In planning care for a client with Alzheimer's disease, what should the nurse suggest regarding locks?

When caring for a client with Alzheimer's disease, placing locks at the tops of exterior doors is an effective strategy to enhance safety while maintaining a degree of independence for the individual. This approach helps prevent unsupervised wandering, which is a common concern in Alzheimer's patients, as they may lose track of their surroundings or become disoriented.

Positioning locks at a higher level makes them less accessible to the client, while allowing caregivers to have easy control and quick access to the door. This can significantly reduce the risk of the client leaving the premises unnoticed and potentially placing themselves in harmful situations.

In contrast, removing all locks could create an unsafe environment, as the individual would have the freedom to exit unsupervised. Installing alarms on doors can be effective, but may not provide the same level of physical security. Meanwhile, using sliding bolts on interior doors has limited relevance to wandering prevention, as it does not address exterior exits where wandering is more likely to occur. Therefore, placing locks at the tops of exterior doors strikes a balance between safety and autonomy, making it a recommended care strategy for clients with Alzheimer's disease.