Author Question: A postoperative patient who is worried about pain control will be discharged several days after ... (Read 81 times)

newyorker26 · **on:** Jul 23, 2018

A postoperative patient who is worried about pain control will be discharged several days after surgery.

The nurse providing discharge teaching tells the patient that the prescribed Lortab is not as strong as the morphine the patient was given in the immediate postoperative period. Which response is the patient likely to experience?
a. A decreased likelihood of filling the prescription for the drug
b. A negative placebo effect when taking the medication
c. An increased compliance with the drug regimen
d. Optimistic, realistic expectations about the drug

Question 2

Which actions occur in 90 of fatal medication errors? (Select all that apply.)

a. Confusing drugs with similar packaging
b. Giving a drug intravenously instead of intramuscularly
c. Giving Nasarel instead of Nizoral
d. Using an infusion device that malfunctions
e. Writing a prescription illegibly

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

Answer to Question 1

ANS: B
The full extent of placebo effects, if they truly occur, is not well documented or understood, although a decrease in pain as a placebo effect has been demonstrated to some extent. To foster a beneficial placebo effect, it is important for all members of the healthcare team to present an optimistic and realistic assessment of the effects of the drug the patient is taking. If the nurse tells an anxious patient that the medication being given is not as strong as what has been given, the patient is likely to have lowered expectations of the effectiveness of the drug, causing a negative placebo effect. Lowered expectations do not mean that the patient will give up on the drug entirely; in fact, the patient may actually fill the prescription and then take more drug than what is prescribed in order to get a better effect.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: B, C, E
Ninety percent of fatal medication errors fall into three categories: human factors, communication mistakes, and name confusion. Giving a drug IV (intravenously) instead of IM (intramuscularly) is an example of a human factor; writing a prescription so that it is illegible is an example of a communication mistake; and giving a drug with a name that sounds like the name of another drug is an example of name confusion. Confusion of drugs with similar packaging and using a faulty device also can cause fatal drug errors, but these factors do not fall into the categories that account for 90 of fatal errors.