Nokea
A nurse talks with a person whose spouse died suddenly while jogging. Which is the appropriate statement for the nurse?
- A. At least your spouse did not suffer.'
- B. It's better to go quickly as your spouse did.'
- C. The loss of your spouse must be very painful for you.'
- D. You'll begin to feel better after you get over the shock.'
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The most helpful responses by others validate the bereaved person's experience of loss. Avoid banalities; they increase the individual's sense of isolation.
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What situation makes the mourning process more difficult for the bereaved?
- A. They were relatively independent of the deceased.
- B. They have experienced many previous losses.
- C. They accept that death is expected for everyone.
- D. They had resolved conflicts with the deceased.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Factors that have negative effects on the mourning process include a high number of past losses or other recent losses.
A terminally ill patient tells the nurse, 'Life has been good. I am proud of my education. I overcame adversity with willpower. I always gave my best and expected things to turn out well. I intend to die as I lived: optimistically.' The nurse planning care for this patient recognizes a critical need to focus on maintaining the patient's state of mind?
- A. Providing aggressive pain and symptom management
- B. Helping the patient reassess and explore existing conflicts
- C. Assisting the patient to focus on the meaning in life and death
- D. Supporting the patient's use of personal resources to meet challenges
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The patient whose intrinsic strength and endurance have been a hallmark often wishes to approach dying by staying optimistic and in control.
A widow grieving her husband's sudden and unexpected death tells the nurse, 'I'm not feeling well. Yesterday, I saw my husband walk through the door, stop, and smile at me. Then he just faded away.' Which is the nurse's most appropriate action?
- A. Assess for recent substance abuse.
- B. Suggest a referral to the mental health clinic.
- C. Arrange for an evaluation for antidepressant medication.
- D. Counsel the widow that visualizations are a normal part of grieving.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Grieving patients often dream about, visualize, think about, or search for the lost loved one. This is considered a normal phenomenon.
Which actions by a nurse contribute to protecting the rights of patients who are terminally ill? (Select all that apply.)
- A. Maintain hope for a positive prognosis.
- B. Hug the patient when sadness is expressed.
- C. Offer choices that promote personal control.
- D. Provide interventions that convey respect.
- E. Support the patient's quest for spiritual growth.
Correct Answer: C,D,E
Rationale: The answers support the rights of the individual who is dying. Offering choices, providing respectful interventions, and supporting spiritual growth respect the patient's autonomy and dignity.
Children of a widowed parent confer with the nurse; their surviving parent repeatedly relates the details of finding the deceased parent not breathing, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, going to the hospital by ambulance, and seeing the pronouncement of death. The family asks, 'What can we do?' How should the nurse best counsel the family?
- A. Encouraging them to share their own feelings with the surviving parent and ask for the retelling to stop
- B. Support the ideas that retelling the story should be limited to once daily to avoid unnecessary stimulation
- C. Share with them that retelling memories is to be expected as part of the aging process
- D. Reassure them that repeating the story is a helpful and a necessary part of grieving
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Nurses are encouraged to tell bereaved patients that telling the personal story of loss as many times as needed is acceptable and healthy.