HPSSC - 2015
Mental Health Nursing
Medium
What is the primary goal of nursing interventions for an older adult experiencing a mood disorder?
Appeared in: HPSSC - 2015
Explanation
- The core principle of geriatric nursing is restorative care, which aims to help older adults regain or maintain their highest level of functioning.
- Promoting independence in activities of daily living (ADLs) enhances self-esteem, provides a sense of control, and improves overall quality of life.
- Functional decline is a common consequence of mood disorders in the elderly; therefore, interventions are targeted at preventing this decline and restoring ability.
- Maintaining functional independence is directly linked to better health outcomes and reduced mortality in older adults.
Why Other Options Were Wrong
- Option A: This is counter-therapeutic. Fostering dependence leads to learned helplessness, decreased self-esteem, and can worsen depression.
- Option C: Isolation is a symptom of depression and can worsen the condition. The goal is to encourage social engagement and reduce feelings of loneliness.
- Option D: This approach is too narrow. Nursing care is holistic and integrates psychosocial, environmental, and behavioral interventions alongside medication management.
Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
- Nursing practice connection: Knowing Primary nursing goals for mood disorders in older adults helps nurses interpret findings accurately and avoid errors in routine assessment, medication administration, and patient teaching.
- In any care setting, a primary nursing role for older adults is to prevent functional decline, which is a major predictor of morbidity, mortality, and institutionalization.
- Nurses must actively assess for and manage symptoms of depression, as it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated in the elderly, leading to poor outcomes.
- What if the patient refuses to participate in self-care activities? The nurse should first assess the reason for refusal (e.g., pain, fatigue, lack of motivation, fear). The approach would then be to break down tasks into smaller steps, offer assistance only as needed, and provide positive reinforcement for any effort, rather than performing the entire task for them.
How to Approach the Question
- First, identify the key elements of the question: 'primary goal,' 'nursing interventions,' 'older adult,' and 'mood disorder.'
- Recall the fundamental principles of geriatric nursing, which prioritize maintaining function, promoting independence, and ensuring quality of life (restorative care).
- Evaluate each option based on this core principle.
- Eliminate Option A ('complete dependence') as it is directly contrary to restorative care.
- Eliminate Option C ('isolating the patient') because social withdrawal is a symptom to be treated, not a therapeutic strategy.
- Eliminate Option D ('solely on psychopharmacology') because nursing is a holistic practice that goes beyond just medication.
Concept Tested & Keywords
- Concept Tested: Primary nursing goals for mood disorders in older adults.
- Stem keywords: nursing interventions, older adult, mood disorder
- Lead-in keywords: primary goal
- Negative lead-in flag: false
Question ID
Q6opH7n3oQCC1iex5TCwtg
Reference Book
E6 Nursing Fundamentals Potter Perry 12e Part 1 p. 220-222
E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 14152-14154, 14121-14123
Practise the full HPSSC - 2015
Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.
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