NORCET 3 - 2022 (Shift-1)
Medical & Surgical Nursing
Easy
Possible cause of delirium in elderly patient?
Appeared in: NORCET 3 - 2022 (Shift-1)
Explanation
- Delirium in older adults is an acute medical condition that is often multifactorial, meaning it can be triggered by several co-existing problems.
- Drug withdrawal, particularly from substances like alcohol or benzodiazepines, is a well-documented precipitating factor for delirium.
- Hypoxia, or an insufficient oxygen supply to the brain, is a common metabolic cause of acute confusion and delirium.
- Trauma, including head injuries, fractures, or the physiological stress of surgery, can also trigger delirium in vulnerable elderly patients.
- Since drug withdrawal, hypoxia, and trauma are all valid and common causes, the most comprehensive and correct answer is 'All of the above'.
Why Other Options Were Wrong
- Option A: This option is a correct cause of delirium, but it is not the only correct cause listed. The question asks for possible causes, and multiple valid options are provided, making 'All of the above' a more complete answer.
- Option B: This option is a correct cause of delirium, but it is not the only correct cause listed. The question asks for possible causes, and multiple valid options are provided, making 'All of the above' a more complete answer.
- Option C: This option is a correct cause of delirium, but it is not the only correct cause listed. The question asks for possible causes, and multiple valid options are provided, making 'All of the above' a more complete answer.
Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
- Nursing practice connection: Use the key finding related to Etiology of Delirium in Elderly Patients to guide bedside assessment, documentation, and the next nursing action.
- Recognizing that delirium is often multifactorial is crucial for nurses. A comprehensive assessment is needed to identify and address all contributing factors, rather than focusing on a single cause.
- Delirium is a medical emergency associated with high morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Prompt identification and treatment of the underlying cause(s) are critical to improving patient outcomes.
- What if? If the patient was afebrile with no signs of trauma but had recently stopped taking a long-term benzodiazepine, the nurse's primary suspicion should be drug withdrawal, guiding the team toward specific management protocols for withdrawal syndrome.
How to Approach the Question
- First, read the question to identify the core concept: causes of delirium in the elderly.
- Evaluate each option individually based on your clinical knowledge. Is drug withdrawal a cause? Yes. Is hypoxia a cause? Yes. Is trauma a cause? Yes.
- When you identify that multiple options (A, B, and C) are all factually correct statements, look for a summary option like 'All of the above'.
- In this case, since the first three options are all well-known causes of delirium, 'All of the above' is the most complete and therefore the best answer.
Concept Tested & Keywords
- Concept Tested: Etiology of Delirium in Elderly Patients
- Stem keywords: delirium, elderly patient, cause
- Lead-in keywords: Possible cause
- Clinical cues: Age/sex group narrows the expected diagnosis, intervention, or normal reference range.
- Negative lead-in flag: false
Question ID
Qx-TH_XqpUghjnfXZLvXz9
Reference Book
E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) p. 751-753
E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 13823-13825, 14364-14366
Practise the full NORCET 3 - 2022 (Shift-1)
Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.
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