Haldol (haloperidol) 5.0 mg PO tid was ordered for a patient who is agitated.
Which action should a nurse take before administering the medication?
Discuss the use of PO with the healthcare provider.
Discuss the use of tid with the healthcare provider.
Discuss the use of Haldol with the healthcare provider.
Discuss the use of the trailing zero with the healthcare provider.
The Correct Answer is D
This action should be taken by the nurse before administering the medication because the use of a trailing zero after a decimal point (5.0 mg) is a common cause of medication errors and should be avoided. A trailing zero may be misread or misinterpreted as a larger dose (50 mg) or omited altogether, resulting in a 10-fold overdose or underdose, respectively. For example, when prescriptions have been writen for "Coumadin 1.0 mg," patients have received 10 mg in error. Therefore, the nurse should clarify the intended dose with the healthcare provider and use the correct notation (5 mg) without a trailing zero.
The other options are not appropriate actions because:
a) Discussing the use of PO (by mouth) with the healthcare provider is not necessary, as PO is a standard route of administration for Haldol (haloperidol) and does not pose a risk of confusion or error.
b) Discussing the use of tid (three times a day) with the healthcare provider is not necessary, as tid is a standard frequency of administration for Haldol and does not pose a risk of confusion or error.
c) Discussing the use of Haldol with the healthcare provider is not relevant to the question, as Haldol is the prescribed medication for the patient who is agitated and does not need to be changed or questioned by the nurse.
Nursing Test Bank
Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams
Related Questions
Correct Answer is C
Explanation
The instruction that should be given to this client for the effective management of hypertension is to take
**five tablets** of bisoprolol per day, each containing 100 mg.
This is because the new order of 500 mg of bisoprolol per day is twice as much as the current dose of 250 mg of bisoprolol per day (two and a half tablets of 100 mg each). Therefore, the client needs to double the number of tablets they take per day from two and a half to five.
Correct Answer is B
Explanation
This number should be multiplied by inches in order to convert a patient's height measurement from inches to centimeters, because one inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters. To convert inches to centimeters, the formula is:
centimeters = inches × 2.54
For example, if a patient's height is 60 inches, then the height in centimeters is:
centimeters = 60 × 2.54
centimeters = 152.4
Therefore, the patient's height is 152.4 centimeters.
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