MCQ review 337-348

An inviting and serene image representing palliative care, featuring a compassionate healthcare professional engaging with a patient in a peaceful, supportive environment.

Palliative Care Knowledge Quiz

Test your knowledge on palliative care and symptom management in terminally ill patients. This quiz covers crucial concepts and best practices for healthcare providers working with end-of-life care.

12 carefully crafted multiple-choice questions
Designed for healthcare professionals
Improve your understanding of palliative interventions

12 Questions3 MinutesCreated by CaringHeart482

Evaluate pain on all patients using a 0-to-10 scale:

Which of the following is the most important first step when evaluating and treating nonpain symptoms?

A. Ordering blood tests and X rays

B. Completing a history and physical

C. Switching the patient’s pain medication to an opioid

D. Ordering an appropriate adjuvant drug

Which of the following is least likely to be the cause of anorexia in the terminally ill?

A. Physical symptoms

B. Mechanical difficulties with eating

C. Drug side effects

D. Financial concerns

Which of the following is an appropriate first step when treating anorexia in an ambulatory terminally ill patient?

A. Ordering megestrol, 160 mg to 200 mg daily

B. Ordering dexamethasone, 2 mg to 4 mg one to three times a day

C. Assessing for presence of oral candidiasis

D. Ordering dronabinol, 2.5 mg to 5.0 mg two to three times a day

Specific issues to be considered before implementing palliative sedation include which of the following:

A. Efforts to control intractable symptoms have been exhausted and documented

B. Collaboration has occurred with the mortician and the palliative care physician and team.

C. The primary goal has been defined as hastening death to alleviate suffering.

D. Education has been given to family members who have refused to provide informed consent.

Which of the following is an effective intervention for dysphagia?

A. Teaching the family to purée foods

B. Treating anorexia with prednisone

C. Emphasizing the family’s responsibility to prevent death from starvation

D. Treating anxiety with buspirone

When treating nonpain symptoms in patients with life-limiting illness, which of the following is least likely to be essential?

A. Continual reassessment

B. Involvement of the entire interdisciplinary team

C. Weekly blood counts

D. Patient and family education

The patient from question 4 develops seizures and aspiration pneumonia. The resident suggests mechanical ventilation because the patient can no longer speak and no advance directive is in the chart. At this point you should

A. Insist that a legal guardian be appointed

B. Ask the daughter for her permission to intubate the patient

C. Intubate the patient and schedule a family meeting for later

D. Refuse to intubate the patient as her previous wishes are known.

The patient from question 4 has a daughter with very strong opinions about assisted death. This daughter asks to meet with you. You should

. Inform her that the patient is competent and refuse to meet with her

B. Ask the patient what she would like you to do to help her daughter

C. Request a psychiatric evaluation of the daughter

D. Arrange a family meeting

A 56-year-old woman with end-stage multiple sclerosis is tired of living with such a severe disability. She asks you to prescribe 100 secobarbital tablets. You should listen carefully to her concerns and

A. Call for a psychiatric consult

B. Notify the ethics committee

C. Insist on inpatient psychiatric treatment

D. Offer to refer her for hospice and palliative care

Which of the following statements is false?

A. The patient’s relationship with family members should not be considered when making decisions about treatments.

B. A thorough assessment of clinical, biographical, and cultural facts is the first step in making ethical decisions.

C. Proposed treatments should be considered in terms of their affects on both the patient and the family

D. Ethical dilemmas may be nothing more than disagreements based on inadequate knowledge

A 58-year-old Asian woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. The husband asks the physician to inform him about his wife’s condition but to withhold the diagnosis from his wife. The physician should

A. Refuse to provide care for the patient unless allowed to fully disclose all information to her

B. Ask the patient what she knows and wants to know about her condition

C. Present pertinent information to the patient and family members concurrently in a family conference

D. Explain that, in the United States, information about diagnosis and prognosis is always fully disclosed to the patient

MCQ review 337-348

Palliative Care Knowledge Quiz

More Quizzes