What is an important nursing consideration for patients taking a nonbenzodiazepine such as zolpidem?

Choice A reason: Transference occurs when a patient unconsciously projects feelings or attitudes from past relationships onto the nurse, a common phenomenon in psychotherapy. This influences the therapeutic relationship, requiring careful management, aligning with psychoanalytic principles, making this the correct choice.

Choice B reason: The nurse projecting feelings onto the patient describes countertransference, not transference. This involves the nurse’s unconscious biases, which can hinder therapy if not addressed, but it is distinct from the patient-driven process of transference, making this choice incorrect.

Choice C reason: A patient refusing to engage reflects resistance, not transference. Resistance involves avoiding therapeutic work, often due to anxiety, but it lacks the projective quality of transference, which involves redirecting past emotions, making this choice incorrect.

Choice D reason: Establishing boundaries is a therapeutic technique, not transference. Boundaries ensure professional interactions but do not involve the unconscious projection of feelings from past relationships, which defines transference, making this choice incorrect for the described phenomenon.

Choice A reason: Autonomy involves respecting a patient’s right to make decisions. While relevant in mental health, the scenario focuses on differing treatments for similar conditions, not patient choice, making autonomy less directly applicable than the principle of fair treatment across patients.

Choice B reason: Beneficence emphasizes promoting patient well-being. Both restraints and supervision aim to prevent harm, fulfilling beneficence, but the concern is about unequal treatment, not the intent to benefit, making this principle less relevant than justice.

Choice C reason: Justice involves fair and equitable treatment for all patients. Using restraints for one self-mutilating patient and supervision for another raises concerns about consistency and fairness in care, directly aligning with the ethical principle of justice, making this the correct choice.

Choice D reason: Nonmaleficence focuses on avoiding harm. Both interventions aim to prevent self-mutilation, fulfilling this principle, but the ethical issue is about equitable application, not harm avoidance, making justice the more relevant principle in this scenario.