older adults nursing fundamentals UPDATED
ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT Answers
ANS: B
In 2012, 57% of older adults in non-institutional settings lived with a spouse (45% of older women, 71% of older men);
28% lived alone (35% of older women, 19% of older men); and only 3.5% of all older adults resided in institutions such
as nursing homes or centers. Most older adults have lost a spouse due to death rather than divorce. - CORRECT
ANSWER 1. A nurse is obtaining a history on an older adult. Which finding will the nurse most typically find?
a. Lives in a nursing home
b. Lives with a spouse
c. Lives divorced
d. Lives alone
ANS: B
Every older adult is unique, and the nurse needs to approach each one as a unique individual. The nursing care of older
adults poses special challenges because of great variation in their physiological, cognitive, and psychosocial health. Aging
does not automatically lead to disability and dependence. Chronological age often has little relation to the reality of aging
for an older adult. - CORRECT ANSWER 2. A nurse is developing a plan of care for an older adult. Which
information will the nurse consider?
a. Should be standardized because most geriatric patients have the same needs
b. Needs to be individualized to the patient's unique needs
c. Focuses on the disabilities that all aging persons face
d.Must be based on chronological age alone
ANS: A
Most older people remain functionally independent despite the increasing prevalence of chronic disease; therefore, this
misconception should be addressed. It is critical for you to respect older adults and actively involve them in care decisions
and activities. You also need to identify an older adult's strengths and abilities during the assessment and encourage
independence as an integral part of your plan of care. - CORRECT ANSWER 3. Which information from a co-
worker on a gerontological unit will cause the nurse to intervene?
a. Most older people have dependent functioning.
b. Most older people have strengths we should focus on.
c. Most older people should be involved in care decision.
d. Most older people should be encouraged to have independence.
ANS: A
Caregiver neglect includes unsafe and unclean living conditions, soiled bedding, and animal or insect infestation.
Abandonment includes desertion at a hospital, nursing facility, or public location such as a shopping center. Self-neglect
includes refusal or failure to provide oneself with basic necessities such as food, water, clothing, shelter, personal
hygiene, medication, and safety. Physical abuse includes hitting, beating, pushing, slapping, kicking, physical restraint,
inappropriate use of drugs, fractures, lacerations, rope burns, and untreated injuries. - CORRECT ANSWER 4. A
nurse suspects an older-adult patient is experiencing caregiver neglect. Which assessment findings are consistent with the
nurse's suspicions?
a. Flea bites and lice infestation
b. Left at a grocery store
c. Refuses to take a bath
d. Cuts and bruises
ANS: C
Teaching strategies include the use of past experiences to connect new learning with previous knowledge, focusing on a
single topic to help the patient concentrate, giving the patient enough time in which to respond because older adults'
reaction times are longer than those of younger persons, and keeping the tone of voice low; older adults are able to hear
low sounds better than high-frequency sounds. - CORRECT ANSWER 5. A nurse is teaching a group of older-
adult patients. Which teaching strategy is best for the nurse to use?
a. Provide several topics of discussion at once to promote independence and making choices.
, b. Avoid uncomfortable silences after questions by helping patients complete their statements.
c. Ask patients to recall past experiences that correspond with their interests.
d. Speak in a high pitch to help patients hear better.
ANS: D
Nurses help older adults and their families by providing information and answering questions as they make choices
among care options. Some older adults deny functional declines and refuse to ask for assistance with tasks that place their
safety at great risk. The decision to enter a nursing center is never final, and a nursing center resident sometimes is
discharged to home or to another less-acute residence. What defines quality of life varies and is unique for each person. -
CORRECT ANSWER 6. An older patient has fallen and suffered a hip fracture. As a consequence, the patient's
family is concerned about the patient's ability to care for self, especially during this convalescence. What should the nurse
do?
a. Stress that older patients usually ask for help when needed.
b. Inform the family that placement in a nursing center is a permanent solution.
c. Tell the family to enroll the patient in a ceramics class to maintain quality of life.
d. Provide information and answer questions as family members make choices among care options.
ANS: C
An important step in the process of selecting a nursing home is to visit the nursing home. The nursing home should not
feel like a hospital. It is a home, a place where people live. Members of the nursing home staff should focus on the
person, not the task. Residents should be out of bed and dressed according to their preferences, not staff preferences. -
CORRECT ANSWER 7. What is the best suggestion a nurse could make to a family requesting help in selecting a
local nursing center?
a. Have the family members evaluate nursing home staff according to their ability to get tasks done efficiently and safely.
b. Make sure that nursing home staff members get patients out of bed and dressed according to staff's preferences.
c. Explain that it is important for the family to visit the center and inspect it personally.
d. Suggest a nursing center that has standards as close to hospital standards as possible.
ANS: C
Some family caregivers consider nursing center placement when in-home care becomes increasingly difficult or when
convalescence from hospitalization requires more assistance than the family is able to provide. An apartment setting and
the use of home health visits are not appropriate because living at home is unsafe. Dementia is not a time of inactivity but
an impairment of intellectual functioning. - CORRECT ANSWER 8. A 70-year-old patient who suffers from
worsening dementia is no longer able to live alone. The nurse is discussing health care services and possible long-term
living arrangements with the patient's only son. What will the nurse suggest?
a. An apartment setting with neighbors close by
b. Having the patient utilize weekly home health visits
c. A nursing center because home care is no longer safe
d. That placement is irrelevant because the patient is retreating to a place of inactivity
ANS: C
Adjusting to retirement is one of the developmental tasks for an older person. A young or middle-aged adult has to adjust
to career and/or divorce. A middle-aged adult has to adjust to grandchildren. - CORRECT ANSWER 9. A nurse is
caring for an older adult. Which goal is priority?
a. Adjusting to career
b. Adjusting to divorce
c. Adjusting to retirement
d. Adjusting to grandchildren
ANS: B
The universal loss for older adults usually revolves around the loss of relationships through death. Life transitions, of
which loss is a major component, include retirement and the associated financial changes, changes in roles and
relationships, alterations in health and functional ability, changes in one's social network, and relocation. However, these
are not the universal loss. - CORRECT ANSWER 10. A nurse is observing for the universal loss in an older-adult
patient. What is the nurse assessing?
a. Loss of finances through changes in income
ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT Answers
ANS: B
In 2012, 57% of older adults in non-institutional settings lived with a spouse (45% of older women, 71% of older men);
28% lived alone (35% of older women, 19% of older men); and only 3.5% of all older adults resided in institutions such
as nursing homes or centers. Most older adults have lost a spouse due to death rather than divorce. - CORRECT
ANSWER 1. A nurse is obtaining a history on an older adult. Which finding will the nurse most typically find?
a. Lives in a nursing home
b. Lives with a spouse
c. Lives divorced
d. Lives alone
ANS: B
Every older adult is unique, and the nurse needs to approach each one as a unique individual. The nursing care of older
adults poses special challenges because of great variation in their physiological, cognitive, and psychosocial health. Aging
does not automatically lead to disability and dependence. Chronological age often has little relation to the reality of aging
for an older adult. - CORRECT ANSWER 2. A nurse is developing a plan of care for an older adult. Which
information will the nurse consider?
a. Should be standardized because most geriatric patients have the same needs
b. Needs to be individualized to the patient's unique needs
c. Focuses on the disabilities that all aging persons face
d.Must be based on chronological age alone
ANS: A
Most older people remain functionally independent despite the increasing prevalence of chronic disease; therefore, this
misconception should be addressed. It is critical for you to respect older adults and actively involve them in care decisions
and activities. You also need to identify an older adult's strengths and abilities during the assessment and encourage
independence as an integral part of your plan of care. - CORRECT ANSWER 3. Which information from a co-
worker on a gerontological unit will cause the nurse to intervene?
a. Most older people have dependent functioning.
b. Most older people have strengths we should focus on.
c. Most older people should be involved in care decision.
d. Most older people should be encouraged to have independence.
ANS: A
Caregiver neglect includes unsafe and unclean living conditions, soiled bedding, and animal or insect infestation.
Abandonment includes desertion at a hospital, nursing facility, or public location such as a shopping center. Self-neglect
includes refusal or failure to provide oneself with basic necessities such as food, water, clothing, shelter, personal
hygiene, medication, and safety. Physical abuse includes hitting, beating, pushing, slapping, kicking, physical restraint,
inappropriate use of drugs, fractures, lacerations, rope burns, and untreated injuries. - CORRECT ANSWER 4. A
nurse suspects an older-adult patient is experiencing caregiver neglect. Which assessment findings are consistent with the
nurse's suspicions?
a. Flea bites and lice infestation
b. Left at a grocery store
c. Refuses to take a bath
d. Cuts and bruises
ANS: C
Teaching strategies include the use of past experiences to connect new learning with previous knowledge, focusing on a
single topic to help the patient concentrate, giving the patient enough time in which to respond because older adults'
reaction times are longer than those of younger persons, and keeping the tone of voice low; older adults are able to hear
low sounds better than high-frequency sounds. - CORRECT ANSWER 5. A nurse is teaching a group of older-
adult patients. Which teaching strategy is best for the nurse to use?
a. Provide several topics of discussion at once to promote independence and making choices.
, b. Avoid uncomfortable silences after questions by helping patients complete their statements.
c. Ask patients to recall past experiences that correspond with their interests.
d. Speak in a high pitch to help patients hear better.
ANS: D
Nurses help older adults and their families by providing information and answering questions as they make choices
among care options. Some older adults deny functional declines and refuse to ask for assistance with tasks that place their
safety at great risk. The decision to enter a nursing center is never final, and a nursing center resident sometimes is
discharged to home or to another less-acute residence. What defines quality of life varies and is unique for each person. -
CORRECT ANSWER 6. An older patient has fallen and suffered a hip fracture. As a consequence, the patient's
family is concerned about the patient's ability to care for self, especially during this convalescence. What should the nurse
do?
a. Stress that older patients usually ask for help when needed.
b. Inform the family that placement in a nursing center is a permanent solution.
c. Tell the family to enroll the patient in a ceramics class to maintain quality of life.
d. Provide information and answer questions as family members make choices among care options.
ANS: C
An important step in the process of selecting a nursing home is to visit the nursing home. The nursing home should not
feel like a hospital. It is a home, a place where people live. Members of the nursing home staff should focus on the
person, not the task. Residents should be out of bed and dressed according to their preferences, not staff preferences. -
CORRECT ANSWER 7. What is the best suggestion a nurse could make to a family requesting help in selecting a
local nursing center?
a. Have the family members evaluate nursing home staff according to their ability to get tasks done efficiently and safely.
b. Make sure that nursing home staff members get patients out of bed and dressed according to staff's preferences.
c. Explain that it is important for the family to visit the center and inspect it personally.
d. Suggest a nursing center that has standards as close to hospital standards as possible.
ANS: C
Some family caregivers consider nursing center placement when in-home care becomes increasingly difficult or when
convalescence from hospitalization requires more assistance than the family is able to provide. An apartment setting and
the use of home health visits are not appropriate because living at home is unsafe. Dementia is not a time of inactivity but
an impairment of intellectual functioning. - CORRECT ANSWER 8. A 70-year-old patient who suffers from
worsening dementia is no longer able to live alone. The nurse is discussing health care services and possible long-term
living arrangements with the patient's only son. What will the nurse suggest?
a. An apartment setting with neighbors close by
b. Having the patient utilize weekly home health visits
c. A nursing center because home care is no longer safe
d. That placement is irrelevant because the patient is retreating to a place of inactivity
ANS: C
Adjusting to retirement is one of the developmental tasks for an older person. A young or middle-aged adult has to adjust
to career and/or divorce. A middle-aged adult has to adjust to grandchildren. - CORRECT ANSWER 9. A nurse is
caring for an older adult. Which goal is priority?
a. Adjusting to career
b. Adjusting to divorce
c. Adjusting to retirement
d. Adjusting to grandchildren
ANS: B
The universal loss for older adults usually revolves around the loss of relationships through death. Life transitions, of
which loss is a major component, include retirement and the associated financial changes, changes in roles and
relationships, alterations in health and functional ability, changes in one's social network, and relocation. However, these
are not the universal loss. - CORRECT ANSWER 10. A nurse is observing for the universal loss in an older-adult
patient. What is the nurse assessing?
a. Loss of finances through changes in income
