Pharmacology for Nursing Care, 11th Edition
Covering Chapters 1-112|Questions and
Answers | Includes Rationales| 2025/2026
____________________________________________________________________________________
A
A patient tells a nurse that a medication prescribed for recurrent migraine headaches is not working.
What will the nurse do?
a.
Ask the patient about the number and frequency of tablets taken.
b.
Assess the patient's headache pain on a scale from 1 to 10.
c.
Report the patient's complaint to the prescriber.
d.
Suggest biofeedback as an adjunct to drug therapy.
A
A nurse is preparing to administer medications. Which patient would the nurse consider to have the
greatest predisposition to an adverse reaction?
a.
A 30-year-old man with kidney disease
b.
A 75-year-old woman with cystitis
c.
A 50-year-old man with an upper respiratory tract infection
d.
A 9-year-old boy with an ear infection
A
A nurse consults a drug manual before giving a medication to an 80-year-old patient. The manual states
that older adult patients are at increased risk for hepatic side effects. Which action by the nurse is
correct?
a.
Contact the provider to discuss an order for pretreatment laboratory work.
b.
Ensure that the drug is given in the correct dose at the correct time to minimize the risk of adverse
effects.
c.
,Notify the provider that this drug is contraindicated for this patient.
d.
Request an order to give the medication intravenously so that the drug does not pass through the liver.
D
A postoperative patient has orders for morphine sulfate 1 to 2 mg IV every 1 hour PRN for severe pain
and acetaminophen-hydrocodone [Lortab] 7.5 mg PO every 4 to 6 hours PRN for moderate pain. The
patient reports pain at a level of 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst pain. Which action by
the nurse is appropriate?
a.
Administer acetaminophen-hydrocodone 7.5 mg PO every 4 hours.
b.
Administer acetaminophen-hydrocodone 7.5 mg PO every 6 hours and change to every 4 hours if not
effective.
c.
Administer morphine sulfate 1 mg IV every 1 hour until pain subsides.
d.
Administer morphine sulfate 2 mg IV and evaluate the patient's pain in 15 to 30 minutes.
A
A nursing student asks a nurse about pharmaceutical research and wants to know the purpose of
randomization in drug trials. The nurse explains that randomization is used to do what?
a.
To ensure that differences in outcomes are the result of treatment and not differences in subjects
b.
To compare the outcome caused by the treatment to the outcome caused by no treatment
c.
To make sure that researchers are unaware of which subjects are in which group
d.
To prevent subjects from knowing which group they are in and prevent preconception bias
D
A patient asks a nurse why approved drugs still have unknown side effects. What will the nurse tell the
patient?
a.
Testing for all side effects of a medication would be prohibitively expensive.
b.
Patients in drug trials often are biased by their preconceptions of a drug's benefits.
c.
Researchers tend to conduct studies that will prove the benefits of their new drugs.
d.
Subjects in drug trials do not always represent the full spectrum of possible patients.
C
,A patient tells the nurse that the oral drug that has been prescribed has caused a lot of stomach
discomfort in the past. What will the nurse ask the prescriber?
a.
Whether a sublingual form of the medication can be given
b.
Whether the medication can be given by a parenteral route instead
c.
Whether an enteric-coated form of the drug is available
d.
Whether the patient can receive a sustained-release preparation of the drug
C
A patient receives a drug that has a narrow therapeutic range. The nurse administering this medication
will expect to do what?
a.
Administer the drug at intervals longer than the drug half-life.
b.
Administer this medication intravenously.
c.
Monitor plasma drug levels.
d.
Teach the patient that maximum drug effects will occur within a short period.
B
A provider has written an order for a medication: drug × 100 mg PO every 6 hours. The half-life for the
drug is approximately 6 hours. The nurse is preparing to administer the first dose at 8:00 AM on
Tuesday. On Wednesday, when will the serum drug level reach plateau?
6 times 4= 24 hours to leave the body
a.
2:00 AM
b.
8:00 AM
c.
2:00 PM
d.
8:00 PM
C
A patient is receiving intravenous gentamicin. A serum drug test reveals toxic levels. The dosing is
correct, and this medication has been tolerated by this patient in the past. Which could be a probable
cause of the test result? Aminoglycocide
a.
A loading dose was not given.
b.
, The drug was not completely dissolved in the IV solution.
c.
The patient is taking another medication that binds to serum albumin.
d.
The medication is being given at a frequency that is longer than its half-life.
B
A patient is taking a drug that does not bind to albumin. Which aspect of renal drug excretion is affected
by this characteristic?
a.
Active tubular secretion
b.
Glomerular filtration
c.
Passive tubular reabsorption
d.
pH-dependent ionization
C
A patient reports becoming immune to a medication because it no longer works to alleviate symptoms.
The nurse recognizes that this decreased effectiveness is likely caused by:
a.
antagonists produced by the body that compete with the drug for receptor sites.
b.
decreased selectivity of receptor sites, resulting in a variety of effects.
c.
desensitization of receptor sites by continual exposure to the drug.
d.
synthesis of more receptor sites in response to the medication.
D
A patient who is taking morphine for pain asks the nurse how a pain medication can also cause
constipation. What does the nurse know about morphine?
a.
It binds to different types of receptors in the body.
b.
It can cause constipation in toxic doses.
c.
It causes only one type of response, and the constipation is coincidental.
d.
It is selective to receptors that regulate more than one body process.
B
Covering Chapters 1-112|Questions and
Answers | Includes Rationales| 2025/2026
____________________________________________________________________________________
A
A patient tells a nurse that a medication prescribed for recurrent migraine headaches is not working.
What will the nurse do?
a.
Ask the patient about the number and frequency of tablets taken.
b.
Assess the patient's headache pain on a scale from 1 to 10.
c.
Report the patient's complaint to the prescriber.
d.
Suggest biofeedback as an adjunct to drug therapy.
A
A nurse is preparing to administer medications. Which patient would the nurse consider to have the
greatest predisposition to an adverse reaction?
a.
A 30-year-old man with kidney disease
b.
A 75-year-old woman with cystitis
c.
A 50-year-old man with an upper respiratory tract infection
d.
A 9-year-old boy with an ear infection
A
A nurse consults a drug manual before giving a medication to an 80-year-old patient. The manual states
that older adult patients are at increased risk for hepatic side effects. Which action by the nurse is
correct?
a.
Contact the provider to discuss an order for pretreatment laboratory work.
b.
Ensure that the drug is given in the correct dose at the correct time to minimize the risk of adverse
effects.
c.
,Notify the provider that this drug is contraindicated for this patient.
d.
Request an order to give the medication intravenously so that the drug does not pass through the liver.
D
A postoperative patient has orders for morphine sulfate 1 to 2 mg IV every 1 hour PRN for severe pain
and acetaminophen-hydrocodone [Lortab] 7.5 mg PO every 4 to 6 hours PRN for moderate pain. The
patient reports pain at a level of 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst pain. Which action by
the nurse is appropriate?
a.
Administer acetaminophen-hydrocodone 7.5 mg PO every 4 hours.
b.
Administer acetaminophen-hydrocodone 7.5 mg PO every 6 hours and change to every 4 hours if not
effective.
c.
Administer morphine sulfate 1 mg IV every 1 hour until pain subsides.
d.
Administer morphine sulfate 2 mg IV and evaluate the patient's pain in 15 to 30 minutes.
A
A nursing student asks a nurse about pharmaceutical research and wants to know the purpose of
randomization in drug trials. The nurse explains that randomization is used to do what?
a.
To ensure that differences in outcomes are the result of treatment and not differences in subjects
b.
To compare the outcome caused by the treatment to the outcome caused by no treatment
c.
To make sure that researchers are unaware of which subjects are in which group
d.
To prevent subjects from knowing which group they are in and prevent preconception bias
D
A patient asks a nurse why approved drugs still have unknown side effects. What will the nurse tell the
patient?
a.
Testing for all side effects of a medication would be prohibitively expensive.
b.
Patients in drug trials often are biased by their preconceptions of a drug's benefits.
c.
Researchers tend to conduct studies that will prove the benefits of their new drugs.
d.
Subjects in drug trials do not always represent the full spectrum of possible patients.
C
,A patient tells the nurse that the oral drug that has been prescribed has caused a lot of stomach
discomfort in the past. What will the nurse ask the prescriber?
a.
Whether a sublingual form of the medication can be given
b.
Whether the medication can be given by a parenteral route instead
c.
Whether an enteric-coated form of the drug is available
d.
Whether the patient can receive a sustained-release preparation of the drug
C
A patient receives a drug that has a narrow therapeutic range. The nurse administering this medication
will expect to do what?
a.
Administer the drug at intervals longer than the drug half-life.
b.
Administer this medication intravenously.
c.
Monitor plasma drug levels.
d.
Teach the patient that maximum drug effects will occur within a short period.
B
A provider has written an order for a medication: drug × 100 mg PO every 6 hours. The half-life for the
drug is approximately 6 hours. The nurse is preparing to administer the first dose at 8:00 AM on
Tuesday. On Wednesday, when will the serum drug level reach plateau?
6 times 4= 24 hours to leave the body
a.
2:00 AM
b.
8:00 AM
c.
2:00 PM
d.
8:00 PM
C
A patient is receiving intravenous gentamicin. A serum drug test reveals toxic levels. The dosing is
correct, and this medication has been tolerated by this patient in the past. Which could be a probable
cause of the test result? Aminoglycocide
a.
A loading dose was not given.
b.
, The drug was not completely dissolved in the IV solution.
c.
The patient is taking another medication that binds to serum albumin.
d.
The medication is being given at a frequency that is longer than its half-life.
B
A patient is taking a drug that does not bind to albumin. Which aspect of renal drug excretion is affected
by this characteristic?
a.
Active tubular secretion
b.
Glomerular filtration
c.
Passive tubular reabsorption
d.
pH-dependent ionization
C
A patient reports becoming immune to a medication because it no longer works to alleviate symptoms.
The nurse recognizes that this decreased effectiveness is likely caused by:
a.
antagonists produced by the body that compete with the drug for receptor sites.
b.
decreased selectivity of receptor sites, resulting in a variety of effects.
c.
desensitization of receptor sites by continual exposure to the drug.
d.
synthesis of more receptor sites in response to the medication.
D
A patient who is taking morphine for pain asks the nurse how a pain medication can also cause
constipation. What does the nurse know about morphine?
a.
It binds to different types of receptors in the body.
b.
It can cause constipation in toxic doses.
c.
It causes only one type of response, and the constipation is coincidental.
d.
It is selective to receptors that regulate more than one body process.
B
