A patient received a drug that caused an unpredictable and unusual effect. Which term does the nurse use to describe this effect?

Question

a. Toxic
b. Allergic
c. Therapeutic
d. Idiosyncratic

Answer 1

D
An unpredictable overreaction or underreaction to a medication is an idosyncratic reaction. Toxic medication effects occur with prolonged therapy, excessive dosing, or impaired metabol-ism or systemic accumulation in the patient. They are adverse effects with the potential to cause patient injury and death. Allergic reactions are unpredictable, unless the patient has a history of a medication allergy, and result from an immunological patient response to the medication involv-ing antibody formation. A therapeutic response is a desirable or intended patient response.