A 40-year-old divorced mother of four school-aged children is hospitalized with metastatic cancer of the ovary. The nurse finds the patient crying, and the patient tells the nurse that she does not know what will happen to her children when she dies. What is the most appropriate response?
a) Why don't we talk about the options you have for the care of your children.
b) You are going to live for a long time yet, and your children will be just fine.
c) I wouldn't worry about that right now. You need to concentrate on getting well.
d) Won't your ex-husband take the children when you can't care for them anymore?