Assessment Role-Play
Instructions
Read the following scenario:
Mr. Robert McClelland, an 81-year-old man, is a new admission from the local hospital to your long-term care facility. After Mr. McClelland’s last bout with pneumonia and congestive heart failure, his wife of 59 years has decided she is no longer able to care for him alone. Mrs. McClelland states, “He has just gotten too weak and can’t help me care for him. I am so afraid he will fall and hurt himself. I am so worn out trying to care for him myself. I have to bathe him and remind him to eat; sometimes, I’ve had to feed him myself, or he won’t eat. He can be so forgetful.”
Given this information, there are two options that Mrs. McClelland is considering.
Hire an in-home nurse to care for her husband.
Place her husband in a nursing home.
Write 200–250 words arguing for the option you think will be best. Use the discussion prompts to guide the content for your initial post. Then, respond to at least two of your peers’ posts.
Discussion Prompts
You are Mr. McClelland’s nurse. You are tasked with providing the information for both Helped health care options. Based on your assessment of Mr. McClelland’s symptoms and his wife’s concerns, draft a response to help them make the best decision for their situation.
Find at least one resource to support your argument. Be sure to use APA (7th ed.) when citing this resource.
Additionally, share your opinion about which option you believe is the best for Mr. and Mrs. McClelland’s situation, and explain why.
-SAMPLE ANSWER-
Based on the information provided, I believe that placing Mr. McClelland in a nursing home would be the best option for him and his wife. There are several reasons why I think this is the case:
First and foremost, nursing homes are equipped to provide the level of care that Mr. McClelland needs. As an elderly man with multiple chronic health conditions, he is likely to have complex care needs that require specialized knowledge and skill. In a nursing home, he will have access to a team of healthcare professionals, including nurses, physicians, and other specialists, who can provide him with the care and support he needs. Additionally, nursing homes have equipment and staff that can help with activities of daily living, as well as provide emotional and social support.
Second, placing Mr. McClelland in a nursing home can help reduce the burden on his wife. As she mentions, she is struggling to care for him alone and is worried about him falling and hurting himself. By placing him in a nursing home, she can have peace of mind knowing that he is being cared for by professionals, and can rest easy knowing that she is no longer solely responsible for his care.
Finally, research supports that nursing homes can provide better quality of life and better care for elderly with multiple chronic illnesses. According to the article “Nursing Home Care and Quality of Life in Advanced Dementia” by Tjia et al (2015), nursing home care for patients with advanced dementia results in a better quality of life and fewer hospitalizations when compared to home-based care, this is also applicable to elderly with multiple chronic illnesses.
I believe that placing Mr. McClelland in a nursing home would be the best decision for him and his wife. It would ensure that he receives the level of care he needs, it will reduce the burden on his wife, and research supports that nursing homes can provide better quality of life and better care for elderly with multiple chronic illnesses.
