Author Question: On admission to the acute care unit a patient tells the nurse that she stopped taking her prescribed ... (Read 73 times)

jayhills49 · **on:** Jul 23, 2018

On admission to the acute care unit a patient tells the nurse that she stopped taking her prescribed clonazepam (Klonopin) 2 days ago. What is the nurse's best first action?

a. Ask the patient why she stopped taking the clonazepam.
b. Administer a dose of clonazepam immediately.
c. Document this information as the only action.
d. Notify the prescriber and watch for seizures.

Question 2

A patient asks the nurse why the prescriber is changing his anxiety medication from lorazepam (Ativan) to sertaline (Zoloft). What is the nurse's best response?

a. Sertraline is a stronger drug and will do a better job of controlling your anxiety.
b. Sertraline has milder side effects and a decreased risk for drug dependence.
c. Sertraline acts much faster to get the symptoms of your anxiety under control.
d. Sertraline can be taken only when needed to control symptoms of anxiety.

mcomstock09 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 23, 2018

Answer to Question 1

D
Clonazepam is a benzodiazepine drug. Suddenly stopping a drug from this class can cause poten-tially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms including nervousness, restlessness, tremulousness, weakness, and seizures.

Answer to Question 2

B
Sertraline is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. This class of drugs has milder side effects and a much lower likelihood of developing drug dependence than benzodiazepines such as lora-zepam. However, it takes 3 to 5 weeks for symptoms of anxiety to improve and must be taken on a daily basis.