Question

Case Scenario # 5

An 82-year-old male patient, recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, has been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. The patient’s oldest daughter visits and expresses her concern to you that her father will have to move in with her family so she can take care of him. Her mother passed away 5 years ago, and her father has been living on his own since that time; however, his Alzheimer’s disease is progressing and he needs assistance. It is financially and emotionally difficult for the daughter to place him in an assisted living type of facility. She also promised her mother before her death that she would take care of him. The daughter is feeling terribly stressed at the thought of how this will disrupt her family’s home life in addition to her father having to move from his home of 54 years.

Major nursing responsibilities associated with assisting patients to manage stress include assessing a patient’s ability to cope with stressors, identifying personal factors that could interfere with coping, promoting effective coping and stress management, and implementing nursing interventions to modify coping as the situation warrants.

    1.   Clarify how you will proceed with this assessment.

   2.   Identify potential stressors to the people in the situation.

   3.   Identify factors that may affect the daughter’s coping behaviors.

   4.   Explore factors that place this family at risk for dysfunctional coping.

   5.   Describe possible manifestations of altered coping in this scenario.

   6.   Based on the information, plan appropriate nursing interventions.  

Answer 1

1) After assessment of the patient and his oldest daughter I came to know that the main care of need they require is stress and anxiety management , psychological and emotional support . So, I proceeded with stress management approach .

2) The potential stressors to the people in the situation are :-

- Separation from the family home

- Loneliness of the father

- No sufficient financial , emotional and psychological support

3) The factors that may affect the daughter’s coping behaviors are :-

- Anxiety

- Degree of stress

- Her concern about her father

- Lack of emotional and financial support

4) The factors that place this family at risk for dysfunctional coping are :-

- Lack of emotional support

- Lack of financial support

- Disruption of family home life