A nurse assesses a newly hospitalized patient with a long history of serious and persistent mental illness. The priority assessment information to obtain regarding medication safety is

a. adverse reactions to drugs taken previously.
b. history of drug compliance and noncompliance.
c. level of support available from significant others.
d. length of time on various psychotropic medications.


A
Information related to safety is the nurse's priority. Adverse reactions to psychotropic medications can be dangerous, even life-threatening. If a patient has had an adverse reaction to a particular drug, it would be unwise to administer it again. The other options do not address a safety issue.

Nursing

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Nursing