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.
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Related Questions
Correct Answer is C
Explanation
To find the hours to finish the infusion, you need to calculate the following:
- The volume of saline solution in milliliters
- The time in hours using the formula: Time (h) = Total volume (mL) / Infusion rate (mL/h)
First, convert the volume of saline solution from liters to milliliters by multiplying by 1000:
1.5 L x 1000 = 1500 mL
Next, use the formula for time to find how many hours it will take to infuse the saline solution at the current rate:
Time (h) = Total volume (mL) / Infusion rate (mL/h)
Since the total volume is 1500 mL and the infusion rate is 75 mL/h, plug in these values into the formula:
Time (h) = 1500 mL / 75 mL/h
Simplify and solve for the time:
Time (h) = 20 h
Therefore, it will take **20 hours** to finish the infusion at the current rate.
Correct Answer is D
Explanation
This is a dosage calculation problem. To solve it, we need to use the formula:A
Desired dose ÷ Available dose × Available quantity = Quantity to give
In this case, the desired dose is 30 mg, the available dose is 20 mg/mL, and the available quantity is 1 mL. Plugging these values into the formula, we get:
30 ÷ 20 × 1 = 1.5
Therefore, the nurse should administer **1.5 mL** of liquid oxycodone hydrochloride to the patient.
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