Author Question: What should the nurse do to assist a patient who is having difficulty swallowing tablets? a. ... (Read 198 times)

itsmyluck · **on:** Jun 25, 2018

What should the nurse do to assist a patient who is having difficulty swallowing tablets?

a. Administer the medication with less fluid.
b. Insert a nasogastric tube and instill the medication.
c. Crush the medications and administer with a small amount of food.
d. Administer the tablets one at a time with plenty of water.

Question 2

The nurse is calculating a medication dosage using the metric system. A vial contains 1 mL of fluid, and the nurse calculates the correct dosage to be half of the medication in the vial. How should the nurse document the correct dosage?

a. mL
b. .5 mL
c. 0.5 mL
d. 0.50 mL

mceravolo · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 25, 2018

Answer to Question 1

C
If the patient has difficulty swallowing, use a pill-crushing device to crush the tablets. Mix the ground tablet in a small amount of soft food (custard or applesauce). Large tablets are often difficult to swallow. A ground tablet mixed with palatable soft food is usually easier to swallow. Not all drugs can be crushed (e.g., capsules, enteric-coated, long-acting/slow-release drugs). The coating of these drugs protects the stomach from irritation or protects the drug from destruction by stomach acids. Administration of medication with less fluid could make it more difficult for the patient to swallow. Insertion of a nasogastric tube requires an order from the health care provider. A patient who is having difficulty swallowing may not be safe when swallowing large capsules or tablets even one at a time. Thin liquids such as water are more readily aspirated than thickened liquids.

Answer to Question 2

C
When writing medication dosages in metric units, convert fractions to decimals. Always include a zero before a decimal point (e.g., 0.1 mL is correct). Never use a trailing zero (e.g., 1.0 mL is incorrect).