A patient at a community health center has been prescribed oral medications and tells the nurse that medications were administered intravenously when the patient was in the hospital. The nurse discusses the benefits and disadvantages of oral medications, including which facts? Note: Credit will be given only if all correct choices and no incorrect choices are selected. Standard Text: Select all

Question

that apply.

1. The oral route is considered the second safest route, after the intradermal route.
2. Tablets that are scored may be crushed for easier swallowing.
3. Enteric-coated drugs are designed to dissolve in the stomach, not the small intestine.
4. A major disadvantage of oral medications is that the patient must be conscious and able to swallow.
5. Enteric-coated drugs should be crushed to help facilitate dissolving by the stomach acid.

Answer 1

2,4
Rationale 1: The oral route is considered the safest because the skin barrier is not compromised; if an overdose occurs, drugs remaining in the stomach can be evacuated with stomach contents.
Rationale 2: The purpose of scoring a tablet is the greater ease of cutting the tablet in half or quarters. These same tablets may be crushed, if needed.
Rationale 3: Some drugs irritate the stomach lining and are coated to prevent being dissolved in the stomach. These drugs go on to the small intestine and are dissolved in the alkaline environment.
Rationale 4: The fact that the patient must be conscious and able to swallow is a major disadvantage of oral medications.
Rationale 5: Enteric-coated drugs are designed specifically to bypass the stomach's acidic environment and continue to the alkaline environment of the small intestine.
Global Rationale: The purpose of scoring a tablet is the greater ease of cutting the tablet in half or quarters. These same tablets may be crushed, if needed. The fact that the patient must be conscious and able to swallow is a major disadvantage of oral medications. The oral route is considered the safest because the skin barrier is not compromised; if an overdose occurs, drugs remaining in the stomach can be evacuated with stomach contents. Enteric-coated drugs are designed specifically to bypass the stomach's acidic environment and continue to the alkaline environment of the small intestine.