Chapter 25: Care for the Dying and Those Who Grieve

Chapter 25: Care for the Dying and Those Who Grieve

 

Complete Chapter Questions With Answers

 

Sample Questions Are Posted Below

 

MULTIPLE CHOICE

 

1. A nurse working with a person whose spouse recently died uses cheer and humor to lift the person’s spirits. At one point, the widowed person smiles. What analysis of this scenario is correct?

a.	The nurse’s technique was successful.
b.	Use of humor should be added to the plan of care.
c.	Approach may prove useful in other, similar situations.
d.	The nurse needs supervision; the communication technique was not appropriate.

 

 

ANS:  D

Clinical supervision will review the nurse’s actions and thoughts and help the nurse arrive at a more therapeutic approach. Attempts at cheering up a patient who is depressed serve only to emphasize the disparity between the patient’s mood and that of others. Active listening should be the technique used by the nurse. The incorrect options suggest the approach is therapeutic when it is not.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   Pages: 473-475

TOP:   Nursing Process: Evaluation            MSC:  NCLEX: Psychosocial Integrity

 

2. A patient’s fiancé died in an automobile accident several days ago. The patient reports crying and experiencing feelings of guilt and anger. This behavior is characteristic of which stage of acute grief?

a.	Denial
b.	Reorganization
c.	Development of awareness
d.	Preoccupation with the lost object

 

 

ANS:  C

As denial fades, an awareness of the finality of the loss develops and is accompanied by painful feelings of loss, anger with others, and guilt for taking or not taking specific actions. Reorganization implies the movement toward healing. Denial is manifested by the inability to believe the reality of an event. Preoccupation with the lost object would involve the patient dwelling on thoughts of the deceased.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Comprehension     REF:   Pages: 476-479

TOP:   Nursing Process: Assessment           MSC:  NCLEX: Psychosocial Integrity

 

3. After the death of a spouse, an adult repeatedly says, “I should have made him go to the doctor when he said he didn’t feel well.” This individual is experiencing:

a.	preoccupation with the image of the deceased.
b.	sensations of somatic distress.
c.	anger.
d.	guilt.

 

 

ANS:  D

Guilt is evident by the bereaved person’s self-reproach. Preoccupation refers to dwelling on images of the deceased. Somatic distress would involve bodily symptoms. Anger is not evident from data given in this scenario.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Comprehension     REF:   Pages: 476-479

TOP:   Nursing Process: Assessment           MSC:  NCLEX: Psychosocial Integrity

 

4. A person whose spouse died 2 years earlier tells friends, “I think I’ll begin to go out socially, maybe even take someone to dinner.” This comment best demonstrates that the individual is:

a.	denying the significance of the loss.
b.	in a period of resolution of grief.
c.	actively working through grief.
d.	experiencing intrusion.

 

 

ANS:  B

Toward the end of the grief process, the person renews his or her interest in people and activities. This behavior indicates resolution. At the same time, the person is released from the relationship with the deceased. The patient has progressed beyond grief. The patient is seeking to move into new relationships so that he or she is not alone.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Comprehension     REF:   Pages: 478-479

TOP:   Nursing Process: Assessment           MSC:  NCLEX: Psychosocial Integrity