The home care nurse is seeing an elderly client whose blood pressure is 150/100 mmHg. When reviewing medications, the client reports taking the blood pressure medication only when feeling tense. The nurse should instruct the patient to:
1. Continue to take medication when feeling tense.
2. Contact the physician for an increase in blood pressure medication.
3. Take the blood pressure medication twice the prescribed dosage for 1 day then resume the daily schedule.
4. Take the blood pressure medication as prescribed regardless of feeling tense.
4. Take the blood pressure medication as prescribed regardless of feeling tense.
Rationale:
Clients sometimes mistakenly take blood pressure medication only on an as-needed basis. This is incorrect; the client should take the medication as prescribed on a daily basis. The dosage prescribed may be appropriate if taken daily; therefore, it would not need to be increased. To advise the patient to increase the medication without a physician consultation would be out of the scope of nursing practice.
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