A gerontologic nurse has observed that patients often fail to adhere to a therapeutic regimen. What strategy should the nurse adopt to best assist an older adult in adhering to a therapeutic regimen involving wound care?
- A. Demonstrate a dressing change and allow the patient to practice.
- B. Provide a detailed pamphlet on a dressing change.
- C. Verbally instruct the patient how to change a dressing and check for comprehension.
- D. Delegate the dressing change to a trusted family member.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The nurse must consider that older adults may have deficits in the ability to draw inferences, apply information, or understand major teaching points. Demonstration and practice are essential in meeting their learning needs. The other options are incorrect because the elderly may have problems reading and/or understanding a written pamphlet or verbal instructions. Having a family member change the dressing when the patient is capable of doing it impedes self-care and independence.
You may also like to solve these questions
Nurses who are providing patient education often use motivators for learning with patients who are struggling with behavioral changes necessary to adhere to a treatment regimen. When working with a 15-year-old boy who has diabetes, which of the following motivators is most likely to be effective?
- A. A learning contract
- B. A star chart
- C. A point system
- D. A food-reward system
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Using a learning contract or agreement can also be a motivator for learning. Such a contract is based on assessment of patient needs; health care data; and specific, measurable goals. Young adults would not respond well to the use of star charts, point systems, or food as reward for behavioral change. These types of motivators would work better with children.
A nurse has planned a teaching-learning interaction that is aimed at middle school-aged students. To foster successful health education, the nurses planning should prioritize which of the following components?
- A. Pretesting
- B. Social and cultural patterns
- C. Patient awareness
- D. Measurable interventions
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: A patients social and cultural patterns must be appropriately incorporated into the teaching-learning interaction. Pretesting may or may not be used; patient awareness is a phrase that has many meanings, none of which make the teaching-learning interaction successful. Interventions are not measured; goals and outcomes are.
A community health nurse has been asked to participate in a health fair that is being sponsored by the local senior center. The nurse should select educational focuses in the knowledge that older adults benefit most from what kind of activities?
- A. Those that help them eat well
- B. Those that help them maintain independence
- C. Those that preserve their social interactions
- D. Those that promote financial stability
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Although their chronic illnesses and disabilities cannot be eliminated, the elderly can benefit most from activities that help them maintain independence and achieve an optimal level of health. For many older adults, this is a priority over social interaction, finances, or eating well, even though each of these subjects is important.
A parish nurse is describing the relationships between health and physical fitness to a group of older adults who all attend the same church. What potential benefits of a regular exercise program should the nurse describe? Select all that apply.
- A. Decreased cholesterol levels
- B. Delayed degenerative changes
- C. Improved sensory function
- D. Improved overall muscle strength
- E. Increased blood sugar levels
Correct Answer: A,B,D
Rationale: Clinicians and researchers who have examined the relationship between health and physical fitness have found that a regular exercise program can promote health in the following ways: by decreasing cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels; delaying degenerative changes, such as osteoporosis; and improving flexibility and overall muscle strength and endurance. Physical fitness does not improve the senses or increase blood sugar.
A 20-year-old man newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes needs to learn how to self-administer insulin. When planning the appropriate educational interventions and considering variables that will affect his learning, the nurse should prioritize which of the following factors?
- A. Patients expected lifespan
- B. Patients gender
- C. Patients occupation
- D. Patients culture
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: One of the major variables that influences a patients readiness to learn is the patients culture, because it affects how a person learns and what information is learned. Other variables include illness states, values, emotional readiness, and physical readiness. Lifespan, occupation, and gender are variables that are usually less salient.
Nokea