Select at least five descriptive statements of critical thinking that you would use when working with clients in each of the following practice situations. Explain your rationale for each statement.

Situation #1

You are a nurse working in a clinic. A 22-year-old, low-functioning, developmentally disabled woman, living in a group home with seven other developmentally disabled women, visits the clinic for her annual physical examination. She tells you that she was raped the day before by a man who mows the grass at her home.

1. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

2. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

3. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

4. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

5. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

Situation #2

You are a nurse at a prenatal clinic. You are caring for a 19-year-old teenager who is 15 weeks pregnant. This is her first prenatal visit. She tells you that she played with her nephew 3 weeks ago when he had "the measles."

1. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

2. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

3. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

4. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

5. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

Situation #3

You are a nurse in an intensive care unit, caring for an 87-year-old man who was intellectually keen and strong-minded until he had coronary artery bypass surgery 2 weeks ago. His condition continues to deteriorate as a result of successive complications. He is conscious but unable to communicate verbally. His family is upset and constantly reiterates, "We do not understand what happened. He was all right until he had surgery."

1. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

2. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

3. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

4. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

5. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

Situation #4

You are a hospice nurse who during the past 5 months has been caring for a middle-aged patient who is dying from AIDS. When you visit him, he tells you how much he misses his job as the Wellness Director of the YMCA and that he just wants to die.

1. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

2. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

3. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

4. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

5. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

Situation #5

You are a nurse practitioner working in an emergency department (ED). You are caring for a patient who has been brought to the hospital by the police. His family called 911 because they could not control him and were afraid that he would hurt himself or one of them. He tested positive for alcohol and illicit drugs. You noted that he has come to the ED for various reasons several times in the past 6 weeks.

1. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

2. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

3. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

4. Descriptive Statements

Rationale

5. Descriptive Statements

Rationale