Author Question: The older adult wants to appoint an attorney-in-fact with DPA for a specific period around a ... (Read 133 times)

cookcarl · **on:** Jul 11, 2018

The older adult wants to appoint an attorney-in-fact with DPA for a specific period around a forthcoming surgery. Which should the nurse implement?

a. Help the patient find a qualified attorney.
b. Explain the legal rights and responsibilities of an attorney-in-fact with a DPA.
c. Suggest using a guardian for the surgical period.
d. Offer to act as the patient's guardian dur-ing surgery.

Question 2

The following nursing interventions represent each of the four steps of a nutritional assessment. Rank them in order, beginning with the first step.

A. Measure the midpoint of the upper arm.
B. Obtain blood for serum transferrin level.
C. Examine the lips, gums, and oral cavity.
D. Ask for an up-to-date list of medications.

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

Answer to Question 1

A
The nurse provides safe, effective, and comprehensive care but should not provide legal advice to an older adult; rather, the nurse should refer the patient to experts in the law and can assist the older adult with finding a suitable attorney. The nurse must avoid participating in the selection of the individual attorney to avoid conflict of interest.
The nurse can provide short general explanations about powers of attorney to assist the patient in finding suitable legal counsel, but the nurse should leave explanations about the law surrounding a DPA to an attorney. The nurse should avoid providing legal advice to an older adult and avoid offering to participate in an older adult's legal affairs to avoid a conflict of inter-est.

Answer to Question 2

D, C, A, B
The first step in a nutritional assessment is to interview the older adult to obtain a health and nu-tritional history, including an up-to-date list of medications and an overview of daily food habits and resources for obtaining food. The second part of the assessment includes a physical exami-nation to gather data about the older adult's current state of health. The third part of the assess-ment includes anthropomorphic measurements such as height, weight, midarm circumference, and triceps skinfold thickness. The biochemical examination is the final step and includes the prealbumin, transferrin, hemoglobin, and cholesterol levels.