Author Question: The nurse admitting an 89-year-old patient to an assisted living facility notes that the patient is ... (Read 76 times)

cookcarl · **on:** Jul 11, 2018

The nurse admitting an 89-year-old patient to an assisted living facility notes that the patient is currently taking numerous prescribed and over-the-counter medications. The nurse's initial in-tervention is to

a. confirm with the physician that all the medications are required.
b. evaluate the patient's understanding of why he is taking each medication.
c. explain to the patient the dangers of taking so many different medications.
d. review the listed medications for possible interactions.

Question 2

The nurse caring for older adult patients best minimizes the patient's risk of developing dehydration by

a. identifying the patient's oral fluid prefe-rences and offering them regularly.
b. carefully monitoring the effects of daily diuretics via blood sodium levels.
c. minimizing the patient's reliance on laxa-tives by increasing dietary fiber intake.
d. carefully monitoring of the rate of infusion of all intravenous fluids prescribed.

ecox1012 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 11, 2018

Answer to Question 1

D
The first nursing action is to determine if the patient's health is at risk from possible drug inte-ractions. The other actions might be warranted, but patient safety comes first.

Answer to Question 2

A
Physiologically, the decreased intake can be related to altered thirst; older adults may not feel thirsty even when hypovolemic. The other actions may be appropriate for selected patients.