A patient taking warfarin (Coumadin) has just begun chemotherapy. The patient comes to the clinic for a follow-up appointment and complains of blood in her urine. The nurse's most imme-diate action should be to
a. advise the patient that this is normal with this type of drugs.
b. check the platelet count for thrombocytopenia.
c. advise the patient that she will need to skip the next round of chemotherapy.
d. administer epoetin (Epogen) subcutaneously.
B
The nurse's immediate action should be to monitor the patient for thrombocytopenia by checking a platelet count.
Advising the patient that this is a normal response does not address the patient's concerns and the nurse should monitor a platelet count.
The patient may need to reduce warfarin dosages rather than skip the next round of chemothera-py.
Administration of Epogen is indicated for anemia.
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