Monitoring of a patient on gabapentin to treat seizures includes:
- A. Routine therapeutic drug levels every 3 to 4 months
- B. Assessing for dermatologic reactions, including Steven's Johnson
- C. Routine serum electrolytes, especially in hot weather
- D. Recording seizure frequency, duration, and severity
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Monitoring seizure activity is key to assessing gabapentin efficacy.
You may also like to solve these questions
Which statement is true about Lomotil?
- A. Abuse potential for this drug is low
- B. Psychological dependency is likely
- C. There is a high potential for abuse
- D. This drug is not a controlled substance
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Lomotil, a Schedule V drug, has an abuse potential of limited physical or psychological dependence liability compared with drugs in Schedule IV.
Which of the following is an advantage of sublingual administration?
- A. Rapid absorption
- B. Convenient
- C. Avoid harsh GI environment
- D. Avoid first pass-metabolism
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Sublingual administration offers rapid absorption , convenience , avoids the GI tract , and bypasses first-pass metabolism ; all are true, but D is a key pharmacological advantage.
A nurse in an emergency unit is reviewing the medical record of a client who is being evaluated for angle-closure Glaucoma. Which of the following findings are indicative of this condition?
- A. Insidious onset of painless loss of vision
- B. Gradual reduction in peripheral vision
- C. Severe pain around eyes
- D. Intraocular pressure 12 mm Hg
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Angle-closure glaucoma presents with severe eye pain and elevated pressure, unlike the normal 12 mm Hg.
A nurse orienting a newly licensed nurse is reviewing the procedure for taking a telephone prescription. Which of the following statements should the nurse identify as an indication that the newly licensed nurse understands the process?
- A. A second nurse enters the prescription into the client's medical record.
- B. Another nurse should listen to the phone call:
- C. The provider can clarify the prescription when he signs the health record.
- D. I should omit the 'read back' if this is a one-time prescription
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Having another nurse listen ensures accuracy in transcribing verbal orders, a standard safety protocol.
The nurse is caring for a patient who had a severe, acute, previously unseen adverse effect of a drug in Phase III testing. The patient asks, After all the testing done on this drug, didn't they know this adverse effect could occur? What is the nurse's best response? (Select one that does not apply.)
- A. Pharmaceutical companies sometimes underreport problems to make more money.
- B. Your response to this medication will be reported to the drug company and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- C. After a drug reaches phase III testing it is considered an accepted drug and will not be recalled.
- D. The pharmaceutical company weighs the benefits of the drug with the severity of adverse effects.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: When a new and unexpected adverse effect occurs, especially one of a serious nature, it is reported to the drug company who reports it to the FDA immediately. When a large number of people begin using the drug in phase III studies, it is not unusual to identify adverse effects not previously noted. It would be both unprofessional and inaccurate to imply that pharmaceutical companies put profit ahead of patient concern because lawsuits would remove any potential profit if a drug proves harmful. The FDA is responsible for weighing risk versus benefit in deciding whether to allow the drug to move to the next phase of testing. Drugs found to have serious adverse effects can be removed from the market at any time.