3) The home-health nurse is completing an initial assessment on a 70 year old male, Juan, in his home. Upon entrance into the home, there is a strong smell of urine and feces, and there is trash piled up throughout the house. Juan appears underweight, is wearing dirty clothes, and has lost his dentures. He states he does not have any family to help him and reports he has not eaten in 3 days. The nurse notices bed bugs on the furniture during the exam.
What immediate actions should the nurse take?
How can the nurse therapeutically communicate her concerns to the patient?
What are the legal and ethical responsibilities of the nurse?
4) The nurse working at children’s hospital is assessing her 15 year old patient, Danielle, who is admitted for appendicitis. Danielle is talkative and opens up to the nurse about “the love of her life”, her 22 year old boyfriend. Danielle is looking forward to getting back out of the hospital to go and visit her boyfriend, and indicates to the nurse that she is having sex with him.
How should the nurse go about assessing Danielle for abuse?
What are the legal and ethical responsibilities of the nurse?
Should the nurse report her concerns to Danielle’s parents?
5) The nurse is working in an extended-care facility with Ben, a 67 year old man with moderate dementia. The nurse has had concerns for a while that Ben’s family is stealing money from him. She notices that family only visits when they need something, and that Ben frequently talks about “taking care of them, they don’t have much”. Ben is very forgetful and oriented to himself only at baseline, and the nurse does not think he has the capacity to manage his own funds in a responsible way anymore.
What are the legal and ethical responsibilities of the nurse?
What nursing interventions are indicated with this patient?
Should the nurse contact the family with her concerns?