The nurse is providing meperidine (Demerol) to a patient who reports postsurgical pain 8/10. The order is for 50 mg to be orally administered to the patient in tablet form every 4 hours, but each tablet contains 100 mg. The best action by the nurse is to

1. Call the doctor to request that the order be changed to 100 mg every 8 hours.
2. Administer half of the tablet to the patient and then discard the other half by flushing it down the toilet.
3. Administer half the tablet to the patient and dispose of the other half in a chemical waste container with another licensed nurse as a witness, recording the narcotic drug wastage on the narcotic record and having the witness cosign.
4. Administer half the tablet to the patient and save the other half for the next dose.


ANS: 3

Nursing

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