Psychology Test 3 Chapter 22 – Flashcards

ANS: A Delirium is characterized by an abrupt onset of fluctuating levels of awareness, clouded consciousness, perceptual disturbances, and disturbed memory and orientation. The onset of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, a type of dementia, is more insidious. Amnestic syndrome involves memory impairment without other cognitive problems. REF: Page 432

ANS: C The patient feels bugs crawling on both legs, even though no sensory stimulus is actually present. This description meets the definition of a hallucination, a false sensory perception. Tactile hallucinations may be part of the symptom constellation of delirium. Aphasia refers to a speech disorder. Dystonia refers to excessive muscle tonus. Mnemonic disturbance is associated with dementia rather than delirium. REF: Page 432-434

ANS: D When hallucinations are present, the nurse should acknowledge the patient's feelings and state the nurse's perception of reality, but not argue. Staying with the patient increases feelings of security, reduces anxiety, offers the opportunity for reinforcing reality, and provides a measure of physical safety. Denying the patient's perception without offering help does not support the patient emotionally. Telling the patient to relax makes the patient responsible for self-soothing. Telling the patient that someone will brush the bugs away supports the perceptual distortions. REF: Page 436 (Box 23-1)

ANS: A The physical safety of the patient is of highest priority among the diagnoses given. Many opportunities for injury exist when a patient misperceives the environment as distorted, threatening, or harmful or when the patient exercises poor judgment or when the patient's sensorium is clouded. The other diagnoses may be concerns, but are lower priorities. REF: Page 435 | Page 442-443 | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: B Careful observation and supervision are of ultimate importance because an appropriate outcome would be that the patient will remain safe and free from injury. Physical contact during care cannot be avoided. Activating a bed alarm is only one aspect of providing for the patient's safety. REF: Page 436 (Box 23-1) | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: A A quiet, shadow-free room offers an environment that produces the fewest sensory perceptual distortions for a patient with cognitive impairment associated with delirium. The other options have the potential to produce increased perceptual alterations. REF: Page 445 (Table 23-6) | Page 436 (Box 23-1) | Page 445 (Box 23-3) | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: B A hallucination is a false sensory perception occurring without a corresponding sensory stimulus. Feeling bugs on the body when none are present is a tactile hallucination. Misinterpreting shadows as faces is an illusion. An illusion is a misinterpreted sensory perception. The other incorrect options apply to thought insertion and clang associations. REF: Page 432-434

ANS: B The listed health problems are all forms of dementia. REF: Page 437 | Page 451

ANS: C Memantine blocks the NMDA channels and is used in moderate-to-late stages of the disease. Donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine are all cholinesterace inhibitors. These drugs increase the availability of acetylcholine and are most often used to treat mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. REF: Page 450 (Table 23-10)

ANS: C Agnosia refers to the loss of sensory ability to recognize objects. Aphasia refers to the loss of language ability. Apraxia refers to the loss of purposeful movement. Anhedonia refers to a loss of joy in life. REF: Page 438 | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: C In the moderately severe stage, deterioration is evident. Memory loss may include the inability to remember addresses or the date. Activities such as driving may become hazardous, and frustration by the increasing difficulty of performing ordinary tasks may be experienced. The individual has difficulty with clothing selection. Mild cognitive decline (early-stage) Alzheimer's can be diagnosed in some, but not all, individuals. Symptoms include misplacing items and misuse of words. In the stage of severe cognitive decline, personality changes may take place, and the patient needs extensive help with daily activities. This patient has symptoms, so the preclinical stage does not apply. REF: Page 438-439 (Table 23-2)

ANS: B All of the options relate to dementias; however, the pathophysiological phenomena described apply to Alzheimer's disease. Parkinson's disease is associated with dopamine dysregulation. Huntington's disease is genetic. Vascular dementia is the consequence of circulatory changes. REF: Page 437-438

ANS: B Placing door locks at the top of the door makes it more difficult for the patient with dementia to unlock the door because the ability to look up and reach upward is diminished. The patient will try to climb over side rails, increasing the risk for injury and falls. Avoiding daytime naps may improve the patient's sleep pattern but does not assure safety. A medical alert bracelet will be helpful if the patient leaves the home, but it does not prevent wandering or assure the patient's safety. REF: Page 449 (Table 23-9)

ANS: B Memory impairment begins at stage 2 and progresses in stage 3. This patient is able to perform most self-care activities. Caregiver role strain and adult failure to thrive occur later. REF: Page 439 (Table 23-2) | Page 442-443 (Table 23-5) | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: A The desired overall goal is that the delirious patient will return to the level of functioning held before the development of delirium. Demonstrating motor response to noxious stimuli is an indicator appropriate for a patient whose arousal is compromised. Identifying stressors that negatively affect the self is too nonspecific to be useful for a patient with delirium. Exerting control over responses to perceptual distortions is an unrealistic indicator for a patient with sensorium problems related to delirium. REF: Page 435

ANS: A Patients with cognitive impairment should perform all tasks of which they are capable. When simple directions are given in a systematic fashion, the patient is better able to process information and perform simple tasks. Stimulating intellectual functioning by discussing new topics is likely to prove frustrating for the patient. Patients with cognitive deficits may enjoy the attention of someone reading to them, but this activity does not promote their function in the environment. REF: Page 445 (Table 23-6) | Page 447 (Table 23-7)

ANS: A The patient with moderately severe dementia has memory loss that begins to interfere with activities. This patient may be able to use environmental cues such as labels on doors to compensate for memory loss. Regular toileting may be helpful, but a 2-hour schedule is often more reasonable. Placing the patient in disposable briefs is more appropriate at a later stage. Severely limiting oral fluid intake would predispose the patient to a urinary tract infection. REF: Page 443 (Table 23-4) | Page 447 (Table 23-7) | Page 449 (Table 23-9)

ANS: C Separating and distracting prevents escalation from verbal to physical acting out. Neither patient loses self-esteem during this intervention. Medication probably is not necessary. Stepping between two angry, threatening patients is an unsafe action, and trying to reinforce reality during an angry outburst will probably not be successful when the patients are cognitively impaired. REF: Page 445 (Table 23-6) | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: D Therapeutic communication techniques can assist the family to come to terms with the losses and irreversibility dementia imposes on both the loved one and themselves. Two incorrect responses close communication. The nurse should take the opportunity to foster communication. Consciousness does not fluctuate in patients with dementia. REF: Page 438 | Page 440 (Table 23-3) | Page 441 | Page 443 (Table 23-5)

ANS: A Illusions are sensory misperceptions. Glasses and hearing aids help clarify sensory perceptions. Without glasses, clocks, calendars, and personal objects are meaningless. Round-the-clock lighting promotes sensory overload and sensory perceptual alterations. REF: Page 434-436 (Box 23-1) | Page 445 (Box 23-3)

ANS: B Reorientation may seem like arguing to a patient with cognitive deficit and increases the patient's anxiety. Validating, talking with the patient about familiar, meaningful things, and reminiscing give meaning to existence both for the patient and family members. The option that suggests using validating techniques when communicating is the only option that addresses an interactional strategy. Wearing large name tags and placing large clocks and calendars strategically are reorientation strategies. Frequently repeating the reorientation strategies is inadvisable because patients with dementia sometimes become more agitated with reorientation. REF: Page 445 (Table 23-6) | Page 445 (Box 23-3)

ANS: D Agnosia is the inability to recognize familiar objects, parts of one's body, or one's own reflection in a mirror. Hyperorality refers to placing objects in the mouth. Aphasia refers to the loss of language ability. Apraxia refers to the loss of purposeful movements, such as being unable to dress. REF: Page 438

ANS: D In late-stage dementia, the patient often seems to have forgotten how to eat, chew, and swallow. Nutrition and hydration needs must be met if the patient is to live. The patient is incapable of self-care, ambulation, or verbal communication. REF: Page 440 (Table 23-3)

ANS: A Drug actions and interactions are common among elderly persons and predispose this population to delirium. Delirium is characterized by an abrupt onset of fluctuating levels of awareness, clouded consciousness, perceptual disturbances, and disturbed memory and orientation. The patient takes lorazepam on a PRN basis, so withdrawal is unlikely. Hypotensive episodes or problems with renal function may occur associated with the patient's drug regime, but interactions are more likely the problem. REF: Page 433-434

ANS: B Confabulation refers to making up of stories or answers to questions by a person who does not remember. It is a defensive tactic to protect self-esteem and prevent others from noticing memory loss. The patient's response was not sundown syndrome. Perseveration refers to repeating a word or phrase over and over. Delirium is not present in this scenario. REF: Page 438

ANS: A Risk for injury is the nurse's priority concern. Safety maintenance is the desired outcome. The other outcomes are lower priorities and may not be realistic. REF: Page 435 | Page 442 | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: B Usually, as the underlying cause of the delirium is treated, the symptoms of delirium clear. The distracters mislead the family. REF: Page 433-434 | Page 439 (Table 23-2)

ANS: A Delirium is often the result of medication interactions or toxicity. The distracters relate to MAOI therapy and depression. REF: Page 433-434 | Page 439 (Table 23-2)

ANS: C Families should be made aware that the patient will have difficulty concentrating and following or carrying on in-depth or lengthy conversations. The other symptoms are usually seen at later stages of the disease. REF: Page 440 (Table 23-3) | Page 443 (Table 23-4) | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: A, B, E Providing clothing with elastic and hook-and-loop closures facilitates patient independence. Labeling clothing with the patient's name and the name of the item maintains patient identity and dignity (provides information if the patient has agnosia). When a patient resists, it is appropriate to use distraction and try again after a short interval because patient moods are often labile. The patient may be willing to cooperate given a later opportunity. Providing the necessary items for grooming and directing the patient to proceed independently are inappropriate. Be prepared to coach by giving step-by-step directions for each task as it occurs. Administering anxiolytic medication before bathing and dressing is inappropriate. This measure would result in unnecessary overmedication. REF: Page 443 (Table 23-4) | Page 447 (Table 23-7) | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: A, B, C Disorientation to place and time is an expected finding. Orientation to person (self) usually remains intact. Attention span is short, and difficulty focusing or shifting attention as directed is often noted. Patients with delirium commonly experience illusions and hallucinations. Fluctuating levels of consciousness are expected. Agnosia occurs with dementia. Apathy is associated with depression. REF: Page 433 | Page 439 (Table 23-2)

ANS: C, D, E The correct answers are consistent with problems frequently identified for patients with late-stage Alzheimer's disease. Confusion is chronic, not acute. The patient's cognition is too impaired to grieve. REF: Page 442-443 (Table 23-5) | Page 452 (Nursing Care Plan 23-1)

ANS: A,C,D,E,G

ANS: C

ANS: B

ANS: D

ANS: D

ANS: A

ANS: D Naltrexone is used for withdrawal and also to prevent relapse by reducing the craving for the drug. The other options do not accurately describe the action of naltrexone.

ANS:A The plan will take into account acute safety needs, severity and range of symptoms, motivation or readiness to change, skills and strengths, availability of a support system, and the individual's cultural needs. The other options may be factors but are not the priority factors in planning interventions for the patient as much as the patient's perceived need for change and having others who can lend support outside the hospital.

ANS: B

ANS: C

ANS: B