The nurse is caring for a patient with metastatic bone cancer. The patient asks the nurse why he has had to keep getting larger doses of his pain medication although it doesn't seem to affect him. What is the nurse's best response?
A) "Over time you become more tolerant of the drug."
B) "You are immune to the effects of the drug."
C) "You may have formed an addiction to the drug."
D) "Your body absorbs less of the drug due to the cancer."
Ans: A
Feedback: Over time, the patient is likely to become more tolerant of the dosage. There is little evidence that patients with cancer become addicted to the opioid medications. Patients do not become immune to the effects of the drug, and the body does not absorb less of the drug because of the cancer. Therefore, options B, C, and D are incorrect.
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