Funds Success Pharmacology Flashcards
A practitioner prescribes aluminum hydroxide/magnesium hydroxide (Maalox) tablets, an antacid agent, for a pt with symptoms of indigestion. What is the most important thing the nurse needs to teach this pt to do?
- document the characteristics of gastric discomfort in a log
- notify the practitioner if coffee ground vomitus occurs
- take the drug an hour before meals
- swallow the tablets whole
*2
A nurse, working on an infection disease unit, routinely administers antibiotics. Which nursing action is most important in relation to the administration of most antibiotics?
- assessing for constipation
- administering between meals
- encouraging foods high in vitamin K
- monitoring the volume of urinary output
*2
A nurse is preparing to administer an injection of heparin (Hep-Lock). What is the preferred site for this injection?
- leg
- arm
- buttock
- abdomen
*4
Which concept associated with drug therapy and quality of sleep is important for a nurse to consider to best plan nursing care?
- aggressive pain management intervention will reduce pain but increase insomnia
- abrupt discontinuation of hypnotic drugs can lead to withdrawl symptoms
- sedatives support restful sleep for people experiencing hypoxia
- barbiturates are the drugs of choice for insomnia
*2
A nurse in the hospital is evaluating pt responses to medications. Which classification of drugs commonly precipitates diarrhea as an adverse effect?
- sedatives
- narcotics
- antibiotics
- antiemetics
*3
After administering a drug, the nurse monitors the pt for reactions. Which reaction has the greatest potential to be life threatening?
- toxicity
- habituation
- anaphylaxis
- idiosyncratic
*3
A public health nurse is planning a health class about herbal remedies for a group of older adults at the community center. The nurse should include that herbal remedies are:
- required to be labeled with information about their structure
- approved by the Food and Drug Administration
- natural because they are botanical in origin
- safe because they are organic
*1
A nurse is assessing pts’ responses to medications received. What must the nurse know about these drugs to best evaluate whether the expected outcomes of the drug therapy have been achieved?
- side effects
- therapeutic effect
- mechanism of action
- chemical composition
*2
A nurse is to administer a variety of analgesics. Which medication is most important for the nurse to know its daily dose limit?
- meperidine
- ibuprofen
- morphine
- codeine
*2
A pt in pain requests the prescribed pain medications, which is an opioid. Which nursing assessment is essential before administering the opioid?
- pulse
- respirations
- temperature
- blood pressure
*2
A practitioner prescribes an antihypertensive medication to be administered twice a day. What is essential for the nurse to assess before administering the antihypertensive agent?
- level of consciousness
- apical heart rate
- blood pressure
- respirations
*3
Which is common concern of the nurse when caring for pts taking drugs that depress the immune system?
- inability to follow the therapeutic regimen
- sensory perceptual alterations
- constipation
- infection
*4
A practitioner tells a pt who is receiving an antibiotic that several blood specimens will be taken to evaluate the effectiveness of the antibiotic therapy. The pt asks the nurse, “Why do these tests have to be done?” What should the nurse respond is the primary purpose of determining peak and trough levels of a drug?
- maintain constant drug levels in the body
- determine the half-life of a drug in the body
- establish where biotransformation occurs in the body
- monitor the rate of absorption of the drug in the body
*1
After the nurse administers an opioid, the pt becomes excitable. Which response should the nurse identify is being experienced by the pt?
- toxic
- allergic
- synergistic
- idiosyncratic
*4
A pt experiences unrelenting neuropathic pain. Which classification of drug should the nurse anticipate that the practitioner will prescribe for this pt?
- anticonvulsant
- antidepressant
- antihistamine
- anesthetic
*2