NURS 6015 COMPREHENSIVE EXAM UPDATED QUESTIONS
AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔The nurse understands that the dose-response relationship is graded and should
expect to observe which response?
a. Once a drug is given, the response is predictably all-or-nothing.
b. The response is maintained at a specific level when the therapeutic objective is
achieved.
c. As the dosage increases, the response becomes progressively greater.
d. A graded response is based on relative potency and maximal efficacy. - ✔✔c. As the
dosage increases, the response becomes progressively greater.
✔✔The nurse demonstrates the concept of maximal efficacy by administering which
drug for a headache that the patient describes as a "mild dullness" and as a 2 on a 1 to
10 scale?
a. Meperidine [Demerol]
b. Pentazocine [Talwin]
c. Aspirin
d. Morphine sulfate - ✔✔c. Aspirin
✔✔Which statement by the nursing student indicates a need for further instruction about
drug selectivity?
a. "Botulinum toxin is very selective and therefore very safe for administration."
b. "Selective drug action is made possible by many types of receptors in the body."
c. "The more selective a drug is, the fewer side effects it will produce."
d. "Even though a drug is selective, it can produce nonselective results." - ✔✔a.
"Botulinum toxin is very selective and therefore very safe for administration."
✔✔Which drug property is most enhanced by the presence of many different types of
receptors throughout the body?
a. Potency
b. Safety
c. Selectivity
d. Convenience - ✔✔c. Selectivity
✔✔The drug dobutamine acts as an agonist of norepinephrine (NE) receptors. Which
effect is the nurse most likely to observe in a patient receiving this medication?
a. Increased heart rate
b. Atrioventricular heart block
c. Sinus bradycardia
d. Reduced cardiac output - ✔✔a. Increased heart rate
✔✔The nurse prepares to give a drug that will prevent receptor activation. Which term
would describe this drug?
a. Antagonist
,b. Selective
c. Agonist
d. Potent - ✔✔a. Antagonist
✔✔Why does the nurse administer naloxone to a patient receiving morphine sulfate
who has a respiratory rate of 8 breaths per minute?
a. Naloxone causes hypersensitivity of the opioid receptors.
b. Naloxone prevents the activation of opioid receptors.
c. Naloxone is a partial agonist, requiring a lesser dose to achieve pain relief.
d. Naloxone is an agonist, leading to desensitization of the opioid receptors. - ✔✔b.
Naloxone prevents the activation of opioid receptors.
✔✔Why does the nurse monitor the patient closely when administering a drug with a
low therapeutic index?
a. The average lethal dose of the drug is much higher than the therapeutic dose.
b. The dose required to produce a therapeutic response in 50% of patients is low.
c. The highest dose needed to produce a therapeutic effect is close to the lethal dose.
d. There is a low variability of responses to this drug. - ✔✔c. The highest dose needed
to produce a therapeutic effect is close to the lethal dose.
✔✔The nursing student learns that not all drugs produce effects binding to a receptor.
Which drugs do not act through receptors?
a. Antacids
b. Analgesics
c. Antihistamines
d. Steroid hormones - ✔✔a. Antacids
✔✔The nurse is preparing to administer a drug with a high therapeutic index. What
does this mean about the drug?
a. It is very potent.
b. It has a low efficacy.
c. It is probably lethal.
d. It is relatively safe. - ✔✔d. It is relatively safe.
✔✔Which response would the nurse anticipate when giving two drugs that have a
potentiative effect, such as meperidine and Phenergan?
a. Increased pain relief
b. Increased nausea and vomiting
c. Decreased itching
d. Increased alertness - ✔✔a. Increased pain relief
✔✔The nurse is preparing a discharge teaching plan to a patient prescribed
phenobarbital and oral contraceptives which are known to induce CYP isoenzymes.
What patient teaching should the nurse include in the discharge plan?
a. "Continue taking your medications as prescribed."
, b. "Condoms are not necessary while taking phenobarbital. It is not an antibiotic."
c. "Plan to use another form of birth control while taking phenobarbital."
d. "Your dose of birth control pills will be reduced while you are taking phenobarbital." -
✔✔c. "Plan to use another form of birth control while taking phenobarbital."
✔✔The drug the nurse is about to give induces P-glycoprotein (PGP). Which outcome
should the nurse expect when this drug is given with other drugs?
a. Increased levels of other drugs
b. Increased side effects of other drugs
c. Reduced absorption of other drugs
d. Reduced drug elimination - ✔✔c. Reduced absorption of other drugs
✔✔The nurse is concerned with minimizing adverse drug-drug interactions for the
patient. Which drug characteristic could result in the most serious consequences from a
drug-drug interaction?
a. Low therapeutic range
b. High biologic half-life
c. Low potency
d. First-pass effect - ✔✔a. Low therapeutic range
✔✔The nurse is teaching a patient prescribed felodipine [Plendil] for the treatment of
hypertension. Which statement is the most appropriate for the nurse to include in the
teaching session?
a. "Avoid grapefruit juice while you are taking this medication."
b. "Do not eat foods high in tyramine such as aged cheese."
c. "Herbal agents can help this drug work more effectively."
d. "This drug is free of dangerous drug interactions." - ✔✔a. "Avoid grapefruit juice while
you are taking this medication."
✔✔Before administrating the dosage of a prescribed medication, the nurse observes
precipitation formation of the intravenous (IV) solution. What is the priority nursing
action?
a. Verify the prescription.
b. Discard the IV solution.
c. Prepare another dose to administer.
d. Check the expiration date of the drug. - ✔✔b. Discard the IV solution.
✔✔The nurse reviews all of the patient's prescriptions. Which prescribed medications
may cause a detrimental potentiative drug interaction?
a. Aspirin and warfarin
b. Sulbactam and ampicillin
c. Propranolol and albuterol
d. Isoniazid and rifampin - ✔✔a. Aspirin and warfarin
AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔The nurse understands that the dose-response relationship is graded and should
expect to observe which response?
a. Once a drug is given, the response is predictably all-or-nothing.
b. The response is maintained at a specific level when the therapeutic objective is
achieved.
c. As the dosage increases, the response becomes progressively greater.
d. A graded response is based on relative potency and maximal efficacy. - ✔✔c. As the
dosage increases, the response becomes progressively greater.
✔✔The nurse demonstrates the concept of maximal efficacy by administering which
drug for a headache that the patient describes as a "mild dullness" and as a 2 on a 1 to
10 scale?
a. Meperidine [Demerol]
b. Pentazocine [Talwin]
c. Aspirin
d. Morphine sulfate - ✔✔c. Aspirin
✔✔Which statement by the nursing student indicates a need for further instruction about
drug selectivity?
a. "Botulinum toxin is very selective and therefore very safe for administration."
b. "Selective drug action is made possible by many types of receptors in the body."
c. "The more selective a drug is, the fewer side effects it will produce."
d. "Even though a drug is selective, it can produce nonselective results." - ✔✔a.
"Botulinum toxin is very selective and therefore very safe for administration."
✔✔Which drug property is most enhanced by the presence of many different types of
receptors throughout the body?
a. Potency
b. Safety
c. Selectivity
d. Convenience - ✔✔c. Selectivity
✔✔The drug dobutamine acts as an agonist of norepinephrine (NE) receptors. Which
effect is the nurse most likely to observe in a patient receiving this medication?
a. Increased heart rate
b. Atrioventricular heart block
c. Sinus bradycardia
d. Reduced cardiac output - ✔✔a. Increased heart rate
✔✔The nurse prepares to give a drug that will prevent receptor activation. Which term
would describe this drug?
a. Antagonist
,b. Selective
c. Agonist
d. Potent - ✔✔a. Antagonist
✔✔Why does the nurse administer naloxone to a patient receiving morphine sulfate
who has a respiratory rate of 8 breaths per minute?
a. Naloxone causes hypersensitivity of the opioid receptors.
b. Naloxone prevents the activation of opioid receptors.
c. Naloxone is a partial agonist, requiring a lesser dose to achieve pain relief.
d. Naloxone is an agonist, leading to desensitization of the opioid receptors. - ✔✔b.
Naloxone prevents the activation of opioid receptors.
✔✔Why does the nurse monitor the patient closely when administering a drug with a
low therapeutic index?
a. The average lethal dose of the drug is much higher than the therapeutic dose.
b. The dose required to produce a therapeutic response in 50% of patients is low.
c. The highest dose needed to produce a therapeutic effect is close to the lethal dose.
d. There is a low variability of responses to this drug. - ✔✔c. The highest dose needed
to produce a therapeutic effect is close to the lethal dose.
✔✔The nursing student learns that not all drugs produce effects binding to a receptor.
Which drugs do not act through receptors?
a. Antacids
b. Analgesics
c. Antihistamines
d. Steroid hormones - ✔✔a. Antacids
✔✔The nurse is preparing to administer a drug with a high therapeutic index. What
does this mean about the drug?
a. It is very potent.
b. It has a low efficacy.
c. It is probably lethal.
d. It is relatively safe. - ✔✔d. It is relatively safe.
✔✔Which response would the nurse anticipate when giving two drugs that have a
potentiative effect, such as meperidine and Phenergan?
a. Increased pain relief
b. Increased nausea and vomiting
c. Decreased itching
d. Increased alertness - ✔✔a. Increased pain relief
✔✔The nurse is preparing a discharge teaching plan to a patient prescribed
phenobarbital and oral contraceptives which are known to induce CYP isoenzymes.
What patient teaching should the nurse include in the discharge plan?
a. "Continue taking your medications as prescribed."
, b. "Condoms are not necessary while taking phenobarbital. It is not an antibiotic."
c. "Plan to use another form of birth control while taking phenobarbital."
d. "Your dose of birth control pills will be reduced while you are taking phenobarbital." -
✔✔c. "Plan to use another form of birth control while taking phenobarbital."
✔✔The drug the nurse is about to give induces P-glycoprotein (PGP). Which outcome
should the nurse expect when this drug is given with other drugs?
a. Increased levels of other drugs
b. Increased side effects of other drugs
c. Reduced absorption of other drugs
d. Reduced drug elimination - ✔✔c. Reduced absorption of other drugs
✔✔The nurse is concerned with minimizing adverse drug-drug interactions for the
patient. Which drug characteristic could result in the most serious consequences from a
drug-drug interaction?
a. Low therapeutic range
b. High biologic half-life
c. Low potency
d. First-pass effect - ✔✔a. Low therapeutic range
✔✔The nurse is teaching a patient prescribed felodipine [Plendil] for the treatment of
hypertension. Which statement is the most appropriate for the nurse to include in the
teaching session?
a. "Avoid grapefruit juice while you are taking this medication."
b. "Do not eat foods high in tyramine such as aged cheese."
c. "Herbal agents can help this drug work more effectively."
d. "This drug is free of dangerous drug interactions." - ✔✔a. "Avoid grapefruit juice while
you are taking this medication."
✔✔Before administrating the dosage of a prescribed medication, the nurse observes
precipitation formation of the intravenous (IV) solution. What is the priority nursing
action?
a. Verify the prescription.
b. Discard the IV solution.
c. Prepare another dose to administer.
d. Check the expiration date of the drug. - ✔✔b. Discard the IV solution.
✔✔The nurse reviews all of the patient's prescriptions. Which prescribed medications
may cause a detrimental potentiative drug interaction?
a. Aspirin and warfarin
b. Sulbactam and ampicillin
c. Propranolol and albuterol
d. Isoniazid and rifampin - ✔✔a. Aspirin and warfarin
