A community health nurse is reviewing the medications of a homebound client who is 71 years old and diagnosed with heart failure and COPD. The client states that the client takes the medications daily. When the nurse asks about each medication individually, the client cannot recall what it is used for and how many times a day to take it. What does the nurse suspect is the cause of the lack of knowledge?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Older adults have multiple chronic diseases for which they take prescription medications, and it is not unusual for older people to be taking four to six medications daily. The use of multiple drugs is called polypharmacy and is defined as using 5 to 10 prescription drugs. The diagnosis of those two diseases can have the client taking up to five medications. The client could be experiencing early-onset dementia. Nurses do not diagnose medical diseases. The client is confused about the different medications, but the confusion is from the many medications. The intervention after assessing the client is to coordinate care for someone to assist with medication adherence.

A Community Health Nurse Is Reviewing the Medications of a Homebound