Please Give Opinion on a Test Question I Had on Fundies Final

loveofrn, BSN, RN · May 13, 2015

Which one did you pick. Only C makes sense to me

vigor145 · May 13, 2015

Thank you for responding. I chose A because that is what Health Assessment pounded into us. I reviewed all my info from Fundies, and this was never mentioned. I see a neurologist every 6 months. After checking my cranial nerves he assesses my gait through ambulating/ ambulating heel to toe. End of exam.

I think I put too much personal thought into these exams. I am not so familiar with nursing homes. But when I go to the doctor's, never has an Md or NP been sitting in the room already waiting for me.

Thanks again!

datalore · May 13, 2015

Senior student here; here's my "gut" reaction as I read each option.

You are ascertaining the gait and balance of an elderly person in a nursing home. When would you do this?

A. At the end of the exam/assessment.

Ruled out: Older adults tire more easily, so waiting to the end of the exam will mean they are more tired. You should assess their gait/balance earlier in the exam.

B. When the elderly person is strong enough.

Ruled out: They may never be "strong enough;" some patients' baseline is very weak, you need to assess them anyway.

C. When the elderly person is walking into the exam room.

This is possible, consider choosing this one.

D. You wouldn't; they are in a wheelchair.

Ruled out: Just because they're in a wheelchair doesn't mean I can't assess.

Even if I wasn't sure, I'd choose C, because you can rule out all the others. Hope this helps!

loveofrn, BSN, RN · May 13, 2015

A- The question only ask you to assess the gait and balance nothing else. So why wait till the end of the assessment if thats the only focus assessment.

B-Not all older adult are weak, some are strong enough to even lift 200 pounds of weight.

C- why not

D- again, age attribution/ageism. Not all older adult are weak,or always in a wheelchair

HelloWish, ADN, BSN · May 13, 2015

I was taught in fundamentals and assessment that you usually assess gait and balance as they enter the exam room. I think C makes the most sense esp. for an elderly person.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · May 13, 2015

Hi All!!!!
This is my FIRST post. I am in the midst of finishing up my first semester. I am challenging some of my Fundies for Older Adults final questions. I would LOVE and APPRECIATE your response and ratationale on one of these questions.
What my Fundies professor expects is in conflict with what my Health Assessment professors expect. I have done some research into this, now I would like your opinion.
It IS paraphrased a tiny, but the overall emphasis is the same as the exam.
Here goes:
You are ascertaining the gait and balance of an elderly person in a nursing home. When would you do this?
A. At the end of the exam/assessment.
B. When the elderly person is strong enough.
C. When the elderly person is walking into the exam room.
D. You wouldn't; they are in a wheelchair.
Thank you in advance if you have posted. I appreciate you!!!

Vigor145

A: You wouldn't do it at the end because the elderly become tired easily.

B: The elderly are never "strong enough".

C: This seems like the right answer. They aren't tired yet & can asses for any limping or abnormal gait before the exam has tired them out.

D: Well clearly if they are in wheelchair, no. But not all the elderly are in wheelchairs.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · May 13, 2015

Datalire and OrganizedChaos have nailed this. I have one other thing to add. Sometimes test questions make you choose the best answer, among which THE best answer may not appear. In this case, as they have explained, C is the best answer of the choices you are offered, so you have to take it.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · May 14, 2015

I completely agree, C is the best answer. Remember, our assessment starts the moment we first lay eyes on the client. You can assess quite a bit from sheer observation. If the pt is walking in to the room, it's the key time to assess their gait.

verybadkitty · May 14, 2015

Remember that nursing school test questions are generally (unless otherwise stated) based in the assumption of a "perfect" medical setting...that is, even if in reality the nurse is never just waiting for the patient to walk into the room because, you know, time management...in a perfect medical setting you would be able to do so. So, based on that, my answer would be C.

cocoa_puff · May 14, 2015

C is the best answer because you can observe how they walk naturally as they come in the room. You want to start your assessment as soon as you meet your patient, and a lot of the "general survey" type of assessment can be done just by looking at the patient (do they make eye contact? posture? speech? appearance? alert and oriented?)

Remember, test questions aren't real life. In "real life," my patients usually don't walk into the room. Usually they are lying in bed or sitting in a chair, and I would assess their gait/balance if I help them to the bathroom or something (unless they're on bedrest).

Best of luck to you! :)

OrganizedChaos, LVN · May 14, 2015

Thank you for responding. I chose A because that is what Health Assessment pounded into us. I reviewed all my info from Fundies, and this was never mentioned. I see a neurologist every 6 months. After checking my cranial nerves he assesses my gait through ambulating/ ambulating heel to toe. End of exam.
I think I put too much personal thought into these exams. I am not so familiar with nursing homes. But when I go to the doctor's, never has an Md or NP been sitting in the room already waiting for me.
Thanks again!

Yes, I see a neurologist too. But your question says at a nursing home not a doctor's office. Those are two different settings. Don't over thing the question. That's when you choose the wrong answer.