Answer to Question 1
A
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A Disuse, atrophy, and shortening of the muscle fibres cause joint contractures. When a contracture occurs, the joint cannot obtain full ROM. Contractures sometimes leave a joint or joints in a nonfunctional position, as seen in patients who are permanently curled in a fetal position. Early prevention of contractures is key; they can begin to form after only 8 hours of immobility in the older adult patient.
B Disuse atrophy can occur in 8 hours, not 24 hours.
C Disuse atrophy can occur in 8 hours, not 1 week.
D Disuse atrophy can occur in 8 hours, not 1 month.
Answer to Question 2
B
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A Observation of the effects of therapeutic touch on a geriatric client with Alzheimer's disease lends itself to the nursing process as a nursing intervention, perhaps to assist a client in meeting a goal of preventing social isolation. To use the experimental research process, other clients would need to be involved (i.e., two groups of clients with Alzheimer's disease, with one group receiving therapeutic touch and one group not receiving therapeutic touch) in order to determine whether therapeutic touch had any effect.
B In experimental research, the investigator controls the study variable (use of humour) and randomly assigns subjects to different conditions (those who receive humour as an intervention, and those who do not).
C Determining the blood pressure patterns of a patient who recently had a cerebrovascular accident is part of the assessment phase of the nursing process. No variable is being controlled by the nurse, as would be the case in an experimental research study.
D Setting priorities in nursing diagnoses for patient care is an example of using the nursing process.