The family of an 80-year-old patient shares with the nurse that ...

[asd123]

The family of an 80-year-old patient shares with the nurse that they are concerned that the patient is too frail to be living alone. The nurse's initial intervention is to
 
  a. help the patient express the importance of living independently to the family mem-bers.
  b. assess the patient's functional abilities re-lated to being able to safely live indepen-dently.
  c. have the family provide specific examples of behaviors that cause them concern.
  d. identify ways the family can help assure the patient's safety while living indepen-dently.

Question 2

The geriatric nurse admitting a patient to an assisted living facility recognizes the importance of tools such as the Katz and the Barthel indexes because of the impact they have on
 
  a. planning the amount of help the patient will need with ADLs.
  b. the patient's ability to be realistic about achieving independence.
  c. creating an appropriate, patient-specific nursing care plan.
  d. appropriate staffing to ensure the safety needs of the patients are met.

[tennis14576]

Answer to Question 1

B
The first nursing intervention is to determine through a health assessment and history the pa-tient's ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) safely while living independently. All actions are appropriate, but assessment is the first step of the nursing process.

Answer to Question 2

C
These assessment tools are designed to assess a patient's levels of function, particularly related to ADL. Determination of the degree of functional independence in these areas can identify a patient's abilities and limitations, leading to appropriate interventions presented in the patient's nursing care plan. It provides more information than just how much help the patient needs, it is not related to being realistic, and it is not designed to be used for staffing purposes.

[asd123]

TYSM

[scottmt]

Excellent