminal stage of cancer has frequent breakthrough pain. Nonpharmacologic methods are not helpful, and the child is exceeding the maximum safe dose for opiate administration. What approach should the nurse implement?
- A. Add acetaminophen for the breakthrough pain.
- B. Titrate the opioid medications to control the childs pain as specified in the protocol.
- C. Notify the practitioner that immediate hospitalization is indicated for pain management.
- D. Help the parents and child understand that no additional medication can be given because of the risk of respiratory depression.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Titrating opioids per protocol manages breakthrough pain effectively, as tolerance may require higher doses, and the principle of double effect prioritizes pain relief. Acetaminophen is inadequate, hospitalization is unnecessary, and limiting medication ignores pain control needs.
The nurse is often the individual who is in the optimum position to suggest tissue donation to a family (after consultation with the practitioner). What will occur if a family chooses organ or tissue donation?
- A. The funeral will be delayed.
- B. Cremation is the preferred method of burial.
- C. Written consent is required for tissue or organ donation.
- D. An open casket cannot be used subsequent to this procedure.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Written informed consent is required for organ or tissue donation, ensuring legal and ethical compliance. Funerals are not typically delayed, cremation is not required, and an open casket is possible as donation does not cause visible disfigurement.
A 12-year-old child has failed several courses of chemotherapy. An experimental drug is available that his parents want him to receive. He has told his parents and the oncologists that he is ready to die and does not want any more chemotherapy. The nurse recognizes what to be true?
- A. Parents and child both need support in the decision making.
- B. Twelve-year-olds are minors and cannot give consent or refuse treatments.
- C. The oncologists needs to make the decision because the parents and child disagree.
- D. The parents have the right and responsibility to make decisions for their children younger than age 18 years.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Supporting both parents and child in resolving this conflict respects the child?s autonomy, especially given the poor prognosis. Twelve-year-olds can assent or refuse under certain conditions, oncologists guide but don?t decide, and parental authority may be limited if the child?s decision is informed and verified.
What explanation best describes how preschoolers react to the death of a loved one?
- A. Grief is acute but does not last long at this age.
- B. Children this age are too young to have a concept of death.
- C. Preschoolers may feel guilty and responsible for the death.
- D. They express grief in the same way that the adults in the preschoolers life are expressing grief.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Due to egocentric thinking, preschoolers may feel guilty, believing they caused the death. They have a limited concept of death as a temporary state, their grief may involve regression or joking, and their expressions differ from adults, reflecting their developmental stage.
A preschooler is found digging up a pet bird that was recently buried after it died. What is the best explanation for this behavior?
- A. He has a morbid preoccupation with death.
- B. He is looking to see if a ghost took it away.
- C. He needs reassurance that the pet has not gone somewhere else.
- D. The loss is not yet resolved, and professional counseling is needed.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Preschoolers struggle with the permanence of death and may dig up the pet to confirm its presence, a normal developmental response. This is not a morbid preoccupation, not about ghosts, and does not immediately indicate a need for counseling unless persistent.