The Nurse Is Caring for a Patient Who Was Widowed

The nurse is caring for a patient who was widowed 2 years prior to this current hospitalization, her fifth since the death of her husband. The woman says to the nurse, The doctor says my blood pressure is dangerously high. What is making my blood pressure so high? What does the nurse know about the probable cause of this patients hypertension?

A) Prolonged or unrelenting suffering can cause physical illness.
B) Physical illness is always caused by prolonged stress.
C) The elderly are at increased risk for hypertension due to stress.
D) Stress always exacerbates the physiologic processes of the elderly.