Deck 14: Death and Dying

Question 1

Social attitudes toward death

A) see death as an enemy.
B) welcome death.
C) fall on a continuum.
D) see death as a cycle.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Longer life expectancy today means

A) a more materially wealthy old age.
B) the elderly will become a burden as they die.
C) death will become an accepted part of modern culture.
D) death often takes place in old age.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In both the United States and Europe, people age 85 and over make up about __% of all deaths.

A) 10
B) 30
C) 60
D) 80

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The diseases of old age result from

A) poverty.
B) lack of education.
C) accidents.
D) lifelong stress on the body.

Question 5

Which of the following is not an aspect of the activity theory?

A) People deny death by engaging in intense activity.
B) When people retire, they will have the highest life satisfaction if they find new things to do.
C) People want to stay active throughout their lives.
D) As older people age, they substitute new roles and activities for the ones that they lose.

Question 6

The last stage of Erikson's theory of ego development says that the person

A) reviews his life, ties up loose ends, and prepares for death.
B) must overcome the Fear of Death vs. Life Transcendence conflict, thereby coming to terms with both their life and their death.
C) has fully withdrawn from their social roles and, accepting it as inevitable, passively awaits death.
D) fully accepts their death, but will want to keep on living to achieve some final goal they have set.

Question 7

Which of the following is not one of Koster and Prather's (1999) end-of-life concerns?

A) avoiding a drawn-out death
B) finding a proper burial site
C) becoming a burden
D) staying in touch with loved ones

Question 8

Koster and Prather (1999) report that ________ had concerns such as avoiding a drawn-out death, getting pain relief, and becoming a burden.

A) people at the end of life
B) young people
C) people aged 65-74
D) acutely ill patients

Question 9

Studies that compare older and younger people find that older people feel

A) more afraid of death as they get older.
B) less afraid of death over time.
C) more afraid of death only when they face chronic illness.
D) unafraid of death until the very end.

Question 10

________ and ________ can help buffer the fear of death.

A) A strong religious belief; a sense of purpose
B) Medical insurance; a sense of purpose
C) Mild religious belief; a sense of purpose
D) A strong religious belief; medical insurance

Question 11

The needs of dying patients are not looked after in today's health care system mainly because

A) there is insufficient data to determine what the best forms of care for dying patients and their families are.
B) modern hospitals are too large to enable proper care of the terminally ill.
C) social workers are rarely trained to deal with the needs of dying patients.
D) the dying patient does not fit the model of health care of the acute care hospital.

Question 12

Studies show that most doctors

A) feel well prepared for dealing with dying patients.
B) blame the dying patient for their condition.
C) tend to think of death as a failure.
D) deal well with dying patients, but are uncertain how to deal with their families.

Question 13

The health care system has begun to change its approach to dying patients of all ages mainly due to the efforts of two doctors:

A) Eric Erikson and John Dalton
B) Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and Dame Cicely Saunders
C) Charles Mayo and Johns Hopkins
D) Florence Nightingale and Jack Kevorkian

Question 14

The first stage of death and dying, according to Kübler-Ross, is

A) acceptance.
B) bargaining.
C) depression.
D) denial.

Question 15

Anger, directed at the doctor, a spouse, or even God, is the ________ stage of Kübler-Ross' death and dying model.

A) first
B) second
C) third
D) fourth

Question 16

The most important effect of the debate over the process of death and dying is that it has

A) brought discussion about death into the open, and has given people who have to deal with death new ways to think about it.
B) established a universally accepted model of death and dying.
C) given researchers a new understanding about death and dying from the patient's point of view.
D) enabled doctors to predict the psychological state of terminal patients and respond more effectively to their needs.

Question 17

The main objective of modern hospices is to

A) take in older people who need food or shelter.
B) provide residences for relatives who want to live near a hospitalized terminal patient.
C) meet the special needs of dying patients.
D) use passive methods to extend a person's life.

Question 18

Which of the following is not a goal of hospices?

A) to control pain
B) to give people love and care
C) to extend a person's life for as long as humanly possible
D) to allow a person to die a simple death

Question 19

A national study found that hospice use varies by

A) gender.
B) race.
C) age.
D) age, gender, and race.

Question 20

Palliative care is primarily directed at

A) providing relief for chronic pain.
B) curing disease.
C) treating people near death.
D) people aged 85 and over.

Question 21

Palliative care calls for a different level of health care practice, one that

A) allows people to die at home.
B) treats only the patient.
C) focuses on curing disease.
D) broadens the health care options in dying patients.

Question 22

A number of challenges face palliative care programs. These include all but the following:

A) Funding of the health care system limits some palliative care services.
B) Health care workers need more knowledge about palliative care.
C) Many people believe in the curative power of the hospice.
D) The health care system makes it hard for health professionals to deliver palliative care at home.

Question 23

Some nurses reported that the present health care system ________ the quality of palliative care services.

A) interfered with
B) improved
C) does not affect
D) has mixed effects on

Question 24

The main purpose of community-based palliative care programs is to

A) help terminally ill patients stay in their homes.
B) increase community support for patients in hospices.
C) decrease the need for institutional care and nursing homes for the elderly.
D) provide counseling and emotional support for the family of terminally ill patients in hospices.

Question 25

The two main ethical questions that come up again and again with death and dying are whether

A) the heroic life-saving measures taken by extended care hospitals are humane, and at what point a person should be considered dead.
B) children should be allowed to see a dying patient, and how much influence relatives should have in the treatment of terminal patients.
C) living wills are legal documents, and whether cessation of treatment by doctors constitutes a criminal act.
D) patients should be told that they have a terminal illness, and when a doctor should allow a person to die.

Question 26

The ________ empowers the patient and reminds physicians to include patients in planning their care.

A) advance directive
B) living will
C) power of attorney
D) Patient Self-Determination Act

Question 27

The Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 gives the patient the right to

A) undergo euthanasia.
B) create and implement a living will that state-funded organizations must recognize.
C) move to different hospitals.
D) try experimental treatments.

Question 28

________ show the greatest likelihood of having an advance directive.

A) Middle-class whites
B) Upper-class whites
C) Minorities
D) Older people

Question 29

Which of the following is not a reason described in the text that some minority older individuals delay discussion of advanced directives?

A) They do not suit how some minorities think about death.
B) They prefer more aggressive care.
C) They do not recognize their value.
D) They believe it will reduce the quality of their care.

Question 30

________ turns patient goals and preferences for care into medical order.

A) The POLST paradigm
B) An advance directive
C) A living will
D) The power of attorney

Question 31

Most laws and medical ethics reject

A) living wills.
B) passive euthanasia.
C) palliative treatment.
D) active euthanasia.

Question 32

In physician-assisted suicide, a doctor

A) gives a person the means to commit suicide or gives advice on how to commit suicide.
B) files a motion with the courts to gain permission to assist in ending patients lives.
C) requests to be removed from caring for patients with terminal illness if they do not agree with the idea of doctor assisted suicide.
D) takes the means of suicide upon themselves to actively end patient's lives.

Question 33

Many groups and individuals oppose euthanasia because they fear that it will lead to ________, while others support it because it can ________.

A) relieve suffering; kill old people
B) lead to unregulated killing of old people; relieve suffering
C) increased health care costs; preserve life
D) prolong life; be less expensive than treatment

Question 34

Which of the following is not one of Lindemann's stages of grief?

A) The bereaved feels shock and disbelief.
B) The bereaved feels relieved of a burden.
C) The bereaved reviews the events leading up to the death.
D) The bereaved begins to recover.

Question 35

Kastenbaum (2015) says that grief

A) can begin even before death occurs.
B) allows a bereaved person to recover quickly.
C) causes a person to abandon religion.
D) protects a person from feeling empty and alone.

Question 36

Deviations from stage models can occur based on the

A) manner and length of the death and age of the dead.
B) wealth of the dead.
C) date of death.
D) social network of the dead.

Question 37

The research on grief and grieving finds all of the following common experiences among mourners except

A) the feeling of loss.
B) feelings of sorrow.
C) yearning for the person no longer there.
D) extreme weight gain.

Question 38

How do older widows respond to the death of their significant others compared to younger spouses?

A) Older widows recovered more quickly than younger widows.
B) Older widows never quite recover, and experience greater illness.
C) Younger widows recover more quickly than older widows because they are less set in their ways.
D) Younger widows recover more quickly because of their health.

Question 39

Burton, Haley, and Small (2006) report that a sudden death leads to a greater risk of

A) confusion.
B) disengagement.
C) depression.
D) problems.

Question 40

Many widows report that widowhood stripped them of their identities. Van den Hoonaard (1997) calls this

A) disengagement.
B) identity foreclosure.
C) role relevance.
D) abandonment.

Question 41

Studies show that older people ________ before a spouse's death cope reasonably well with their grief.

A) with a higher education
B) who are wealthy
C) in good mental health
D) who have social contacts

Question 42

Northcott and Wilson (2017) reported that some older people experienced recurring grief after the death of a loved one. The results show that an older person

A) should come to terms with the death of a spouse as soon as possible.
B) should continue to grieve.
C) may need support long after his or her spouse's death.
D) should decide against remarriage.