Critical Thinking Exercise #1

A nurse believes that an elderly client should not receive the maximum amount of care
because "he's old and going to die anyway."
Question: How should this nurse's behavior be addressed.

The purpose of the activity is to demonstrate how the nurse's behavior must be
addressed to the elderly client. The nurse believes that the elderly client should not
receive the maximum care because they are old and are going to die. The activity
shows the proper way of addressing your patient in the right way. The nurse must have
a core set of values that includes human dignity, integrity, autonomy, altruism, and
social justice. Each value is essential to our profession of nursing. The values are
necessary for nurses to integrate caring behaviors towards their patients and with all
members of the healthcare team. None of those core values that were mentioned, the
nurse said. Instead, the nurse showed bad behavior that nurses should not do. As a
nurse, we must respect the patient. We should not say that the patient should not
receive the maximum amount of care because they are old and are going to die.
Instead, we should give the patient the care that he needs. As a nurse, your patients are
affected by everything you do. This includes your attitude, and demeanor. You are a
care giver, and the positive attitude you portray is infectious when it comes to patients.
They will feel they are getting compassionate care from an individual who has their best
interest in mind. Even though the patient is old enough, we should not say such things
that can hurt the client.