A patient with bipolar disorder reveals to the clinic nurse that ...

[ARLKQ]

A patient with bipolar disorder reveals to the clinic nurse that she may be 4 weeks' preg-nant. Which action will the nurse take?
 
  a. Confer with the physician about ordering a pregnancy test and discontinuing lith-ium.
  b. Educate the patient to the risk to the fetus as a result of exposure to the lithium in her blood.
  c. Suggest to the physician that the lithium dose should be increased for better symptom control.
  d. Remind the patient that barrier birth control methods should be used to prevent pregnancy during lithium therapy.

Question 2

Care planned for a patient with adjustment disorder will be most effective if the nurse knows adjustment disorders are a group of disorders that:
 
  a. Involve psychotic thinking in adolescents
  b. Address issues of anxiety and depression
  c. Include behaviors that are seen primarily in the child and adolescent population
  d. Manifest as transient episodes of dysfunction in response to specific stressors

[bigsis44]

Answer to Question 1

ANS: A
The first need is to learn whether the patient is pregnant. Lithium ingestion by the mother can cause fetal damage. Lithium should be discontinued, not increased, if pregnancy is con-firmed. It is premature to discuss fetal malformations before the pregnancy is confirmed. Op-tions b and c are inappropriate and harmful. Birth control information has no value unless the pregnancy test is negative.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: D
Adjustment disorders are short-term disturbances in mood or behavior resulting from identi-fiable stressors. Psychotic features are not present. Adjustment disorders can occur in any age group. Anxiety and depression may be present, but emphasis is on identifying and resolving the specific issue.

[ARLKQ]

Thanks for the timely response, appreciate it

[steff9894]

Excellent