A female patient who has been prescribed diazepam (Valium) for ...

[Bernana]

A female patient who has been prescribed diazepam (Valium) for anxiety tells the nurse that she and her husband are planning to have a child. What is the nurse's best response?
 
  a. Before becoming pregnant your dosage of diazepam will need to be decreased.
  b. You should always discuss any changes in your medications and lifestyle with your prescriber.
  c. Consult with your prescriber because taking diazepam while pregnant has been associated with birth defects.
  d. Diazepam may cause withdrawal effects when taken during pregnancy.

Question 2

A patient who has been prescribed diazepam (Valium) reports taking the as-needed (PRN) drug more often to keep anxiety symptoms under control and does not want the prescriber to stop prescribing it.
 
  What is the nurse's best interpretation of this information? a. The patient may be developing signs of drug dependence.
  b. The patient may be developing signs of drug tolerance.
  c. The patient's anxiety is becoming more severe.
  d. The patient should stop taking the drug immediately.

[Danny Ewald]

Answer to Question 1

C
Benzodiazepines such as chlordiazepoxide (Librium) and diazepam have caused birth defects when used during the first trimester of pregnancy. Use of these drugs during pregnancy can also cause the fetus to become dependent and experience withdrawal symptoms after birth.

Answer to Question 2

A
The signs of developing dependence on benzodiazepines include a strong desire or need to con-tinue taking the drug, a need to increase the dose to feel the effects of the drug, and withdrawal effects after the drug is stopped such as irritability, nervousness, and trouble sleeping. Drug to-lerance is a condition that occurs when the body gets used to a medicine so that either more medicine is needed or a different medicine is needed.