A nurse is planning care for a client who has Alzheimer’s disease and is in the terminal phase. Which of the following findings should the nurse expect?

Choice A reason: Assessing the need for psychological support is important for patient comfort but not the priority. Preoperative assessment focuses on physical risks to ensure safety, as psychological needs, while relevant, do not directly impact surgical outcomes like complications or mortality.

Choice B reason: Determining understanding of the procedure aids informed consent but is secondary to safety. Misunderstanding does not directly cause intraoperative complications, whereas unidentified risks, like bleeding disorders, can lead to life-threatening outcomes, making risk identification the priority.

Choice C reason: Identifying surgical risks, such as comorbidities or allergies, is the priority, as these directly affect intraoperative safety and outcomes. Conditions like heart disease or coagulopathies increase complications, requiring preoperative mitigation to prevent adverse events, aligning with patient safety principles.

Choice D reason: Recognizing postoperative resources is important for recovery planning but not the priority. Preoperative assessment focuses on immediate surgical risks to ensure safety, as resource needs are addressed post-surgery, making risk identification more critical to prevent intraoperative complications.

Choice A reason: Vaccine history is relevant for infectious disease prevention but not for diagnosing mental health disorders. Mental disorders stem from psychological, genetic, and environmental factors, not immunization status, making this information irrelevant to assessing conditions like depression or anxiety.

Choice B reason: Surgical history may inform physical health but is not directly used to diagnose mental health disorders. While surgery-related stress could contribute to mental health issues, it is not a primary diagnostic factor, unlike psychosocial history, which directly addresses mental health determinants.

Choice C reason: Allergy history is important for medication management but not for diagnosing mental health disorders. Allergies do not influence psychological or behavioral symptoms central to conditions like schizophrenia or depression, making this information secondary to psychosocial factors in diagnosis.

Choice D reason: Psychosocial history, including life events, stress, relationships, and trauma, is critical for diagnosing mental health disorders. It reveals environmental and psychological triggers, like adverse childhood experiences or chronic stress, that influence neurotransmitter imbalances and behavioral symptoms, guiding accurate diagnosis and treatment planning.