Chapter 4 Culture and Aging

Chapter 4  Culture and Aging

Complete Chapter Questions And Answers
 

Sample Questions

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which of the following is a true statement about gerontological nursing for patients of different races and ethnic backgrounds?
a.
The fact that a nurse is white has no bearing on the nurse’s ability to care for minority patients or patients of color.
b.
An encyclopedic accumulation of details of a particular culture is the best preparation for caring for persons from that culture.
c.
A nurse who works in Illinois does not need to be as concerned about sensitivity to multiple cultures as the nurse who works in California.
d.
Facial expressions, body language, posture, and touch are important elements of communication between a nurse and a patient from a different ethnicity.

ANS: D
Facial expressions, body language, posture, and touch become more important as language barriers limit the effectiveness of verbal exchanges. They also have different meanings in different cultures. A white person is more likely to have had opportunities and freedoms and take them for granted, whereas a person of color who has never experienced such opportunities and freedoms may regard them as special privileges. Knowledge of cultural details can be useful, but it can also lead to stereotypes that obscure the differences between individual persons. Illinois, along with California, Nevada, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey, is one of the states with the greatest numbers of immigrant older adults.

PTS: 1 DIF: Understand REF: 2-3
TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: Safe, Effective Care Environment

2. Which of the following is a true statement about differing health belief systems?
a.
Personalistic or magicoreligious beliefs have been superseded in Western minds by biomedical principles.
b.
In most cultures, older adults are likely to treat themselves using traditional methods before turning to biomedical professionals.
c.
Ayurvedic medicine is another name for traditional Chinese medicine.
d.
The belief that health depends on maintaining a balance among opposite qualities is characteristic of a magicoreligious belief system.

ANS: B
Older adults in most cultures usually have had experience with traditional methods that have worked as well as expected. After these treatments fail, older adults turn to the formal health care system. Even in the United States, it is not uncommon for older adults to pray for cures or wonder what they did to incur an illness as punishment. The Ayurvedic system is a naturalistic health belief system practiced in India and in some neighboring countries. This belief is characteristic of a holistic or naturalistic approach.

PTS: 1 DIF: Understand REF: 7-8
TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: Health Promotion and Maintenance

3. Which of the following considerations is most likely to be true when working with an interpreter?
a.
An interpreter is never needed if the nurse speaks the same language as the patient.
b.
When working with interpreters, the nurse can use technical terms or metaphors.
c.
A patient’s young granddaughter who speaks fluent English would make the best interpreter because she is familiar with and loves the patient.
d.
The nurse should face the patient rather than the interpreter.

ANS: D
The nurse should face the patient rather than the interpreter is a true statement; the intent is to converse with the patient, not with a third party about the patient. Statement A is not true; reasons may prevent the patient from speaking directly to a nurse. Statement B is not true; technical terms and metaphors may be difficult or impossible to translate. Statement C is not true; cultural restrictions may prevent some topics from being spoken of to a grandparent or child.

PTS: 1 DIF: Understand REF: 9-10
TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: Safe, Effective Care Environment

4. A resident in a nursing home insists that a priest hear his confession. The resident is very anxious, and the nursing home does not have a Roman Catholic chaplain. Which intervention should the nurse implement?
a.
An Episcopal priest is coming to visit the home this evening. Arrange an appointment with her for the resident.
b.
Report the resident’s change in behavior in detail so that the attending physician can appropriately prescribe medication.
c.
Refer the resident to the staff psychologist to address the underlying cause of the patient’s anxiety.
d.
Look in the local telephone book for a Roman Catholic Church, and ask the priest to visit the resident.

ANS: D
The nurse should respect the resident’s beliefs and practices and accommodate them when they are not harmful. Receiving the Sacrament can potentially relieve much of the patient’s anxiety. Arranging an appointment with an Episcopal priest for the resident is not an appropriate intervention; the two belief systems are not the same, and the resident is unlikely to experience the minister’s efforts as satisfactory. Reporting the resident’s change in behavior to the attending physician is also inappropriate; the resident’s wish can be understood entirely within the resident’s belief system and need not reflect a medical problem, particularly if a visit by a priest relieves the resident’s anxiety. Referring the resident to the staff psychologist to address the underlying cause of the patient’s anxiety is an approach that attempts to change the resident’s belief system.

PTS: 1 DIF: Apply REF: 10-14 TOP: Caring
MSC: Psychosocial Integrity