A patient is brought into the emergency department in status epilepticus. The nurse administers phenobarbital 320 mg IV according to protocol. Family members ask the nurse how long it will take to stop the seizures

Question

What is the nurse's best response? A) "The onset of action for the medication is 5 minutes."
B) "We should see results in about 10 minutes."
C) "It will probably take about 30 minutes before the seizures begin to subside."
D) "It may be an hour before the seizures stop."

Answer 1

A
Feedback:
The onset of IV phenobarbital is 5 minutes; however, it is important not to confuse when the onset of action will occur and when the seizures will stop because additional interventions may be needed to stop the seizure activity in some cases. For intramuscular and subcutaneous administration, the onset should be between 10 and 30 minutes. Onset for an oral dose is between 30 and 60 minutes.