CHAPTER 8 CARE OF THE OLDER ADULT QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS | CHAPTER 8 CARE OF THE OLDER ADULT STUDY
GUIDE & PRACTICE TEST 2026/2027
-Distract the client with a familiar object or music.
Explanation:
The nurse should try to calm the patient by using distraction with a familiar object or music. Continuing
to take the vital signs will cause further agitation and possible harm to the client or nurse. Placing the
client in a secluded room may increase agitation and should not be used in this situation. The nurse
should document the inability to assess vital signs and the reason why this should be done after the
client's basic needs have been met. - ANS ✔✔A client with Alzheimer disease becomes agitated while
the nurse is attempting to take vital signs. What action by the nurse is most appropriate?
-Continue taking the vital signs.
-Place the client in a secluded room until calm.
-Distract the client with a familiar object or music.
-Document the inability to assess vital signs due to client's agitation.
-Directing all health decisions to the older adult's child
Explanation:
The nurse should provide high-quality care to all clients, no matter what the age of the client. Allowing
the client adequate time to complete tasks is appropriate and individualized. The older adult should be
encouraged to develop routines not associated with work to decrease the potential for feeling
nonproductive. - ANS ✔✔Which action by the nurse demonstrates ageism?
-Providing the same high quality of care to all clients
-Encouraging the older adult to develop routines not associated with work
-Directing all health decisions to the older adult's child
-Allowing adequate time for the older adult to complete tasks
-Presbyopia
Explanation:
Presbyopia usually begins in the fifth decade of life, when reading glasses are required to magnify
objects. Presbycusis refers to age-related hearing loss. Cataract is the development of opacity of the eye
lens. Glaucoma is a disease characterized by increased intraocular pressure. - ANS ✔✔Which refers to
the decrease in lens flexibility that occurs with age, resulting in the near point of focus getting farther
away?
-Presbyopia
-Presbycusis
-Cataract
-Glaucoma
-Wear sunglasses with ultraviolet (UV) protection when outside.
, Explanation:
A risk factor for macular degeneration is sunlight exposure. Wearing sunglasses provides some
protection. Cigarette smoking is another risk factor, and the client must stop smoking to reduce risk. Still
another risk factor is heredity, and the client's mother had macular degeneration. Macular degeneration
may be treated, but there is no cure. - ANS ✔✔A client reports to the nurse that her mother had
macular degeneration and is concerned that she, too, may be at risk. What should the nurse tell the
client?
-Wear sunglasses with ultraviolet (UV) protection when outside.
-Reduce the amount of cigarettes smoked daily from 20 to 10.
-Vision loss is not hereditary. It is related to diet.
-This condition is now curable.
-Encouraging clients to avoid cigarette smoking
Explanation:
Measures to promote healthy skin function in elderly clients include not smoking. Other measures
include avoiding exposure to the sun, using emollient skin cream containing petrolatum or mineral oil,
and avoiding hot soaks in the bathtub. - ANS ✔✔A nurse is teaching nursing assistants in an extended-
care facility measures to protect the skin of elderly clients. Which of the following measures is the nurse
likely to recommend?
-Taking the clients outside for sun exposure daily
-Assisting clients to soak in the bathtub several times each week
-Encouraging clients to avoid cigarette smoking
-Instructing clients to use perfumed skin creams
-stay with the client and encourage him to eat.
Explanation:
Staying with the client and encouraging him to feed himself will ensure adequate food intake. A client
with Alzheimer's disease can forget how to eat. Allowing privacy during meals, filling out the menu, or
helping the client to complete the menu doesn't ensure adequate nutritional intake. - ANS ✔✔To
encourage adequate nutritional intake for a client with Alzheimer's disease, a nurse should:
-stay with the client and encourage him to eat.
-help the client fill out his menu.
-give the client privacy during meals.
-fill out the menu for the client.
-Limit ingestion of caffeinated beverages.
Explanation:
Symptoms that the client describes may be indicative of benign prostatic hypertrophy. The client should
limit caffeinated beverages. He does not want to decrease fluid intake; doing so may increase his
susceptibility to urinary tract infections. He needs to void frequently and not wait long periods between
voiding. The client also should limit his alcohol intake, preferably decreasing it. - ANS ✔✔An elderly
client reports that he feels like he voids frequently during the day and at night but cannot empty his
bladder. The nurse instructs the client to
ANSWERS | CHAPTER 8 CARE OF THE OLDER ADULT STUDY
GUIDE & PRACTICE TEST 2026/2027
-Distract the client with a familiar object or music.
Explanation:
The nurse should try to calm the patient by using distraction with a familiar object or music. Continuing
to take the vital signs will cause further agitation and possible harm to the client or nurse. Placing the
client in a secluded room may increase agitation and should not be used in this situation. The nurse
should document the inability to assess vital signs and the reason why this should be done after the
client's basic needs have been met. - ANS ✔✔A client with Alzheimer disease becomes agitated while
the nurse is attempting to take vital signs. What action by the nurse is most appropriate?
-Continue taking the vital signs.
-Place the client in a secluded room until calm.
-Distract the client with a familiar object or music.
-Document the inability to assess vital signs due to client's agitation.
-Directing all health decisions to the older adult's child
Explanation:
The nurse should provide high-quality care to all clients, no matter what the age of the client. Allowing
the client adequate time to complete tasks is appropriate and individualized. The older adult should be
encouraged to develop routines not associated with work to decrease the potential for feeling
nonproductive. - ANS ✔✔Which action by the nurse demonstrates ageism?
-Providing the same high quality of care to all clients
-Encouraging the older adult to develop routines not associated with work
-Directing all health decisions to the older adult's child
-Allowing adequate time for the older adult to complete tasks
-Presbyopia
Explanation:
Presbyopia usually begins in the fifth decade of life, when reading glasses are required to magnify
objects. Presbycusis refers to age-related hearing loss. Cataract is the development of opacity of the eye
lens. Glaucoma is a disease characterized by increased intraocular pressure. - ANS ✔✔Which refers to
the decrease in lens flexibility that occurs with age, resulting in the near point of focus getting farther
away?
-Presbyopia
-Presbycusis
-Cataract
-Glaucoma
-Wear sunglasses with ultraviolet (UV) protection when outside.
, Explanation:
A risk factor for macular degeneration is sunlight exposure. Wearing sunglasses provides some
protection. Cigarette smoking is another risk factor, and the client must stop smoking to reduce risk. Still
another risk factor is heredity, and the client's mother had macular degeneration. Macular degeneration
may be treated, but there is no cure. - ANS ✔✔A client reports to the nurse that her mother had
macular degeneration and is concerned that she, too, may be at risk. What should the nurse tell the
client?
-Wear sunglasses with ultraviolet (UV) protection when outside.
-Reduce the amount of cigarettes smoked daily from 20 to 10.
-Vision loss is not hereditary. It is related to diet.
-This condition is now curable.
-Encouraging clients to avoid cigarette smoking
Explanation:
Measures to promote healthy skin function in elderly clients include not smoking. Other measures
include avoiding exposure to the sun, using emollient skin cream containing petrolatum or mineral oil,
and avoiding hot soaks in the bathtub. - ANS ✔✔A nurse is teaching nursing assistants in an extended-
care facility measures to protect the skin of elderly clients. Which of the following measures is the nurse
likely to recommend?
-Taking the clients outside for sun exposure daily
-Assisting clients to soak in the bathtub several times each week
-Encouraging clients to avoid cigarette smoking
-Instructing clients to use perfumed skin creams
-stay with the client and encourage him to eat.
Explanation:
Staying with the client and encouraging him to feed himself will ensure adequate food intake. A client
with Alzheimer's disease can forget how to eat. Allowing privacy during meals, filling out the menu, or
helping the client to complete the menu doesn't ensure adequate nutritional intake. - ANS ✔✔To
encourage adequate nutritional intake for a client with Alzheimer's disease, a nurse should:
-stay with the client and encourage him to eat.
-help the client fill out his menu.
-give the client privacy during meals.
-fill out the menu for the client.
-Limit ingestion of caffeinated beverages.
Explanation:
Symptoms that the client describes may be indicative of benign prostatic hypertrophy. The client should
limit caffeinated beverages. He does not want to decrease fluid intake; doing so may increase his
susceptibility to urinary tract infections. He needs to void frequently and not wait long periods between
voiding. The client also should limit his alcohol intake, preferably decreasing it. - ANS ✔✔An elderly
client reports that he feels like he voids frequently during the day and at night but cannot empty his
bladder. The nurse instructs the client to
