Medical-Surgical Nursing:Assessment and Managementof Clinical Problems 9th Edition by Sharon Lewis,Shannon Ruff Dirksen,Margaret McLean Heitkemper,Linda Bucher

Exercise 18

Priority Decision: A terminally ill patient is unresponsive and has cold, clammy skin with mottling on the extremities.The patient's husband and two grown children are arguing at the bedside about where the patient's funeral should be held.What should the nurse do first?
A) Ask the family members to leave the room if they are going to argue.
B) Take the family members aside and explain that the patient may be able to hear them.
C) Tell the family members that this decision is premature because the patient has not yet died.
D) Remind the family that this should be the patient's decision and to ask her if she regains consciousness.