A woman age 76 years has informed the nurse that she has begun using over-the-counter laxatives because her friend told her it was imperative to have at least one bowel movement daily. How should the nurse best respond to this client's statement?

The normal frequency of bowel movements per day vary from 0 to 3 times per day or at least a bowel movement between 1 to 3 days. Using laxatives to induce bowel movement is commonly practiced in elderly people due to the following reasons:

Avoid excessive stool straining, as it can increase their blood pressure.
Prevent fecal impaction or stasis which may produce hard stools.
Lessen risk for chronic constipation.

Some of the possible side-effects of laxative overuse are the following

Excessive dehydration - excessive bowel movements (more than 3 per day) can cause unnecessary loss of water in the body due to osmotic diarrhea.
Electrolyte and mineral deficiencies - during diarrhea, water loss is accompanied with electrolyte and mineral loss, causing weakness and fatigue.
Dependency - tolerance to the drug may develop and the natural stimulus to defecate is decreased.
Intestinal infections - excessive diarrhea may wipe off the intestine's good gut bacteria, causing an increase in the population of bad gut bacteria like Clostridium difficile and Escherichia coli O157:H7.
Rebound constipation - eventually, the intestinal muscles are weakened due to excessive peristalsis, causing slow passage of stool, and eventually, rebound constipation.