Quiz: Administering Oral Medications

The nurse is preparing to split medication for client administration. What method should the nurse use to split the medication?

Place the pill in the pill splitter and close.

The nurse is preparing to administer a sublingual medication. Which instruction to the client is correct?

"Try not to swallow while the pill dissolves."

The client is prescribed digoxin 0.125 mg PO every day. The nurse obtains the medication from unit stock and discovers that digoxin only comes in a 0.25-mg tablet. How many tablets of digoxin should the nurse administer to the client?

0.5 tablet

The nurse is preparing hydrochlorothiazide 50-mg tablet from unit stock. The health care provider orders 75 mg of hydrochlorothiazide PO for the client's hypertension. How many tablets of hydrochlorothiazide will the nurse administer to the client?

1.5 tablets

The nurse is preparing a liquid medication for a client. The health care provider prescribes cimetidine hydrochloride 600 mg PO for gastrointestinal bleeding. The pharmacy sends cimetidine hydrochloride 300 mg/5 mL. How many teaspoons should the nurse administer?

2 teaspoons

The nurse opens the multidose container of oxycodone. The nurse needs 1.5 tablets to deliver the as needed dose, and the tablets in the container are not scored. What action by the nurse is best?

Call the pharmacy to request a supply change.

The nurse is performing the third medication check for a medication administered from a multi-dose bottle. What should the nurse do?

Check the multi-dose bottle label after identifying the client and before administering the medication.

The nurse has administered a client's medication. Which action would be most appropriate if the client vomits immediately, or soon after administration?

Check the vomit/emesis for pills or pill fragments and call the client's health care provider.

The nurse prepares the client's nightly medication doses and needs to administer an as needed dose of a hypnotic medication for sleep. The sleep medication is in a unit-dose package. What action does the nurse take?

Open the package after the client confirms the dose is wanted.

The nurse is in the client's room to administer the client's morning oral medications. Which action should the nurse take first?

Confirm the client's identity.

A nurse is preparing to administer oral medications to a client. While opening the unit dose package, the medication inadvertently falls on the floor. Which action by the nurse would be most appropriate?

Discard the current unit-dose package and obtain a new one.

The nurse is administering a client's medication and more tablets than needed fall into the bottle cap. What should the nurse do?

Drop extra tablets into bottle from bottle cap.

The instructor observes a nursing student who is preparing a liquid medication from a multi-dose bottle. Which action would concern the instructor if it were demonstrated by the student?

Holds the bottle of liquid medication with the label facing the medication cup.

The nurse is splitting medications. After splitting the tablet and administering half to the client, what should the nurse do with the remaining half? Select all that apply.

If the medication is a narcotic, waste with another nurse present., Dispose of medication per hospital protocol.

After reviewing the skills for administering different medications, a student nurse demonstrates the need for additional review when she does takes which action?

Leaves before verifying that the client has swallowed the medication.

Which route of medication administration is most commonly prescribed?

Oral

The nurse enters the client's room to administer oral medications. Which action would the nurse take first?

Perform hand hygiene.

When pouring a liquid medication into a graduated liquid medication cup, which nursing action would be most appropriate?

Place the cup on a flat surface at eye level.

The nurse is administering routine medications to a postsurgical client and the client asks, "Could I have something for pain?" The nurse checks the medication administration record (MAR) and notes that the medication is an opioid. What should the nurse do?

Place the opioid into a separate cup.

A nurse is preparing several oral medications for administration. One of the medications requires the nurse to obtain the client's apical pulse before administering it. Which action would be most appropriate?

Placing the medication requiring the assessment in a separate medication cup.

The nurse is distributing afternoon medications to the clients. When removing a tablet from a multi-dose bottle, what should the nurse do first?

Pour the tablet into the bottle cap.

A nurse is distributing the 0900 medications to the client. What should the nurse do when removing a tablet from a multi-dose bottle? Select all that apply.

Put an extra tablet back into the bottle from cap., Use gloves for extra protection., Take the multi-dose bottle into the client's room.

The nurse needs half of a tablet of medication and is preparing to split the tablet but there is no score. What should the nurse do? Select all that apply.

Refrain from splitting the tablet., Call the health care provider.

The nurse administers the client's scheduled morning medications. The previous dose of antihypertensive was held due to a blood pressure that was too low according the health care provider's parameters. What does the nurse do with this scheduled unit-dose packaged antihypertensive medication?

Set the antihypertensive dose aside pending assessment.

The nurse splits a medication for client administration. What should the nurse do to assure safety and proper documentation? Select all that apply.

Take computer to the bedside., Take medication package and label to bedside., Take medication to bedside.

The client tells the nurse that the medication in the cup is not the same as the medication he took the day before. The client is insistent that the medication is not the one prescribed. Which action by the nurse would be least appropriate?

Tell the client that he must take this medication because it is prescribed by the health care provider.

The nurse is teaching a client how to prepare and administer liquid medications. The client has been on other types of medications for several years. What common error would be most appropriate for the nurse to include in teaching this client?

The client can use any type of measuring device.

When administering medications to a client, what information should the nurse know about the medication? Select all that apply.

action, safe dose range, adverse effects, purpose

A nurse is measuring a liquid medication in a graduated liquid medication cup. The nurse determines the correct amount by reading:

the bottom of the meniscus.