Question

A home care nurse is helping a client with short term memory loss with how to remember to take multiple drugs throughout the day. Which should the nurse do when teaching this client?

a. Suggest that the client wear a watch with an alarm
b. Ask a family member to call the client medications are to be taken
c. Design a chart of the medications the client takes each day during the week
d. Instruct the client to put medications in a weekly organizational pill container

Answer 1

The home care nurse can assist a client with short-term memory loss by suggesting the use of a watch with an alarm, having a family member provide reminders, creating a medication chart, and utilizing a weekly pill organizer. Additional strategies include mnemonic devices, adequate sleep, and other external memory aids.

Step-by-step explanation:

When teaching a client with short-term memory loss how to remember to take multiple drugs throughout the day, the home care nurse should undertake interventions that best suit the client's individual needs and abilities to cope with memory challenges. The nurse can suggest several strategies:

• Wearing a watch with an alarm can provide regular reminders.
• Having a family member call when medications are due offers social support.
• Designing a chart of medications helps visualize the medication schedule.
• Placing medications in a weekly organizational pill container simplifies the process of taking the correct doses.

In addition to these strategies, the nurse can recommend mnemonic devices, promote getting enough sleep for improving memory consolidation, or teach the client to use external reminders like sticky notes, similar to how the acronym FAST is used to remember the signs of a stroke.