Author Question: Which patients meet criteria for hospice services? Select all that apply. a. A 92-year-old with ... (Read 88 times)

nelaaney · **on:** Jul 19, 2018

Which patients meet criteria for hospice services? Select all that apply.

a. A 92-year-old with pneumonia and late-stage Alzheimer's disease
b. A 74-year-old with advanced COPD and life expectancy of 2 years
c. A 54-year-old with glioblastoma and life expectancy of 8 to 10 weeks
d. A 16-year-old with type 1 diabetes, multiple infections, and substance abuse
e. A 36-year-old with multiple sclerosis complicated by depression and pain associated with muscle spasms

Question 2

An elderly patient with multi-infarct dementia is striking out with her arms and kicking at people who walk past in the hall. After making contact with the patient, which intervention would be most appropriate?

a. Administering PRN sedation to calm the patient.
b. State: You may not hit others; you are safe here..
c. Distract the patient into playing a board game.
d. State: I notice you are trying to hit people..

britb2u · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 19, 2018

Answer to Question 1

A, C
Hospice services are available to patients with terminal illnesses and a life expectancy of less than 6 months. Although patients with other health problems may experience complications, treatments focusing on cure would exclude them from hospice services.

Answer to Question 2

D
Of the available choices, the next action that should be undertaken is to determine possible causes of the patient's behavior. Pointing out what the nurse is observing focuses the patient on those behaviors and prompts her to elaborate about them, beginning a conversation that could yield the desired assessment data. Sedation often increases disorientation and worsens delirium; it should be a last resort. Setting limits can be helpful in certain situations, but in order to decide whether this applies in this case, the nurse would first need to explore and understand the causes of the patient's behavior. Limit setting and distraction fail to address any underlying causes for the behavior.