D116 - PHARMACOLOGY - WGU PRE-ASSESSMENT
(STUDY PLAN UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
1. What factor can be attributed to limited prescriptive authority for APRNs?
Answer:
Inaccessibility of patient care
Feedback:Limiting prescriptive authority for APRNs can create barriers to quality, affordable, and
accessible patient care. It may also lead to poor collaboration among providers and higher health care
costs.
Question:
2. A patient reports that a medication prescribed for recurrent migraine headaches is not working. Which
action should be taken first?
Answer:
Ask the patient about the number and frequency of tablets taken.
Feedback:using the drug as ordered. Asking the patient to tell the nurse how many tablets are taken and
how often helps the nurse determine compliance.
Question:
3. 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?
Answer:
The patient is taking another medication that binds to serum albumin
Feedback:Gentamicin binds to albumin, but only weakly, and in the presence of another drug that binds to
albumin, it can rise to toxic levels in blood serum.
Question:
4. The nurse is administering morning medications. The nurse gives a patient multiple medications, two of
which compete for plasma albumin receptor sites. As a result of this concurrent administration, the nurse
can anticipate that what might occur? Select all that apply
Answer:
Binding of one or both agents will be reduced, Plasma levels of free drug will rise, The increase in free
drug will intensify effects
Feedback:When two drugs bind to the same site on plasma albumin, coadministration of those drugs
produces competition for binding. As a result, binding of one or both agents is reduced, causing plasma
levels of free drug to rise.The increase in free drug can intensify the effect, but it usually undergoes rapid
elimination. The increase in plasma levels of free drug is rarely sustained.
Question:
5. A patient asks a nurse why a friend who is taking the same drug responds differently to that drug. The
nurse knows that the most common variation in drug response is due to differences in each patient's:
, Answer:
metabolism of drugs
Feedback:The most common source of genetic variation in drug response is related to alterations in drug
metabolism and is determined by genetic codes for various drug-metabolizing isoenzymes.
Question:
6. A patient with migraines is started on a beta blocker. The nurse explains the benefits of taking the
medication for migraines. Which statement by the patient indicates an understanding of the medication's
effects?
Answer:
"I need to take it every day to reduce the frequency of migraines."
Feedback:When taken prophylactically, medications such as beta blockers can reduce the frequency of
migraine attacks. They do not provide complete relief from migraines. They do not reduce the duration of
migraines. They are not effective for treating a migraine once the migraine has begun
Question:
7. A prescriber orders transdermal clonidine [Catapres TTS] for a patient with hypertension. What will the
nurse teach this patient?
Answer:
To change the patch every week.
Feedback: Transdermal patches are to be changed every 7 days. Medication administered by patch has the
same therapeutic effect and adverse effects as that given by other routes, except that localized skin
reactions may occur and are common with clonidine patches.
Question:
8. A 25-year-old patient has been newly diagnosed with Parkinson disease, and the prescriber is
considering using pramipexole [Mirapex]. Before beginning therapy with this drug, the nurse will ask the
patient about:
Answer:
any history of alcohol abuse or compulsive behaviors
Feedback:Pramipexole has been associated with impulse control disorders, and this risk increases in
patients with a history of alcohol abuse or compulsive behaviors.
Question:
9. A nurse is preparing to administer memantine [Nemanda] to a patient and notes a change in the patient's
creatinine level. What will the nurse expect the provider to do for this patient?
Answer:
Adjust the dose if the creatinine clearance of less than 30 mL/min
Feedback:Patients with severe renal impairment may require a dosage reduction. Adding sodium
bicarbonate would alkalinize the urine and increase memantine levels, causing toxicity.
Question:
10. A nurse is teaching a group of nursing students about the use of memantine [Namenda] for Alzheimer
disease. Which statement by a student indicates understanding of the teaching?
(STUDY PLAN UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
1. What factor can be attributed to limited prescriptive authority for APRNs?
Answer:
Inaccessibility of patient care
Feedback:Limiting prescriptive authority for APRNs can create barriers to quality, affordable, and
accessible patient care. It may also lead to poor collaboration among providers and higher health care
costs.
Question:
2. A patient reports that a medication prescribed for recurrent migraine headaches is not working. Which
action should be taken first?
Answer:
Ask the patient about the number and frequency of tablets taken.
Feedback:using the drug as ordered. Asking the patient to tell the nurse how many tablets are taken and
how often helps the nurse determine compliance.
Question:
3. 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?
Answer:
The patient is taking another medication that binds to serum albumin
Feedback:Gentamicin binds to albumin, but only weakly, and in the presence of another drug that binds to
albumin, it can rise to toxic levels in blood serum.
Question:
4. The nurse is administering morning medications. The nurse gives a patient multiple medications, two of
which compete for plasma albumin receptor sites. As a result of this concurrent administration, the nurse
can anticipate that what might occur? Select all that apply
Answer:
Binding of one or both agents will be reduced, Plasma levels of free drug will rise, The increase in free
drug will intensify effects
Feedback:When two drugs bind to the same site on plasma albumin, coadministration of those drugs
produces competition for binding. As a result, binding of one or both agents is reduced, causing plasma
levels of free drug to rise.The increase in free drug can intensify the effect, but it usually undergoes rapid
elimination. The increase in plasma levels of free drug is rarely sustained.
Question:
5. A patient asks a nurse why a friend who is taking the same drug responds differently to that drug. The
nurse knows that the most common variation in drug response is due to differences in each patient's:
, Answer:
metabolism of drugs
Feedback:The most common source of genetic variation in drug response is related to alterations in drug
metabolism and is determined by genetic codes for various drug-metabolizing isoenzymes.
Question:
6. A patient with migraines is started on a beta blocker. The nurse explains the benefits of taking the
medication for migraines. Which statement by the patient indicates an understanding of the medication's
effects?
Answer:
"I need to take it every day to reduce the frequency of migraines."
Feedback:When taken prophylactically, medications such as beta blockers can reduce the frequency of
migraine attacks. They do not provide complete relief from migraines. They do not reduce the duration of
migraines. They are not effective for treating a migraine once the migraine has begun
Question:
7. A prescriber orders transdermal clonidine [Catapres TTS] for a patient with hypertension. What will the
nurse teach this patient?
Answer:
To change the patch every week.
Feedback: Transdermal patches are to be changed every 7 days. Medication administered by patch has the
same therapeutic effect and adverse effects as that given by other routes, except that localized skin
reactions may occur and are common with clonidine patches.
Question:
8. A 25-year-old patient has been newly diagnosed with Parkinson disease, and the prescriber is
considering using pramipexole [Mirapex]. Before beginning therapy with this drug, the nurse will ask the
patient about:
Answer:
any history of alcohol abuse or compulsive behaviors
Feedback:Pramipexole has been associated with impulse control disorders, and this risk increases in
patients with a history of alcohol abuse or compulsive behaviors.
Question:
9. A nurse is preparing to administer memantine [Nemanda] to a patient and notes a change in the patient's
creatinine level. What will the nurse expect the provider to do for this patient?
Answer:
Adjust the dose if the creatinine clearance of less than 30 mL/min
Feedback:Patients with severe renal impairment may require a dosage reduction. Adding sodium
bicarbonate would alkalinize the urine and increase memantine levels, causing toxicity.
Question:
10. A nurse is teaching a group of nursing students about the use of memantine [Namenda] for Alzheimer
disease. Which statement by a student indicates understanding of the teaching?
