Author Question: In the elderly population, psychoactive agents should be prescribed at significantly lower dosages ... (Read 58 times)

haleyc112 · **on:** Jul 19, 2018

In the elderly population, psychoactive agents should be prescribed at significantly lower dosages than in younger populations. Which of the following best describes the rationale for this?

A) Lower dosages should be prescribed because the elderly clients are less able to afford appropriate amounts of these expensive drugs.
B) Because in the case of confusion, it is best to decrease the likelihood of overdose by prescribing lowered dosages to elderly clients.
C) The elderly clients are less able to understand what daily amounts of drugs they need.
D) The physiology of elderly persons renders them less able to metabolize and eliminate psychoactive drugs through the liver and kidney, so they need fewer drugs.

Question 2

A male client discloses that he lost his wife of 51 years last year to cancer and that the recent fire in his house was just too much for him to handle. Pending further assessment, the most appropriate nursing diagnosis at this time is what?

A) Agitation related to change of environment
B) Situational crisis related to fire
C) Dysfunctional grieving related to death of wife
D) Emotional lability due to dementia

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

Answer to Question 1

Ans: D
As the body ages, the ability of the liver and kidney to metabolize chemicals decreases. Therefore, it is important to give lower dosages as the individual ages in order to prevent toxicity.

Answer to Question 2

Ans: B
The recent fire is an immediate stressor that has placed the client into crisis. Although the loss of his wife is an important factor in his adjustment, and he is undoubtedly still grieving over that loss, the more immediate diagnosis would center on the situational crisis related to the recent fire. There are no data to support that the client is emotionally labile.