Chapter 2 pharmacology
The health caregiver is explaining the rationale for administering a hypotonic intravenous solution to a client. Which of the following mechanisms of membrane transport most likely underlies this action?
The fact that body cells are permeable to water but not all solute particles, and the amount of solute relative to water content, underlies the choice of intravenous fluid, in health care. This is the essence of osmosis, and the other mechanisms of membrane transport do not have as significant a bearing on the nurse's action.
After reviewing cell physiology in preparation for a test, a group of students demonstrate understanding of the topic when they identify which of the following as the main goal of a cell?
The main goal of a cell is to maintain homeostasis. Movement of substances is one means to achieving the goal of homeostasis. Energy production is needed to carry out cellular metabolism, one of the activities necessary for homeostasis. Mitosis is the process of cell division and most cells are able to reproduce. Reproduction is one means for maintaining homeostasis
A nurse is required to know and understand body structures, body functions, and disorders of functioning. The nurse is explaining the concept of cellular respiration to a client who has recently been diagnosed with anemia. Based on this information, what should the nurse tell the client is the constituent of blood that carries the oxygen needed for cellular respiration?
The nurse should tell the client that erythrocytes, or red blood cells (RBCs), carry the oxygen needed for cellular respiration. Leukocytes, or white blood cells (WBCs), destroy pathogens and develop immunity against diseases. Thrombocytes or platelets are cell fragments that play a major role in the blood-clotting process.
The nurse understands that the dosage recommended by drug manufacturers is based on an individual weighing:
The recommended dosage of a drug is based on drug evaluation studies and is targeted at a 150-lb (68 kg) person. As a result, clients who weigh more or less than this may require minor dosage adjustments in some cases.
A client has developed a tolerance to a drug. How should the nurse address this when providing care?
With tolerance, increasingly larger doses are needed to achieve the therapeutic effect. An allergy would be manifested by reactions ranging from mild, such as a rash, to more severe, such as anaphylaxis. Although a change may be needed, tolerance typically requires an increase in dosage. To avoid the need for continually larger doses, other drugs may be added to regimen to achieve the effect. Tolerance is unrelated to adverse effects.
An instructor is preparing a class that describes the toxic effects of drugs. Which effect would the instructor expect to include?
All drugs are potentially dangerous. Even though chemicals are carefully screened and tested in animals and in people before they are released as drugs, drug products often cause unexpected or unacceptable reactions when they are administered. Drugs are chemicals, and the human body operates by a vast series of chemical reactions. Consequently, many effects can be seen when just one chemical factor is altered. Today's potent drugs can cause a great variety of reactions, many of which are more severe than ever seen before.
A client is being seen in the emergency department for a sprained ankle and is given a drug to relieve pain. When a second dose of the pain medication is given, the client develops redness of the skin, itching, and swelling at the site of injection of the drug. The most likely cause of this response is:
An allergic response is an immune system response. If the body interprets the drug as a foreign substance (antigen) and forms antibodies against the drug, the antigen-antibody response of the immune system is initiated when the drug is taken again. This response involves the release of histamine, which is responsible for many symptoms of allergy—redness, itching, swelling, rash, and hives. Idiosyncratic responses are related to an individual's unique response to a drug, rather than to the dose of a drug. Idiosyncratic responses are unusual and in fact may be the opposite of what is anticipated, which is sometimes called a paradoxical response.
The nurse is caring for a client receiving an aminoglycoside (antibiotic) that can be nephrotoxic. Which will alert the nurse that the client may be experiencing nephrotoxicity?
Decreased urinary output, elevated blood urea nitrogen, increased serum creatinine, altered acid-base balance, and electrolyte imbalances can occur with nephrotoxicity. Ringing noise in the ears (tinnitus) is an indication of possible ototoxicity. Visual disturbances can suggest neurotoxicity, and yellowing of the skin (jaundice) is a sign of hepatotoxicity.
A nurse who works on a pulmonary unit should know how blood destroys microorganisms and other characteristics of the immune system. The client has been admitted to the healthcare facility with pneumonia. Based on this information, what would be the best explanation by the nurse to the client about which constituent of blood destroys pathogens and develops immunity to diseases such as pneumonia?
Leukocytes destroy pathogens and develop immunity against diseases. Platelets or thrombocytes play a major role in the clotting of blood. Erythrocytes, or red blood cells, carry the oxygen needed for cellular respiration.
The main goal of a cell is to maintain homeostasis. Movement of substances is one means to achieving the goal of homeostasis. Energy production is needed to carry out cellular metabolism, one of the activities necessary for homeostasis. Mitosis is the process of cell division and most cells are able to reproduce. Reproduction is one means for maintaining homeostasis
The Golgi apparatus is a series of flattened sacs that may be part of the endoplasmic reticulum. These structures prepare hormones or other substances for secretion by processing them and packaging them in vesicles to be moved to the cell membrane for excretion from the cell. Golgi bodies do not produce bile. They produce secretory, not excretory granules, and they produce large carbohydrate molecules rather than small ones