A practical nurse in a community clinic treats many older clients. Which fact should the nurse be aware of when treating older clients?

A practical nurse in a community clinic treats many older clients. Which fact should the nurse be aware of when treating older clients?

• A. Normal temperature for an older adult is 36.5°C orally.
• B. The older adult might have an advanced infection before it is identified.
• C. The older adult has increased sensitivity to pain sensation.
• D. The constipation common in older clients is primarily due to polypharmacy.

Answer: (B)

Older adults often show atypical signs of illness, especially infections. Their immune response and fever tendency can be blunted with age, so an infection may be well advanced before clear symptoms appear. In a community clinic, this means you shouldn’t rely on fever alone to flag infection—watch for subtle but important changes such as sudden confusion or a drop in function, decreased appetite, fatigue, or dehydration. These non-specific changes can signal an infection that hasn’t yet been identified, so maintaining a high index of suspicion is essential. Normal temperatures aren’t fixed for older adults and can vary; fever may be absent or minimal even with infection, which is why option describing an infection being advanced before identification is the best fit. Pain sensitivity often declines with age rather than increases, so increased pain sensitivity isn’t typical. And constipation in older adults is multifactorial, not primarily caused by polypharmacy alone.

Older adults often show atypical signs of illness, especially infections. Their immune response and fever tendency can be blunted with age, so an infection may be well advanced before clear symptoms appear. In a community clinic, this means you shouldn’t rely on fever alone to flag infection—watch for subtle but important changes such as sudden confusion or a drop in function, decreased appetite, fatigue, or dehydration. These non-specific changes can signal an infection that hasn’t yet been identified, so maintaining a high index of suspicion is essential.

Normal temperatures aren’t fixed for older adults and can vary; fever may be absent or minimal even with infection, which is why option describing an infection being advanced before identification is the best fit. Pain sensitivity often declines with age rather than increases, so increased pain sensitivity isn’t typical. And constipation in older adults is multifactorial, not primarily caused by polypharmacy alone.