Practice Question
A 76-year-old patient with a history of hypertension and type 2 diabetes is brought to the clinic by his daughter, who reports that her father's memory "gets worse suddenly, then stabilizes for a while before getting worse again." The nurse reviews his chart and notes a diagnosis of vascular dementia. Which nursing intervention is most appropriate to help slow the patient's cognitive decline?
Answer Choices:
Correct Answer:
Emphasize strict control of blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol levels.
Rationale:
✅ Vascular dementia is caused by reduced cerebral blood flow from strokes/TIAs and chronic small-vessel disease, so the biggest “slow-down” strategy is lowering ongoing vascular injury.
✅ Tight control of blood pressure reduces the risk of new ischemic events that worsen cognition in the classic stepwise pattern (sudden decline → plateau → sudden decline).
✅ Managing type 2 diabetes helps prevent microvascular damage that accelerates white-matter changes and cognitive impairment.
✅ Controlling cholesterol helps decrease atherosclerosis and lowers the chance of additional infarcts that compound cognitive loss.
✅ This intervention targets the root cause of vascular dementia progression—preventing further vascular insults—so it is the most appropriate nursing priority to slow decline.
Encourage mental stimulation exercises such as puzzles and reading daily.
✅ Mental stimulation can support function and coping, but it does not directly prevent new strokes that drive vascular dementia progression.
✅It’s supportive care, not the most effective intervention for slowing stepwise decline in vascular dementia.
Recommend complete bedrest to reduce cerebral oxygen demand.
✅Bedrest increases risk for deconditioning, DVT, pneumonia, and delirium, which can worsen cognition and functional status.
✅It does not protect the brain from future vascular events and may actually harm outcomes.
Administer cholinesterase inhibitors to reverse cognitive impairment.
✅These drugs may provide modest symptom benefit in some dementias, but they do not reverse cognitive loss.
✅ In vascular dementia, the priority is vascular risk control to prevent additional ischemic damage.
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This question is from Custom NURS2201 Final Exam 2025 – LFT which contains 74 questions.
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Question Details
- Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
- Subcategory: ATI Exam(s)
- Domain: RN Custom Exam(s)
- Answer Choices: 4