CHPN Trivia 4

Question 1

A hospice patient is placed on continuous home care (CHC). What is the minimum number of hours of care required per day for this level of care?

Accepted Answer

8 hours

Answer

CMS requires at least 8 hours of skilled nursing or aide care per day to qualify for continuous home care.

Question 2

Which finding is most characteristic of the 'death rattle' (noisy breathing) in a dying patient?

Accepted Answer

Accumulated secretions the patient cannot clear due to reduced consciousness

Answer

The death rattle results from pooled oral and pharyngeal secretions that a semiconscious patient cannot swallow or cough up.

Question 3

Which medication class is FIRST-LINE for treating nausea caused by opioid-induced constipation and gastric dysmotility in hospice patients?

Accepted Answer

Prokinetics (e.g., metoclopramide)

Answer

Prokinetic agents like metoclopramide improve gastric emptying and are first-line for opioid-related nausea and dysmotility.

Question 4

The FAST scale (Functional Assessment Staging Tool) is used to stage which condition in hospice eligibility determinations?

Accepted Answer

Dementia (Alzheimer's disease)

Answer

The FAST scale stages functional decline in Alzheimer's dementia and guides Medicare hospice eligibility for non-cancer diagnoses.

Question 5

Palliative sedation is ethically distinguished from euthanasia primarily by which principle?

Accepted Answer

The intent (comfort vs. hastening death) and the doctrine of double effect

Answer

Palliative sedation aims to relieve refractory suffering with doses titrated to symptom relief, not to intentionally hasten death.

CHPN - Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse Practice Test