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While collecting a medication history, the patient admits to doubling the recommended dosage of an over-the-counter (OTC) medication, saying its harmless or they would require a prescription. What is the nurses best response?
- A. OTC drugs are serious medications and carry serious risks if not taken as directed.
- B. Taking medications like that is careless and you could kill yourself doing it.
- C. Sometimes you need to take more than the package directs to treat the symptoms.
- D. Did you notify your doctor of the increased dosage you were taking?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: OTC drugs are no less a medication than prescription drugs and carry the same types of risks for overdosage and toxicity if directions are not followed. Although increasing the dosage is careless and dangerous, it is important to use the information as a teaching opportunity rather than scolding the patient. Agreeing with the patient or asking her if she talked to the doctor misses the teaching opportunity, which could be harmful for the patient.
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A patient with Cushing's syndrome is being treated by X-irradiation of the pituitary. It may take several months of treatment for adequate symptomatic and metabolic improvement. Until that time, which of the following might be administered adjunctively to suppress glucocorticoid synthesis?
- A. Cimetidine
- B. Cortisol (massive doses)
- C. Fludrocortisone
- D. Ketoconazole
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Ketoconazole inhibits adrenal steroidogenesis, reducing glucocorticoid levels in Cushing's syndrome.
A 70-year-old patient has just received a drug that can cause sedation. What would be the priority nursing diagnosis for this patient?
- A. Noncompliance: Cost of the drug
- B. Deficient knowledge: Unfamiliar with drug therapy
- C. Risk for injury: Related to adverse effects of the drug
- D. Ineffective health maintenance: Need for medication
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Sedation increases the risk of falls or injury, making 'Risk for injury' the priority diagnosis over knowledge deficits or compliance issues.
A nurse is providing teaching to a client who has a new prescription for Digoxin. The nurse should instruct the client to monitor and report which of the following adverse effects that is a manifestation Digoxin toxicity? (Select one that does not apply.)
- A. Fatigue
- B. Constipation
- C. Anorexia
- D. Diplopia
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Fatigue , anorexia , and diplopia are signs of digoxin toxicity.
Jacob has hypertension, for which a calcium channel blocker has been prescribed. This drug helps control blood pressure because it:
- A. Decreases the amount of calcium inside the cell
- B. Reduces stroke volume
- C. Increases the activity of the Na+/K+/ATPase pump indirectly
- D. Decreases heart rate
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Calcium channel blockers reduce intracellular calcium, relaxing vascular smooth muscle.
A nurse working in radiology administers iodine to a patient who is having a computed tomography (CT) scan. The nurse working on the oncology unit administers chemotherapy to patients who have cancer. At the Public Health Department, a nurse administers a measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to a 14-month-old child as a routine immunization. Which branch of pharmacology best describes the actions of all three nurses?
- A. Pharmacoeconomics
- B. Pharmacotherapeutics
- C. Pharmacodynamics
- D. Pharmacokinetics
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Pharmacology is the study of the biologic effects of chemicals. Nurses are involved with clinical pharmacology or pharmacotherapeutics, which is a branch of pharmacology that deals with the uses of drugs to treat, prevent, and diagnose disease. The radiology nurse is administering a drug to help diagnose a disease. The oncology nurse is administering a drug to help treat a disease. Pharmacoeconomics includes any costs involved in drug therapy. Pharmacodynamics involves how a drug affects the body and pharmacokinetics is how the body acts on the body.