In instructing a patient about corticosteroid therapy, the patient asks if he can just stop this medication before returning to the physician's office. Which would be the nurse's best response?
a. "Take this medication until you've completed it."
b. "The medication must be slowly reduced."
c. "Go ahead; there is no real precaution with this drug therapy."
d. "The amount you're taking is small, so stopping is all right at any time."
ANS: B
Corticosteroids cannot be stopped without tapering, or slowly reducing, the dose over time. Stopping the drug suddenly leads to steroid withdrawal syndrome.
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A client has preeclampsia. She is 36 weeks' pregnant, and comes to the high-risk screening center for a contraction stress test. The nurse should explain to the client that the contraction stress test is being done to determine:
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A woman is in active labor. Her cervical dilation is 6 cm. The nurse notes that the fetal heart rate (FHR) slows from its baseline of 144 beats per minute (bpm) to 126 bpm with the acme of the contraction
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A nurse is providing care to a client just recently diagnosed with schizophrenia during an inpatient hospital stay
Throughout the day, the nurse observes the client drinking from the water fountain quite frequently as well as carrying cans of soda and bottles of water with him wherever he goes. Upon entering the client's room, the nurse sees numerous empty cups that had been filled with fluids on his table and in the trash can. The room has an odor of urine. The nurse suspects which of the following? A) Diabetes mellitus B) Disordered water balance C) Tardive dyskinesia D) Orthostatic hypotension