Palliative Care Assessment and Diagnosis Flashcards
6 cards from real ACHPN practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Palliative Care Assessment and Diagnosis flashcards as text
Which assessment approach is most appropriate when evaluating suffering in a palliative care patient?
Answer: Use a multi-domain approach covering physical, psychosocial, spiritual, and existential dimensions
Suffering in palliative care is multidimensional, requiring comprehensive assessment across physical, psychosocial, spiritual, and existential domains to guide holistic care.
An ACHPN is assessing a patient for opioid-induced neurotoxicity. Which symptom cluster is most characteristic?
Answer: Myoclonus, hyperalgesia, and delirium
Opioid-induced neurotoxicity typically presents with myoclonus, hyperalgesia, and delirium due to accumulation of neuroexcitatory opioid metabolites.
When assessing a patient's decision-making capacity in palliative care, which four elements must be established?
Answer: Understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and ability to communicate a choice
Decision-making capacity requires that the patient demonstrate understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and the ability to communicate a consistent choice.
Which palliative care assessment framework uses the acronym 'IPOS' to capture patient-reported outcomes?
Answer: Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale
The IPOS (Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale) is a validated patient-reported outcome measure that captures physical symptoms, psychological concerns, and family/information needs in palliative care.
A palliative patient newly reports difficulty swallowing medications. Which assessment should the ACHPN prioritize?
Answer: Swallowing function and ability to use alternative medication routes
New dysphagia in a palliative patient requires assessment of swallowing function and identification of alternative routes (sublingual, subcutaneous, rectal) for essential medications.
Which finding during an ACHPN assessment most strongly suggests existential distress rather than clinical depression?
Answer: Loss of meaning and will to live without neurovegetative symptoms
Existential distress in palliative patients often manifests as loss of meaning, hopelessness, or will to live without the full neurovegetative symptom cluster required for a major depressive diagnosis.