The patient tells the nurse about a new drug being tested to ...

[lracut11]

The patient tells the nurse about a new drug being tested to treat the disease she was diagnosed with and asks the nurse whether the doctor can prescribe a medication still in the preclinical phase of testing. What is the nurse's best response?
 
  A) The doctor would have to complete a great deal of paperwork to get approval to prescribe that drug.
  B) Sometimes pharmaceutical companies are looking for volunteers to test a new drug and the doctor could give them your name.
  C) Drugs in the preclinical phase of testing are only tested on animals and so would not be available to you.
  D) Drugs in the preclinical phase of testing are given only to healthy young men and so would not be available to you.

Question 2

A 12-year-old patient is hospitalized with severe depression. The patient has been taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). What is the priority nursing action for the patient?
 
  A) Monitor food intake for levels of tyramine.
  B) Assess for weight loss and difficulty sleeping.
  C) Monitor the patient for severe headaches.
  D) Implement suicide precautions.

[Galvarado142]

Answer to Question 1

C
Feedback:
During the preclinical phase of testing drugs are tested on animals and are not available to patients. In phase I, the drug is tested on volunteers who are usually healthy young men. It is only in phase III studies that the drug is made available to prescribers who agree to closely monitor patients getting the medication.

Answer to Question 2

D
Feedback:
Recent studies have linked the incidence of suicide attempts to the use of SSRIs in pediatric patients (see box 21.3 Focus on the Evidence). The priority concern for the nurse would be safety for the patient. Severe headache and reactions to tyramine-containing foods are associated with monoamine oxidase therapy. Weight loss and difficulty sleeping are of a lower priority concern than the patient's safety.

[lracut11]

TYSM

[bigcheese9]

Excellent