ATI RN
Client Comfort and End of Life Care ATI Quizlet Questions
Question 1 of 5
What is the primary goal of palliative care?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The primary goal of palliative care is to enhance the quality of life for patients with serious or terminal illnesses, emphasizing comfort, symptom relief, and emotional support rather than curing the disease. It addresses physical symptoms like pain, as well as psychological, social, and spiritual needs, ensuring holistic well-being. Choice A, curing the underlying disease, aligns with curative care, not palliative, which accepts the illness's progression. Choice B, prolonging life at all costs, contradicts palliative care's focuswhile it may extend life indirectly through comfort, the priority is quality, not quantity. Choice D, focusing solely on physical healing, is too narrow, ignoring the emotional and spiritual dimensions central to palliative care. Choice C captures the essence of this approach, making it the correct answer, as it reflects the nurse's role in fostering dignity and peace for patients and families, especially in end-of-life scenarios.
Question 2 of 5
A client asks the nurse how pain impulses are transmitted to the brain. What would be the basis for the nurse's response?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The basis for the nurse's response is nerve impulses, as pain transmission involves nociceptors detecting stimuli (e.g., injury), converting them into electrical signals that travel via peripheral nerves to the spinal cord and brain for perception. This process, nociception, underlies pain experience. Choice A, mechanical pressure, may initiate pain (e.g., a pinch), but it's not how impulses reach the brainnerves carry the signal. Choice B, chemical changes, like inflammation releasing prostaglandins, sensitize nociceptors, but transmission itself is neural, not chemical. Choice D, temperature changes, can trigger pain (e.g., burns), but again, nerve impulses relay it centrally. Choice C is correct, providing a clear, accurate explanation nurses use to educate clients, demystifying pain's journey and supporting discussions on blocking those impulses with treatments like analgesics or nerve blocks.
Question 3 of 5
The nurse would expect a client with severe chronic pain to exhibit which of the following?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The nurse expects depression in a client with severe chronic pain, as persistent pain often leads to emotional distress, hopelessness, and isolation, disrupting serotonin and mood regulation. It's a common comorbidity, impacting quality of life. Choice A, increased social activity, is unlikelypain limits engagement, fostering withdrawal, not extroversion. Choice C, excessive sleeping, may occur as escape or from fatigue, but depression's broader emotional toll (e.g., sadness, anhedonia) is more consistent and primary. Choice D, euphoria, contradicts pain's burdenclients feel despair, not joy, unless medicated heavily, which isn't implied. Choice B is correct, aligning with chronic pain's psychological toll nurses assess, prompting interventions like counseling or antidepressants alongside pain management to address both mind and body, mitigating depression's amplifying effect on suffering.
Question 4 of 5
The nurse would expect a client receiving an opioid analgesic to report which of the following side effects?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The nurse expects constipation from an opioid analgesic, as opioids slow gastrointestinal motility by binding to mu receptors in the gut, reducing peristalsisa common, dose-related side effect. Proactive management (e.g., laxatives) is standard. Choice A, increased appetite, is unlikelyopioids may cause nausea, suppressing hunger, not boosting it. Choice C, fever, isn't typical; opioids don't induce temperature spikes unless allergic reactions occur, which is rare. Choice D, diarrhea, contradicts opioids' constipating effectantidiarrheals mimic this action. Choice B is correct, reflecting a frequent issue nurses monitor, educating clients on hydration, diet, or stool softeners to mitigate discomfort, ensuring opioid benefits (pain relief) outweigh this manageable drawback in acute or chronic use.
Question 5 of 5
What does the nurse understand to be the primary reason for using adjuvant medications with opioid analgesics?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The nurse understands the primary reason for using adjuvant medications with opioid analgesics is to reduce the opioid dose, as adjuvants (e.g., gabapentin for neuropathy, NSAIDs for inflammation) target specific pain types, enhancing relief and allowing lower opioid amounts. This minimizes risks like dependence or respiratory depression. Choice B, eliminate side effects, is inaccurateadjuvants add their own (e.g., sedation), not erase opioid ones. Choice C, increase sedation, may occur (e.g., with antidepressants), but it's not the goalpain control is. Choice D, prevent addiction, isn't direct; lower doses reduce risk, but adjuvants address efficacy, not addiction itself. Choice A is correct, reflecting multimodal pain strategies nurses employ, optimizing therapy, and tailoring regimens to balance efficacy and safety in chronic or complex pain cases.