Exam 26: Loss and Grief

The nurse is caring for a patient with terminal lung cancer.The patient is in a great deal of pain and is anxious.The nurse contacts the health care provider to request pain medication for the patient and is given an order for morphine,but the family of the patient refuses to let the patient have it based on religious grounds.This is most likely because the patient and family are members of which of the following faiths?

A recently widowed mother of two worked with her late husband while he was starting his own business and was managing the accounting paperwork.The family had no life or health insurance.When her husband suddenly died,she was left with a large hospital bill,funeral expenses,unemployment,and no means of support.How are the multiple losses that this woman is experiencing best described?

A parent of three children has the oldest child start school this year,and the parent cries as the child is left at kindergarten on the first day.How is the loss that the parent is experiencing best described?

A nursing student,who maintained a 4.0 GPA since starting nursing school,started working the past semester,is planning a wedding,and has moved into a new home.The student has not been able to maintain the 4.0 GPA this semester,and as a result is feeling like a failure.How is this loss best described?

A patient has been suffering from liver cancer for more than a year.The family has requested hospice services.The family members are taking turns staying with the patient.They have been reminiscing with the patient about her life and are now saying their good-byes.The type of grief that this family is experiencing is best described as which of the following?

An older extended care resident was dying.The family came to visit,but one of the great-granddaughters had difficulty accepting the impending death.What is the best thing that the nurse can do to help her feel more comfortable?

What should the nurse caring for a dying patient understand about the patient? (Select all that apply.)

A widow,whose spouse died 3 years ago,has recently started dating and is thinking about going back to school to complete a degree she had started at an earlier age.Which of Bowlby's phases of mourning best describes this behavior?

A 45-year-old widow,who is being seen in a mental health clinic for clinical depression and alcohol dependency,lost her husband and her son in a boating accident 10 months earlier,and has become increasingly despondent and withdrawn.She verbalizes that she feels overwhelmed by her loss.Her daughter urged her mother to seek help.Which type of complicated grief best explains Eleanor's behavior?

The nurse is admitting a 75-year-old patient into the gastrointestinal laboratory for a routine colonoscopy.During the assessment,the nurse learns that the patient's spouse died 4 months earlier because of stomach cancer and that the patient has not been sleeping well.Which phase of Bowlby's mourning phases does the nurse suspect?

When a person has difficulty progressing through his or her loss experience,he or she experiences complicated grief.What are the types of complicated grief? (Select all that apply.)

A nurse is caring for a patient with a terminal illness whose prognosis is grim.The nurse informs the family about hospice care.What should the nurse let them know about hospice care?

A patient suffering from lung cancer experiences nausea and vomiting.When rendering palliative care,the nurse knows that this type of care:

A patient has been admitted to the hospital with advanced colon cancer and is receiving palliative care at this time.The nurse feels anxious in caring for this patient,but realizes which of the following?

The charge nurse on the evening shift of a busy medical unit in an acute care hospital received a call from a physician's office that they are admitting a patient who is dying of lung cancer.She is told that the patient's family is out of town and is not expected to make it to the hospital before the patient expires.What is the best room for the nurse to place this patient?

Bowlby's phases of mourning are founded on which of the following human instincts?

For a nurse to be effective in assisting patients with problems associated with loss and grief,what should the nurse do? (Select all that apply.)

The nurse is caring for a terminally ill patient.In order to provide optimal care,the nurse tries to anticipate patient needs.What does the nurse understand about this patient?

A businessman who had been employed at one company since graduating from college was recently downsized at work and is unemployed.He was always very proud of this job and is grieving the loss.What type of loss is this?

A nurse is caring for a patient who has become depressed because her children have gone away to college.The nurse assesses this type of depression as what type of loss?