A client who recently experienced an amputation of the left thumb has

A client who recently experienced an amputation of the left thumb has a perceived loss of physi-cal attractiveness. The nurse recognizes that such a loss is:

1. More easily assessed than actual losses
2. Much less personal than an actual loss
3. Universally experienced by all amputees
4. Capable of producing grief similar to an actual loss

ANSWER

ANS: 4
Perceived losses are easy to overlook because they are so internally and individually experienced, although they are grieved in the same way as an actual loss. The express of grief over a loss, per-ceived or real, is a very individualized, personal response.