NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 1 Forum
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics
As an advanced practice nurse assisting physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders, it is important to not only understand the impact of disorders on the body, but also the impact of drug treatments on the body. The relationships between drugs and the body can be described by pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
Pharmacokinetics describes what the body does to the drug through absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, whereas pharmacodynamics describes what the drug does to the body.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Ingram Publishing
When selecting drugs and determining dosages for patients, it is essential to consider individual patient factors that might impact the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes. These patient factors include genetics, gender, ethnicity, age, behavior (i.e., diet, nutrition, smoking, alcohol, illicit drug abuse), and/or pathophysiological changes due to disease.
For this Discussion, you reflect on a case from your past clinical experiences and consider how a patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes may alter his or her response to a drug.
To Prepare
Review the Resources for this module and consider the principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
Reflect on your experiences, observations, and/or clinical practices from the last 5 years and think about how pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic factors altered his or her anticipated response to a drug.
Consider factors that might have influenced the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes, such as genetics (including pharmacogenetics), gender, ethnicity, age, behavior, and/or possible pathophysiological changes due to disease.
Think about a personalized plan of care based on these influencing factors and patient history in your case study.
By Day 3 of Week 1
Post a description of the patient case from your experiences, observations, and/or clinical practice from the last 5 years. Then, describe factors that might have influenced pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes of the patient you identified. Finally, explain details of the personalized plan of care that you would develop based on influencing factors and patient history in your case. Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 1
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by suggesting additional patient factors that might have interfered with the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes of the patients they described. In addition, suggest how the personalized plan of care might change if the age of the patient were different and/or if the patient had a comorbid condition, such as renal failure, heart failure, or liver failure.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 5 Forum
Diabetes and Drug Treatments
Each year, 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes (American Diabetes Association, 2019). If left untreated, diabetic patients are at risk for several alterations, including heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, neuropathy, and blindness. There are various methods for treating diabetes, many of which include some form of drug therapy. The type of diabetes as well as the patient’s behavior factors will impact treatment recommendations.
For this Discussion, you compare types of diabetes, including drug treatments for type 1, type 2, gestational, and juvenile diabetes.
Reference: American Diabetes Association. (2019). Statistics about diabetes. Retrieved from http://diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/
To Prepare
Review the Resources for this module and reflect on differences between types of diabetes, including type 1, type 2, gestational, and juvenile diabetes.
Select one type of diabetes to focus on for this Discussion.
Consider one type of drug used to treat the type of diabetes you selected, including proper preparation and administration of this drug. Then, reflect on dietary considerations related to treatment.
Think about the short-term and long-term impact of the diabetes you selected on patients, including effects of drug treatments.
By Day 3 of Week 5
Post a brief explanation of the differences between the types of diabetes, including type 1, type 2, gestational, and juvenile diabetes. Describe one type of drug used to treat the type of diabetes you selected, including proper preparation and administration of this drug. Be sure to include dietary considerations related to treatment. Then, explain the short-term and long-term impact of this type of diabetes on patients. including effects of drug treatments. Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 5
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days who selected a different type of diabetes than you did. Provide recommendations for alternative drug treatments and patient education strategies for treatment and management.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 8 Forum
Decision Making When Treating Psychological Disorders
Psychological disorders, such as depression, bipolar, and anxiety disorders can present several complications for patients of all ages. These disorders affect patients physically and emotionally, potentially impacting judgment, school and/or job performance, and relationships with family and friends. Since these disorders have many drastic effects on patients’ lives, it is important for advanced practice nurses to effectively manage patient care. With patient factors and medical history in mind, it is the advanced practice nurse’s responsibility to ensure the safe and effective diagnosis, treatment, and education of patients with psychological disorders.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
For this Discussion, you will select an interactive media piece to practice decision making when treating patients with psychological disorders. You will recommend the most effective pharmacotherapeutic to treat the psychological disorder presented and examine potential impacts of pharmacotherapeuticson a patient’s pathophysiology.
To Prepare
Review this week’s interactive media pieces and select one to focus on for this Discussion.
Reflect on the decision steps in the interactive media pieces, and consider the potential impacts from the administration of the associated pharmacotherapeutics on the patient’s pathophysiology.
By Day 3 of Week 8
Post a brief explanation of the psychological disorder presented and the decision steps you applied in completing the interactive media piece for the psychological disorder you selected. Then, explain how the administration of the associated pharmacotherapeutics you recommended may impact the patient’s pathophysiology. How might these potential impacts inform how you would suggest treatment plans for this patient? Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 8
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days who selected a different interactive media piece on a psychological disorder, and provide recommendations for alternative drug treatments to address the patient’s pathophysiology.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 9 Forum
Women’s and Men’s Health, Infectious Disease, and Hematologic Disorders
As an advanced practice nurse, you will likely experience patient encounters with complex comorbidities. For example, consider a female patient who is pregnant who also presents with hypertension, diabetes, and has a recent tuberculosis infection. How might the underlying pathophysiology of these conditions affect the pharmacotherapeutics you might recommend to help address your patient’s health needs? What education strategies might you recommend for ensuring positive patient health outcomes?
For this Discussion, you will be assigned a patient case study and will consider how to address the patient’s current drug therapy plans. You will then suggest recommendations on how to revise these drug therapy plans to ensure effective, safe, and quality patient care for positive patient health outcomes
Photo Credit: Getty Images
To Prepare
Review the Resources for this module and reflect on the different health needs and body systems presented.
Your Instructor will assign you a complex case study to focus on for this Discussion.
Consider how you will practice critical decision making for prescribing appropriate drugs and treatment to address the complex patient health needs in the patient case study you selected.
By Day 3 of Week 9
Post a brief description of your patient’s health needs from the patient case study you assigned. Be specific. Then, explain the type of treatment regimen you would recommend for treating your patient, including the choice or pharmacotherapeutics you would recommend and explain why. Be sure to justify your response. Explain a patient education strategy you might recommend for assisting your patient with the management of their health needs. Be specific and provide examples.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 1 Assignment
Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs
What type of drug should you prescribe based on your patient’s diagnosis? How much of the drug should the patient receive? How often should the drug be administered? When should the drug not be prescribed? Are there individual patient factors that could create complications when taking the drug? Should you be prescribing drugs to this patient? How might different state regulations affect the prescribing of this drug to this patient?
These are some of the questions you might consider when selecting a treatment plan for a patient.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Caiaimage
As an advanced practice nurse prescribing drugs, you are held accountable for people’s lives every day. Patients and their families will often place trust in you because of your position. With this trust comes power and responsibility, as well as an ethical and legal obligation to “do no harm.” It is important that you are aware of current professional, legal, and ethical standards for advanced practice nurses with prescriptive authority. Additionally, it is important to ensure that the treatment plans and administration/prescribing of drugs is in accordance with the regulations of the state in which you practice. Understanding how these regulations may affect the prescribing of certain drugs in different states may have a significant impact on your patient’s treatment plan. In this Assignment, you explore ethical and legal implications of scenarios and consider how to appropriately respond.
To Prepare
Review the Resources for this module and consider the legal and ethical implications of prescribing prescription drugs, disclosure, and nondisclosure.
Review the scenario assigned by your Instructor for this Assignment.
Search specific laws and standards for prescribing prescription drugs and for addressing medication errors for your state or region, and reflect on these as you review the scenario assigned by your Instructor.
Consider the ethical and legal implications of the scenario for all stakeholders involved, such as the prescriber, pharmacist, patient, and patient’s family.
Think about two strategies that you, as an advanced practice nurse, would use to guide your ethically and legally responsible decision-making in this scenario, including whether you would disclose any medication errors.
By Day 7 of Week 1
Write a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following:
Explain the ethical and legal implications of the scenario you selected on all stakeholders involved, such as the prescriber, pharmacist, patient, and patient’s family.
Describe strategies to address disclosure and nondisclosure as identified in the scenario you selected. Be sure to reference laws specific to your state.
Explain two strategies that you, as an advanced practice nurse, would use to guide your decision making in this scenario, including whether you would disclose your error. Be sure to justify your explanation.
Explain the process of writing prescriptions, including strategies to minimize medication errors.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 2 Assignment
Pharmacotherapy for Cardiovascular Disorders
..heart disease remains the No. 1 killer in America; nearly half of all Americans have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or smoke—some of the leading risk factors for heart disease…
—Murphy et al., 2018
Despite the high mortality rates associated with cardiovascular disorders, improved treatment options do exist that can help address those risk factors that afflict the majority of the population today.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF
As an advanced practice nurse, it is your responsibility to recommend appropriate treatment options for patients with cardiovascular disorders. To ensure the safety and effectiveness of drug therapy, advanced practice nurses must consider aspects that might influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes such as medical history, other drugs currently prescribed, and individual patient factors.
Reference: Murphy, S. L., Xu, J., Kochanek, K. D., & Arias, E. (2018). Mortality in the United States, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db328.htm
To Prepare
Review the Resources for this module and consider the impact of potential pharmacotherapeutics for cardiovascular disorders introduced in the media piece.
Review the case study assigned by your Instructor for this Assignment.
Select one the following factors: genetics, gender, ethnicity, age, or behavior factors.
Reflect on how the factor you selected might influence the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes.
Consider how changes in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes might impact the patient’s recommended drug therapy.
Think about how you might improve the patient’s drug therapy plan based on the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes. Reflect on whether you would modify the current drug treatment or provide an alternative treatment option for the patient.
By Day 7 of Week 2
Write a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following:
Explain how the factor you selected might influence the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in the patient from the case study you were assigned.
Describe how changes in the processes might impact the patient’s recommended drug therapy. Be specific and provide examples.
Explain how you might improve the patient’s drug therapy plan and explain why you would make these recommended improvements.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 3 Assignment
Asthma and Stepwise Management
Asthma is a respiratory disorder that affects children and adults. Advanced practice nurses often provide treatment to patients with these disorders. Sometimes patients require immediate treatment, making it essential that you recognize and distinguish minor asthma symptoms from serious, life-threatening ones. Since symptoms and attacks are often induced by a trigger, advanced practice nurses must also help patients identify their triggers and recommend appropriate management options. Like many other disorders, there are various approaches to treating and managing care for asthmatic patients depending on individual patient factors.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
One method that supports the clinical decision making of drug therapy plans for asthmatic patients is the stepwise approach, which you explore in this Assignment.
To Prepare
Reflect on drugs used to treat asthmatic patients, including long-term control and quick relief treatment options for patients. Think about the impact these drugs might have on patients, including adults and children.
Consider how you might apply the stepwise approach to address the health needs of a patient in your practice.
Reflect on how stepwise management assists health care providers and patients in gaining and maintaining control of the disease.
By Day 7 of Week 3
Create a 5- to 6-slide PowerPoint presentation that can be used in a staff development meeting on presenting different approaches for implementing the stepwise approach for asthma treatment. Be sure to address the following:
Describe long-term control and quick relief treatment options for the asthma patient from your practice as well as the impact these drugs might have on your patient.
Explain the stepwise approach to asthma treatment and management for your patient.
Explain how stepwise management assists health care providers and patients in gaining and maintaining control of the disease. Be specific.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 4 Assignment
Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders
Gastrointestinal (GI) and hepatobiliary disorders affect the structure and function of the GI tract. Many of these disorders often have similar symptoms, such as abdominal pain, cramping, constipation, nausea, bloating, and fatigue. Since multiple disorders can be tied to the same symptoms, it is important for advanced practice nurses to carefully evaluate patients and prescribe a treatment that targets the cause rather than the symptom.
Once the underlying cause is identified, an appropriate drug therapy plan can be recommended based on medical history and individual patient factors. In this Assignment, you examine a case study of a patient who presents with symptoms of a possible GI/hepatobiliary disorder, and you design an appropriate drug therapy plan.
To Prepare
Review the case study assigned by your Instructor for this Assignment
Reflect on the patient’s symptoms, medical history, and drugs currently prescribed.
Think about a possible diagnosis for the patient. Consider whether the patient has a disorder related to the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary system or whether the symptoms are the result of a disorder from another system or other factors, such as pregnancy, drugs, or a psychological disorder.
Consider an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed.
By Day 7 of Week 4
Write a 1-page paper that addresses the following:
Explain your diagnosis for the patient, including your rationale for the diagnosis.
Describe an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed.
Justify why you would recommend this drug therapy plan for this patient. Be specific and provide examples.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 8 Assignment
Decision Tree for Neurological and Musculoskeletal
For your Assignment, your Instructor will assign you one of the decision tree interactive media pieces provided in the Resources. As you examine the patient case studies in this module’s Resources, consider how you might assess and treat patients presenting symptoms of neurological and musculoskeletal disorders.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF
To Prepare
Review the interactive media piece assigned by your Instructor.
Reflect on the patient’s symptoms and aspects of the disorder presented in the interactive media piece.
Consider how you might assess and treat patients presenting with the symptoms of the patient case study you were assigned.
You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the diagnosis and treatment for this patient. Reflect on potential co-morbid physical as well as patient factors that might impact the patient’s diagnosis and treatment.
By Day 7 of Week 8
Write a 1- to 2-page summary paper that addresses the following:
Briefly summarize the patient case study you were assigned, including each of the three decisions you took for the patient presented.
Based on the decisions you recommended for the patient case study, explain whether you believe the decisions provided were supported by the evidence-based literature. Be specific and provide examples. Be sure to support your response with evidence and references from outside resources.
What were you hoping to achieve with the decisions you recommended for the patient case study you were assigned? Support your response with evidence and references from outside resources.
Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with each of the decisions and the results of the decision in the exercise. Describe whether they were different. Be specific and provide examples.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 11 Assignment
Off-Label Drug Use in Pediatrics
The unapproved use of approved drugs, also called off-label use, with children is quite common. This is because pediatric dosage guidelines are typically unavailable, since very few drugs have been specifically researched and tested with children.
When treating children, prescribers often adjust dosages approved for adults to accommodate a child’s weight. However, children are not just “smaller” adults. Adults and children process and respond to drugs differently in their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.
Children even respond differently during stages from infancy to adolescence. This poses potential safety concerns when prescribing drugs to pediatric patients. As an advanced practice nurse, you have to be aware of safety implications of the off-label use of drugs with this patient group.
To Prepare
Review the interactive media piece in this week’s Resources and reflect on the types of drugs used to treat pediatric patients with mood disorders.
Reflect on situations in which children should be prescribed drugs for off-label use.
Think about strategies to make the off-label use and dosage of drugs safer for children from infancy to adolescence. Consider specific off-label drugs that you think require extra care and attention when used in pediatrics.
By Day 5 of Week 11
Write a 1-page narrative in APA format that addresses the following:
Explain the circumstances under which children should be prescribed drugs for off-label use. Be specific and provide examples.
Describe strategies to make the off-label use and dosage of drugs safer for children from infancy to adolescence. Include descriptions and names of off-label drugs that require extra care and attention when used in pediatrics.
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 7 Exam
Question 1A patient taking Metformin (Glucophage) is scheduled for a cardiac cath. The patient asks why he can't take his metformin the day of the test. What is the most appropriate reply?
Answers:
Metformin interacts with the dye used in the test. You can take the Metformin starting the day after the test.
You can develop lactic acidosis if you take metformin and are given dye. You should have a serum creatinine drawn before restarting the medication.
The combination of metformin and the dye stimulates the liver to release insulin causing hypoglycemia. You can restart the metformin 48 hours after the test.
Dye is a cytochrome system inducer that affects metformin. You should wait 3 days before restarting the metform so you don't develop a toxic level of the drug.
Question 2
A child is prescribed an inhaled corticosteroid agent to decrease respiratory inflammation related to exposure to an animal. The patient’s parent administers a higher than prescribe dose of the medication for 5 days. What should the APRN monitor the child for?
Answers:
tachycardia
adrenal insufficiency
hypokalemia
hypoglycemia
Question 3
Mr. Lacuna is an 83-year-old resident of a long-term care facility who has a diagnosis of moderate Alzheimer disease. Mr. Lacuna's physician recently prescribed oral rivastigmine, but he was unable to tolerate the drug due to its gastrointestinal effects. As a result, he has been ordered the transdermal patch form of the medication. When administering this form of rivastigmine, the nurse should
Answers:
teach Mr. Lacuna about the importance of rotating sites when he applies the patch.
teach Mr. Lacuna's family to apply a second patch if they notice an acute exacerbation of his confusion.
apply the patch to Mr. Lacuna's back to reduce the chance that he will remove it.
apply the patch to a mucous membrane to facilitate complete absorption.
Question 4
A 53-year-old man has been treated for severe asthma for several years with prednisone. Recently, his physician initiated alternate-day therapy for him. The patient tells the nurse that he would rather take the medication every day to prevent confusion. Which of the following would be the best response by the nurse?
Answers:
"This schedule will be more convenient for you."
"This schedule will enable you to lose weight."
"This schedule will decrease the cost of your medication."
"This schedule allows rest periods so that adverse effects are decreased but the anti-inflammatory effects continue."
Question 5
John is a newly diagnosed diabetic that contacts the office with complaints of severe nausea and vomiting. What instructions should the APRN provide related to his insulin doses?
Answers:
I will call in a prescription for metformin for you to take in place of your insulin.
Monitor your blood sugar every 4 hours and take regular insulin based on the blood sugar reading.
Stop your insulin while you are not eating and restart it at half strength when you can keep liquids down.
There is no need to change your insulin dosage while sick. Continue your regular doses
Question 6During a clinic visit, a patient complains of having frequent muscle cramps in her legs. The nurse's assessment reveals that the patient has been taking over-the-counter laxatives for the past 7 years. The nurse informed the patient that prolonged use of laxatives
Answers:
may cause nutrient deficiencies.
may counter the therapeutic effect of other drugs.
causes acidic urine and urinary tract infections.
inhibits biotransformation of drugs.
Question 7
Which of the following statements best defines how a chemical becomes termed a drug?
Answers:
A chemical must have a proven therapeutic value or efficacy without severe toxicity or damaging properties to become a drug.
A chemical becomes a drug when it is introduced into the body to cause a change.
A chemical is considered a drug when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves its release to be marketed.
A chemical must have demonstrated therapeutic value to become a drug.
Question 8 The Nurse Practitioner's assessment of a community-dwelling adult suggests that the client may have drug allergies that have not been previously documented. What statement by the client would confirm this?
Answers:
"I tend to get sick in the stomach when I take antibiotics."
"I've been told that aspirin might have caused my stomach bleed a few years back."
"I broke out in hives and got terribly itchy when I started a new prescription last year."
"When I fell last year, the doctor said that it might have been because of my blood pressure pills."
Question 9
A Nurse Practitioner is teaching an older adult patient about polypharmacy. Which of the following statements best describe this term?
Answers:
Taking more than one drug when the patient deems it necessary
Taking several drugs simultaneously
Increasing the dosage of a drug by the patient
Taking one drug one day and another drug the next day
Question 10
A 33-year-old woman has irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The physician has prescribed simethicone (Mylicon) for her discomfort. Which of the following will the nurse monitor most closely during the patient's drug therapy?
Answers:
Drug toxicity
Anorexia
Increased abdominal pain and vomiting
Increased urine output
Question 11
Decongestants are recommended to use in which of the following patients?
Answers:
patients with otitis media
patients with coronary artery disease
patients taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors
patients with hypertension
Question 12
A 70-year-old woman with a history of atrial fibrillation takes digoxin and verapamil to control her health problem. Verapamil achieves a therapeutic effect by
Answers:
blocking adrenergic receptors and producing antisympathetic effects.
inhibiting the movement of calcium ions across the cardiac muscle cell membrane.
decreasing sodium and potassium conduction.
weakening diastolic depolarization and the action potential duration.
Question 13
Mrs. Houston is a 78-year-old woman who resides in an assisted living facility. Her doctor prescribed digoxin at her last visit to the clinic and she has approached the nurse who makes regular visits to the assisted-living facility about this new drug. What teaching point should the nurse emphasize to Mrs. Houston?
Answers:
The importance of having required laboratory work performed on time
The need to take the medication at the same time each day regardless of her heart rate
The technique for using a home blood pressure cuff
Timing household activities to coincide with the administration times of her digoxin
Question 14
The Nurse Practitioner is treating a patient that takes frequent doses of antacids for his heartburn and is also taking an enteric coded aspirin. What instructions should be provided to the patient?
Answers:
The aspirin is less effective when taken with an antacid so you need to increase the dose.
There is no effect of the antacid on the aspirin so they can be taken when it is convenient for you
The antacid destroys the aspirin so you should stop taking any antacids
The medications should be taken at least 2 hours apart.
Question 15
A patient has recently been prescribed a drug that treats his hypertension by blocking the sympathetic receptors in his sympathetic nervous system. This action is characteristic of
Answers:
an adrenergic antagonist.
an adrenergic agonist.
acardiotonic.
a neurotransmitter.
Question 16
In light of her recent high blood pressure readings, a patient has been started on a thiazide diuretic and metoprolol (Lopressor), which is a beta-adrenergic blocker. What is the most likely rationale for using two medications to address the patient's hypertension?
Answers:
The adverse effects of each drug may cancel each other out.
Using two drugs for a health problem tends to increase patient compliance with the drug regimen.
Using lower doses of two separate drugs may lessen the risk of adverse reactions.
Using the two drugs to treat a health problem may create a synergistic effect.
Question 17
An elderly postsurgical patient has developed postoperative pneumonia in the days following abdominal surgery and is being treated with a number of medications. Which of the following medications that the nurse will administer has the slowest absorption?
Answers:
A sublingual benzodiazepine that has been prescribed to help the patient sleep
An intravenous (IV) antibiotic that is being administered by IV piggyback at 150 mL/hour
An oral antidepressant that the patient has been taking daily for several years
An intramuscular (IM) injection of an opioid analgesic
Question 18
A 79-year-old patient in a long-term care facility is to receive an intravenous fat emulsion. Which of the following lab values would be a priority for the nurse to assess before administration?
Answers:
Blood glucose levels
Serum potassium levels
Serum sodium levels
Triglyceride levels
Question 19
A woman has a long history of seasonal allergies that are typically accompanied by rhinorrhea, red eyes, and frequent sneezing. Sneezes are a result of
Answers:
a CNS reflex that is initiated by receptors in the nasal cavities.
a reflex that is caused when irritants come into contact with cilia.
elevated CO2 levels that are detected by chemoreceptors in the large vessels.
stimulation of goblet cells and mast cells by the presence of microorganisms.
Question 20
A Nurse Practitioner is providing discharge planning for a 45-year-old woman who has a prescription for oral albuterol. The Nurse Practitioner will question the patient about her intake of which of the following?
Alcohol
Answers:
Coffee
Alcohol
Salt
Vitamin C
NURS6521 Advanced Pharmacology
Week 11 Exam
Question 1
A male patient has been brought to the emergency department during an episode of status epilepticus. Diazepam is to be administered intravenously. The APRN will be sure to
Question 2
Which of the following would the nurse include in a teaching plan about the signs and symptoms of thrombophlebitis and thromboembolism that should be reported by a patient taking estrogen?
Question 3
A patient is being seen in the emergency department for a sprained ankle and is given a drug to relieve pain. When a second dose of the pain medication is given, the patient develops redness of the skin, itching, and swelling at the site of injection of the drug. The most likely cause of this response is
Question 4
A 7-year-old child has tonsillitis and is prescribed penicillin V, which is to be administered at home. The nurse will instruct the parents to administer the drug
Question 5
A 66-year-old woman has experienced a significant decline in her quality of life as a result of worsening rheumatoid arthritis. Her physician has prescribed etanercept and the APRN is responsible for facilitating this new aspect of the patient's drug regimen. This will involve the administration of
Question 6
A postmenopausal patient is prescribed bisphosphonates to treat osteoporosis. The nurse will instruct the patient to take the drug
Question 7
When planning care for a patient who is receiving filgrastim (Neupogen) for a nonmyeloid malignancy, the nurse should formulate which of the following patient outcomes? (Select all that apply.)
Question 8
A 15-year-old boy who has been taking dextroamphetamine for the treatment of ADHD has been experiencing a depressed mood and a sense of hopelessness. He confides in the school nurse that he has begun taking his stepfather's antidepressant to improve his mood. After immediately phoning the boy's stepfather, the nurse learns that the drug in question is phenelzine (Nardil), a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). The nurse should recognize that this combination of drugs creates a serious risk of what health problem?
Question 9
An elderly woman is slated for a hemiarthroplasty (hip replacement surgery) after falling and breaking her hip on the stairs outside her home. The woman's pain in the time since her injury has been severe, and her care team has been treating it with morphine. Which of the following administration schedules is most likely to control the patient's pain?
Question 10
A patient is taking flavoxate hydrochloride (Urispas) to help control an overactive bladder. On a follow-up visit to the clinic, the nurse will question the patient about which of the following?
Question 11
Alendronate (Fosamax) is prescribed for a 67-year-old postmenopausal woman. In order to help prevent gastrointestinal distress, the nurse will advise the patient to
Question 12
A Nurse Practitioner is caring for a 10-year-old boy who complains of chronic headaches. His mother reports that she gives him Tylenol at least three times a day. Which of the following will the nurse work with the physician to evaluate?
Question 13
A 45-year-old woman with acute leukemia is going to begin chemotherapy with vincristine. The nurse is aware that vincristine must always be administered
Question 14
A 68-year-old man is being treated for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and began treatment with finasteride (Proscar) 3 months ago. When planning the care of this patient, what desired outcome should the nurse prioritize?
Question 15
A 45-year-old female patient is prescribed ciprofloxacin to treat a bronchial infection. A nursing assessment revealed that she started taking daily vitamin supplements about 2 years ago. To maximize the therapeutic effects of the ciprofloxacin therapy, the nurse should advise the patient to
Question 16
A Nurse Practitioner is obtaining baseline physical data from a 7-year-old patient who is to be started on dextroamphetamine for ADHD. After obtaining vital signs, height, and weight, the nurse will prepare the patient for an
Question 17
The nurse recognizes that the potential for teratogenic drug effects is not static throughout the prenatal and postnatal periods. The potential for teratogenic effects is highest during
Question 18
A patient has been admitted to the critical care unit of the hospital with bacterial septicemia that has failed to respond to initial antibiotic treatment. The patient's most recent blood cultures reveal the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the patient's blood. The nurse will anticipate that this patient will likely require intravenous administration of what antibiotic?
Question 19
A nurse practitioner has administered filgrastim to a diverse group of patients in recent months. Which of the following patients should the nurse observe for extremely elevated white blood cell counts following administration of the drug?
Question 20
A patient is taking etoposide for a testicular tumor refractory to treatment. The nursing assessment reveals that he is also taking warfarin. The nurse must carefully monitor for which of the following?
