A nurse is caring for an older adult. Which sensory change will the nurse identify as normal during the assessment?

Difficulty hearing low pitch

Increased taste discrimination

Impaired night vision

Heightened sense of smell

Answer and Explanation

The Correct Answer is C

Choice A reason: Difficulty hearing low pitch is not a typical age-related change. Presbycusis, common in older adults, primarily affects high-frequency hearing, making it hard to discern high-pitched sounds like consonants. Low-pitch hearing is generally preserved. This choice does not reflect a normal sensory change, as it misaligns with the expected auditory decline in aging.

Choice B reason: Increased taste discrimination is incorrect, as aging typically reduces taste sensitivity due to fewer taste buds and altered salivary function. Older adults often report diminished flavor perception, impacting appetite. This choice is not a normal sensory change, as it contradicts the expected decline in gustatory function associated with aging.

Choice C reason: Impaired night vision is a normal age-related change due to presbyopia and reduced pupil dilation, decreasing retinal light sensitivity. Older adults struggle with low-light conditions, increasing fall risk. This change, linked to lens yellowing and slower dark adaptation, is expected and aligns with typical visual decline in aging populations.

Choice D reason: Heightened sense of smell is not typical in older adults. Aging reduces olfactory sensitivity due to fewer olfactory neurons and mucosal changes, impairing smell detection. This can affect safety, like detecting gas leaks. This choice is incorrect, as it opposes the normal decline in olfactory function seen in aging.

Nursing Test Bank

Quiz #1: RN Exams Pharmacology Exams Quiz #2: RN Exams Medical-Surgical Exams Quiz #3: RN Exams Fundamentals Exams Quiz #4: RN Exams Maternal-Newborn Exams Quiz #5: RN Exams Anatomy and Physiology Exams Quiz #6: RN Exams Obstetrics and Pediatrics Exams Quiz #7: RN Exams Fluid and Electrolytes Exams Quiz #8: RN Exams Community Health Exams Quiz #9: RN Exams Promoting Health across the lifespan Exams Quiz #10: RN Exams Multidimensional care Exams

Get 100+ Naxlex Exit Exams for $79 Try Naxlex NCLEX-RN (14 Day Free-Trial)

Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams

Quiz #1: Naxlex RN Comprehensive online practice 2019 B with NGN Quiz #2: Naxlex RN Comprehensive Predictor 2023 Quiz #3: Naxlex RN Comprehensive Predictor 2023 Exit Exam A Quiz #4: Naxlex HESI Exit LPN Exam Quiz #5: Naxlex PN Comprehensive Predictor PN 2020 Quiz #6: Naxlex VATI PN Comprehensive Predictor 2020 Quiz #8: Naxlex PN Comprehensive Predictor 2023 - Exam 1 Quiz #10: Naxlex HESI PN Exit exam Quiz #11: Naxlex HESI PN EXIT Exam 2

Free Nursing Study Resources

Correct Answer is B

Explanation

Choice A reason: Maintaining belief, while part of Watson’s model, focuses on sustaining patient values, not directly fostering hope. Instilling faith-hope is a specific carative factor addressing spiritual and emotional needs, more relevant for holistic care. Prioritizing belief risks underemphasizing hope’s role in motivating patients, especially in challenging health scenarios requiring emotional resilience.

Choice B reason: Instilling faith-hope, a core carative factor in Watson’s caring theory, involves fostering optimism and spiritual strength, enhancing patient coping and resilience. This promotes holistic healing by addressing emotional and existential needs, critical in serious illness or recovery, encouraging patients to find meaning and hope, improving psychological and physical outcomes.

Choice C reason: Maintaining ethics is not a specific carative factor in Watson’s model, though ethical care is implicit. Instilling faith-hope directly supports patients’ emotional and spiritual needs, central to holistic nursing. Focusing on ethics risks missing Watson’s emphasis on caring processes like hope, which enhance patient trust and healing in clinical practice.

Choice D reason: Instilling values is not a carative factor in Watson’s model, which emphasizes factors like faith-hope for holistic care. Values are patient-specific and not nurse-instilled. Prioritizing this misaligns with Watson’s framework, potentially neglecting emotional support like hope, critical for fostering patient resilience and well-being in health challenges.

A. Immediate intubation and artificial ventilation. B. Administration of naloxone (Narcan). C. Close observation of signs of opioid tolerance. D. Assessment of the patient’s pain level.

Correct Answer is B

Explanation

Choice A reason: Immediate intubation is premature without first reversing opioid-induced respiratory depression with naloxone. Morphine’s rapid onset of lethargy and shallow breathing (7 breaths/min) indicates overdose, reversible by naloxone. Intubation is invasive and reserved for non-responsive cases, risking unnecessary complications when reversal is feasible, delaying targeted treatment in this acute scenario.

Choice B reason: Administering naloxone is the priority for opioid overdose, as evidenced by lethargy and respiratory depression (7 breaths/min) post-morphine. Naloxone, an opioid antagonist, rapidly reverses these life-threatening effects, restoring breathing and consciousness. Prompt administration is critical in older adults, who are more sensitive to opioids, ensuring patient safety and preventing hypoxia or death.

Choice C reason: Observing for opioid tolerance is inappropriate in this acute situation. Lethargy and shallow breathing indicate overdose, not tolerance, requiring immediate naloxone. Monitoring tolerance delays critical intervention, risking prolonged hypoxia, brain damage, or death, especially in an elderly patient with increased opioid sensitivity post-surgery, where respiratory depression is life-threatening.

Choice D reason: Assessing pain level is irrelevant when the patient exhibits opioid overdose symptoms like lethargy and respiratory depression. Pain assessment is secondary to reversing life-threatening respiratory compromise with naloxone. Delaying intervention for pain evaluation risks patient deterioration, as immediate action is needed to restore breathing and stabilize the patient post-morphine administration.

View Question and Answer

Whether you are a student looking to ace your exams or a practicing nurse seeking to enhance your expertise , our nursing education contents will empower you with the confidence and competence to make a difference in the lives of patients and become a respected leader in the healthcare field.

Visit Naxlex, invest in your future and unlock endless possibilities with our unparalleled nursing education contents today

A nurse is caring for an older adult. Which sensory change will the nurse identify as normal during the assessment?

Nursing Test Bank

Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams

A nurse is using Watson’s model to provide care to patients. Which carative factor will the nurse use?

Correct Answer is B

Explanation

Correct Answer is B

Explanation

A nurse is assessing cognitive functioning of a patient. Which action will the nurse take?

During a follow-up visit, a female patient is describing new onset of marital discord with her terminally ill spouse to the hospice nurse. Which Kübler-Ross stage of dying is the patient experiencing?

A nurse is teaching the staff about a nursing theory that views a person, family, or community developing a normal line of defense. Which theory is the nurse describing?

The nurse adds a nursing diagnosis of Ineffective Breathing Pattern to a patient’s care plan. Which sleep condition likely caused the nurse to assign this nursing diagnosis?

Which nursing observation of the patient in intensive care indicates the patient is sleeping comfortably during NREM sleep?

The nurse is caring for a patient in the intensive care unit who is having trouble sleeping. The nurse explains the purpose of sleep and its benefits. Which information will the nurse include in the teaching session? (Select all that apply)

The nurse is caring for a patient in the sleep lab. Which assessment finding indicates to the nurse that the patient is in stage 4 NREM?

The nurse is completing an assessment on an older-adult patient who is having difficulty falling asleep. Which condition will the nurse further assess for in this patient?