Chapter 16: Psychotherapeutic Drugs Flashcards
The nurse is reviewing medications used for depression. Which of these statements is a reason that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are more widely prescribed today than tricyclic antidepressants?
Tricyclic antidepressants cause serious cardiac dysrhythmias if an overdose occurs.
Death from overdose of tricyclic antidepressants usually results from either seizures or dysrhythmias. SSRIs are associated with significantly fewer and less severe systemic adverse effects, especially anticholinergic and cardiovascular adverse effects.
The nurse is reviewing the food choices of a patient who is taking a monoamine oxidase inhibitor ( MAOI). Which food choice would indicate the need for additional teaching?
Salami and Swiss cheese sandwich
Aged cheeses, such a Swiss or cheddar cheese, and Salami contain tyramine. Patients who are taking MAOIs need to avoid tyramine-containing foods because of a severe hypertensive reaction that may occur
The wife of a patient who has been diagnosed with depression calls the office and says, “It’s been an entire week since he started that new medicine for his depression, and there’s no change! What’s wrong with him?” What is the nurse’s best response?
“It may take up to 6 weeks to notice any therapeutic effects. Let’s wait a little longer to see how he does.”
Patients and family members need to be told that antidepressant drugs commonly require several weeks before full therapeutic effects are noted
A patient has been admitted to the emergency department with a suspected overdose of a tricyclic antidepressant. The nurse will prepare for what immediate concern?
Cardiac dysrhythmias
Tricyclic antidepressant overdoses are notoriously lethal. The primary organ systems affected are the central nervous system and the cardiovascular system, and death usually results from either seizures or dysrhythmias
A 22-year-old patient has been taking lithium for 1 year, and the most recent lithium level is 0.9 mEq/L. Which statement about the laboratory result is correct?
The lithium level is therapeutic.
Desirable long-term maintenance lithium levels range between 0.6 and 1.2 mEq/L.
A patient has been taking the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) phenelzine (Nardil) for 6 months. The patient wants to go to a party and asks the nurse, “Will just one beer be a problem?” Which advice from the nurse is correct?
“You need to avoid all foods that contain tyramine, including beer, while taking this medication.”
Foods containing tyramine, such as beer and aged cheeses, should be avoided while a patient is taking an MAOI. Drinking beer while taking an MAOI may precipitate a dangerous hypertensive crisis.
The nurse reads in the patient’s medication history that the patient is taking buspirone (BuSpar). The nurse interprets that the patient may have which disorder?
Anxiety disorder
Buspirone is indicated for the treatment of anxiety disorders, not depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder
