You Are Caring for an Elder Who Is Experiencing Severe

question 2

Multiple Choice

You are caring for an elder who is experiencing severe chronic pain and suffering from a terminal illness despite your best nursing interventions to reduce the pain.Your patient has verbalized a desire to find "some sort of meaning to all of this." Which intervention would be most appropriate at this time?

• A) Change the subject and introduce a distraction,such as television.
• B) Reassure the elder that this is normal and that everyone experiences it.
• C) Listen and facilitate expression of feelings about life and death.
• D) Ask the doctor to order a psychiatric consult.

---

Definitions:

Neocortex

Most recently expanded outer layer (“new bark”) of the forebrain, composed of about six layers of gray matter. Its name is a misnomer, as it actually isn’t newer because it arose at the same time during evolution as other forms of cortex. It is also called isocortex because it is almost always six-layered, with few exceptions.

Fritsch and Hitzig

Fritsch and Hitzig were pioneering neuroscientists known for their research demonstrating the electrical excitability of the cerebral cortex.

Electrical Potential

The amount of electric potential energy per unit charge at a specific point in an electric field, influencing the movement of charged particles.

Electric Charge

A physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field, fundamental to electricity.