Which client would the nurse determine to be at highest risk for ...

[j.rubin]

Which client would the nurse determine to be at highest risk for dysfunctional grief? The client:
 
  1. Whose 16-year-old daughter was raped and killed while going on an errand for the client
  2. Who is active in her faith community and whose 86-year-old mother, with whom she had a good relationship, died peacefully in her sleep
  3. Who attended a support group and had been assisted by hospice to care for her terminally ill husband
  4. Who attended a bereavement group, where she learned about the process of grief and was assisted to express feelings after the death of her twin

Question 2

A client is referred to a grief therapist because she has developed physical symptoms related to chronic grief.
 
  Her husband, an alcoholic who regularly abused her, was killed in an automobile accident 3 years earlier. Since his death, the client tends to idealize him and focus on their wonderful relation-ship. Which of these client outcomes is appropriate for the client? Client will:
  1. Keep a daily journal recording pleasant memories of time spent with her husband
  2. Express both positive and negative feelings about her husband and their relation-ship
  3. Read information on alcoholism and support groups available to her
  4. Enlist emotional support from family and friends

[macagnavarro]

Answer to Question 1

ANS: 1
The traumatic nature of the death makes this client at highest risk. The death in option 2 was of an elderly person with a peaceful death. The clients in options 3 and 4 were involved with hos-pice or support groups that lessen the likelihood for dysfunctional grief.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: 2
Chronic grief involves unresolved issues in a relationship with the person who died. In this case, a more realistic expression is needed (option 2). Option 1 is incorrect since it focuses only on the pleasant. There are no data to support the need for an alcoholism group. Emotional support from family (option 4) is helpful but not specific to this case.