My Friend's Test Question

[traciepooh]

An old man felt down at home last night with his hip fractured, came to the hospital with his adult child. when nurse admitted the client, the client was confused and had dirty hair and odd smells. which of the below should the nurse do

1)call the social worker

2)tell his child to take care of him

3)talk to the client about his apparence alone

4)take the client to a shower

for me i would pick (3) to understand whats going on, because the other three looks more like intervention.:)

what do you think?

My co-worker wants me to post this here to ask u all:confused:

[amybeets05]

many nursing test questions have more than one answer. I would say the answer would be (3) first, then (1).

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

Ugh, how I hate these type of answers. Technically they all could be correct, but you have to use critical thinking and choose the step that you would do first. I think according to a test taking strategy I read, you(the nurse) have to gather information first, then proceed to notify the proper authority..in this case it would be the social worker. So I think the answer would be three.

[Christine2009]

I would say (3) also and then once the facts are collected, I would notify the social worker...good question using critical thinking skills...

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

You wouldn't tell the adult child to take care of him.

You wouldn't take someone with a fractured hip into the shower.

I would do #3 first then #1 IF appropriate...#3 alludes to an assessment of the situation...there very well may be a normal explanation for the fact he is dirty...as many elderly still like to work out in the yard, even though they can barely walk in order to feel like they can still do something...a ton of reasons can be come up with.

[hikernurse]

The question does not state he lives with his adult son, but assessing the situation is necessary. If the patient were being neglected/abused talking to him alone is imperative. I would go with number three.

The wording of "odd" smells is interesting. It could imply he has gone unbathed way too long or he may have a health problem (such as ketoacidosis) or an infection that may lead to him smelling oddly.

[cmorales79]

I think that the answer would be # 1....answers 2 and 4 are obviously not correct. The reason I would chose #1 over #3 is because it state that the pt is confused so I do not think that talking to the pt alone will be of any help.

[Donneika]

It all depends if it's just one answer then #1 Call the social worker

But if it is multiple answers #1 then #3

# 1 call the social worker For the simple fact of his apparence CONFUSED odd smells dirty hair and confused. The social worker needs to get involved to help provide a safe environment for him once he is dicharged from the hospital wether it's putting him in a nursing home or providing him with help at home(cause he maybe confuse due to an uti or something that can be treated). Then i would talk to him about his apparence.