A patient with Parkinson's disease who has been responding well to drug treatment suddenly develops a relapse of symptoms. Which explanation by the nurse is most appropriate?
a. "You have apparently developed resistance to your current medication and will have to change to another drug."
b. "This is an atypical response. Unfortunately, there are no other options for drug therapy to treat your disease."
c. "This is called the ‘on-off' phenomenon. Avoiding high-protein meals may help."
d. "You should keep taking your medication at the current dose. These effects will go away with time."
C
Abrupt loss of medication effect often is referred to as the "on-off" phenomenon and can occur at any time during the dosing interval, even while drug levels are high. The "on-off" phenomenon is difficult to correct, but avoiding high-protein meals may help.
The patient has not developed resistance to the medication.
Regardless of the response, telling a patient that no other drug options are available is outside the nurse's scope of practice.
The effects do not always go away with time, therefore they must be monitored and managed.
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