A 67-year-old woman presents at the emergency department with symptoms that suggest possible abuse of a narcotic analgesic. To best assure the patient's safe care, the nurse asks
a. "When did you first start using the anal-gesic?"
b. "Have you experienced withdrawal symptoms before?"
c. "Why did you initially need an analgesic?"
d. "What prescribed drugs are you currently taking?"
D
First, if prescription drug abuse is suspected, the nurse should ask the patient or a family member to identify all medications that the patient is currently using. The nurse and physician can then plan for safe detoxification. In addition, the physician can try to prevent any untoward drug inte-ractions resulting from prescribing a new medication that is contraindicated because of an exist-ing prescription.
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