NURS 3517 Pharmacology Test 2 Question and
Answer [2026] | UPDATED ACTUAL Exam |
Detailed Solutions
• Analgesics drugs -✓✓ Relieve pain without causing a loss of consciousness.
• Pain -✓✓ an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or
potential tissue damage
• Nocioception -✓✓ it is the processing of pain signals in the brain that give rise to the
feeling of pain.
• Acute pain -✓✓ sudden onset, usually subsides once treated
• Persistent pain (chronic pain) -✓✓ •Persistent or recurring
•Lasts 3 to 6 months
•More difficult to treat
•Tolerance
• Reffered pain -✓✓ Occurs in an area away from the organ in which it originates
• Neuropathic pain -✓✓ Usually results from damage to peripheral or central nervous
system (CNS) nerve fibres by disease or injury
• Central pain -✓✓ Occurs from any disorder that causes central nervous system
damage
• Gate Theory of Pain Transmission -✓✓ - The most common and well-described
theory.
- Uses the analogy of a gate to describe how impulses from damaged tissues are
sensed in the brain.
• Adjuvant drugs -✓✓ Assist primary drugs in relieving pain
-NSAIDs
-Antidepressants
-Anticonvulsants
-Corticosteroids
• Adjuvant drugs use -✓✓ Using adjuvant drugs allows the use of smaller dosages of
opioids and reduces some adverse effects seen with higher dosages of opioids
• Opioid drugs -✓✓ synthetic drugs that bind to the opiate receptors to relieve pain, very
strong pain relievers
,• Opioid Analgesics: Mechanism of Action -✓✓ Three classifications based on their
actions
-Agonists
-Agonists-antagonists
-Antagonists (nonanalgesic)
• Equianalgesia -✓✓ Ability to provide equivalent pain relief by calculating dosages of
different drugs or routes of administration that provide comparable analgesia
• Opioid Analgesics: Indications -✓✓ -Main use: to alleviate moderate to severe pain
-Often first-line analgesic in immediate post-operative setting
• Opioid Analgesics: Contraindications -✓✓ -Known drug allergy
-Severe asthma
-Use with extreme caution in patients with:
Respiratory insufficiency
Elevated intracranial pressure
Morbid obesity and/or sleep apnea
Pregnancy
• A patient recovering from an appendectomy also has asthma and allergies to shellfish
and iodine. To manage the patient's postoperative pain, the physician has prescribed
PCA with hydromorphone (Dilaudid). Which vital sign is of greatest concern?
a)Pulse
b)Blood pressure
c)Temperature
d)Respirations -✓✓ D - BECAUSE OF ALLERGIES
• Opioid Analgesics: Adverse Effects -✓✓ -CNS depression which could lead to
respiratory depression
-only given enough to control the pain without affecting their respiratory function.
• 3.A patient who has metastasized bone cancer and has been on transdermal fentanyl
patches for pain management for 3 months has been hospitalized for tests and has told
the nurse that the pain is becoming "unbearable." The nurse is reluctant to administer
the ordered pain medication because the nurse does not want the patient to become
addicted to the medication. The nurse's actions reflect which of the following:
a)Appropriate concern for the patient's best welfare
b)Appropriate caution for a patient who is already on a long-term opioid
c)An uncaring attitude toward the patient
d)Failure to manage the patient's pain properly -✓✓ D
, • Opioid Analgesics: Toxicity and Management of Overdose -✓✓ -Naloxone
hydrochloride
-Regardless of withdrawal symptoms, when a patient experiences severe respiratory
depression, an opioid antagonist should be given.
• Opioid Analgesics: Interactions -✓✓ • Alcohol
• Antihistamines
• Barbiturates
• Benzodiazepines
• Promethazine
• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors
• Morphine Sulfate -✓✓ -Opioid Analgesic
-Naturally occurring alkaloid derived from the opium poppy
• Codeine Sulphate -✓✓ -Natural opiate alkaloid (Schedule I) obtained from opium
-Less effective
• Fentanyl -✓✓ -Opioid Analgeisic
-Synthetic opioid (Schedule I) used to treat moderate to severe pain
• Naloxone Hydrochloride (Narcan®) -✓✓ Pure opioid antagonist
Drug of choice for the complete or partial reversal of opioid-induced respiratory
depression
Indicated in cases of suspected acute opioid overdose
Failure of the drug to significantly reverse the effects of the presumed opioid overdose
indicates that the condition may not be related to opioid overdose.
• Acetaminophen: Dosage -✓✓ -Maximum daily dose for healthy adults is 4 g/day, but
Health Canada is considering lowering*
-2 000 mg for older adults and those with liver disease
• Acetaminophen: Contraindications and Interactions -✓✓ Should not be taken in the
presence of:
** Drug allergy
**Liver dysfunction
*Possible liver failure
**G6PD deficiency
Dangerous interactions may occur if taken with alcohol or other drugs that are
hepatotoxic
Answer [2026] | UPDATED ACTUAL Exam |
Detailed Solutions
• Analgesics drugs -✓✓ Relieve pain without causing a loss of consciousness.
• Pain -✓✓ an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or
potential tissue damage
• Nocioception -✓✓ it is the processing of pain signals in the brain that give rise to the
feeling of pain.
• Acute pain -✓✓ sudden onset, usually subsides once treated
• Persistent pain (chronic pain) -✓✓ •Persistent or recurring
•Lasts 3 to 6 months
•More difficult to treat
•Tolerance
• Reffered pain -✓✓ Occurs in an area away from the organ in which it originates
• Neuropathic pain -✓✓ Usually results from damage to peripheral or central nervous
system (CNS) nerve fibres by disease or injury
• Central pain -✓✓ Occurs from any disorder that causes central nervous system
damage
• Gate Theory of Pain Transmission -✓✓ - The most common and well-described
theory.
- Uses the analogy of a gate to describe how impulses from damaged tissues are
sensed in the brain.
• Adjuvant drugs -✓✓ Assist primary drugs in relieving pain
-NSAIDs
-Antidepressants
-Anticonvulsants
-Corticosteroids
• Adjuvant drugs use -✓✓ Using adjuvant drugs allows the use of smaller dosages of
opioids and reduces some adverse effects seen with higher dosages of opioids
• Opioid drugs -✓✓ synthetic drugs that bind to the opiate receptors to relieve pain, very
strong pain relievers
,• Opioid Analgesics: Mechanism of Action -✓✓ Three classifications based on their
actions
-Agonists
-Agonists-antagonists
-Antagonists (nonanalgesic)
• Equianalgesia -✓✓ Ability to provide equivalent pain relief by calculating dosages of
different drugs or routes of administration that provide comparable analgesia
• Opioid Analgesics: Indications -✓✓ -Main use: to alleviate moderate to severe pain
-Often first-line analgesic in immediate post-operative setting
• Opioid Analgesics: Contraindications -✓✓ -Known drug allergy
-Severe asthma
-Use with extreme caution in patients with:
Respiratory insufficiency
Elevated intracranial pressure
Morbid obesity and/or sleep apnea
Pregnancy
• A patient recovering from an appendectomy also has asthma and allergies to shellfish
and iodine. To manage the patient's postoperative pain, the physician has prescribed
PCA with hydromorphone (Dilaudid). Which vital sign is of greatest concern?
a)Pulse
b)Blood pressure
c)Temperature
d)Respirations -✓✓ D - BECAUSE OF ALLERGIES
• Opioid Analgesics: Adverse Effects -✓✓ -CNS depression which could lead to
respiratory depression
-only given enough to control the pain without affecting their respiratory function.
• 3.A patient who has metastasized bone cancer and has been on transdermal fentanyl
patches for pain management for 3 months has been hospitalized for tests and has told
the nurse that the pain is becoming "unbearable." The nurse is reluctant to administer
the ordered pain medication because the nurse does not want the patient to become
addicted to the medication. The nurse's actions reflect which of the following:
a)Appropriate concern for the patient's best welfare
b)Appropriate caution for a patient who is already on a long-term opioid
c)An uncaring attitude toward the patient
d)Failure to manage the patient's pain properly -✓✓ D
, • Opioid Analgesics: Toxicity and Management of Overdose -✓✓ -Naloxone
hydrochloride
-Regardless of withdrawal symptoms, when a patient experiences severe respiratory
depression, an opioid antagonist should be given.
• Opioid Analgesics: Interactions -✓✓ • Alcohol
• Antihistamines
• Barbiturates
• Benzodiazepines
• Promethazine
• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors
• Morphine Sulfate -✓✓ -Opioid Analgesic
-Naturally occurring alkaloid derived from the opium poppy
• Codeine Sulphate -✓✓ -Natural opiate alkaloid (Schedule I) obtained from opium
-Less effective
• Fentanyl -✓✓ -Opioid Analgeisic
-Synthetic opioid (Schedule I) used to treat moderate to severe pain
• Naloxone Hydrochloride (Narcan®) -✓✓ Pure opioid antagonist
Drug of choice for the complete or partial reversal of opioid-induced respiratory
depression
Indicated in cases of suspected acute opioid overdose
Failure of the drug to significantly reverse the effects of the presumed opioid overdose
indicates that the condition may not be related to opioid overdose.
• Acetaminophen: Dosage -✓✓ -Maximum daily dose for healthy adults is 4 g/day, but
Health Canada is considering lowering*
-2 000 mg for older adults and those with liver disease
• Acetaminophen: Contraindications and Interactions -✓✓ Should not be taken in the
presence of:
** Drug allergy
**Liver dysfunction
*Possible liver failure
**G6PD deficiency
Dangerous interactions may occur if taken with alcohol or other drugs that are
hepatotoxic
