Rant: Renal + Insulin + Grapefruit vs OJ

[Rionoir, ADN, RN]

Ok this is all I remember of the test question - I didn't even think twice about it when I answered it or I might remember more. Anyway it was a question involving insulin, a patient with renal problems and low BS, and the two choices you could narrow it down to were grapefruit juice and orange juice.

Apparently the correct answer was grapefruit juice, because it has a lot of potassium. Ok, I guess that makes sense - insulin pushes K+ into the cells and all that - but this was a renal/hepatic test. I don't know the nutritional contents of every fruit and vegetable and I certainly wasn't studying fruits and vegetables getting ready for this test. Furthermore, we were told 100 times never to assume something that isn't in the question, and there was nothing in the question about the patient having low potassium. ?‍♂️ All I've EVER heard in class about OJ vs grapefruit juice is give your patients with low BS OJ and basically grapefruit juice is bad because it interacts with tons of meds.

A friend of mine in the same class is a tech and apparently one of the units in the hospital has grapefruit juice stocked (most obviously don't) and she was told it was for this very reason. So I'm not doubting the truthfulness of the question, but I have all ebooks and literally just ran the word "grapefruit" through the search tool and every instance of grapefruit juice says don't give it with this med, not once is it mentioned in this context.

BTW, my school doesn't use any standardized tests so it's very difficult to study for some of the tests they come out with. If this question was just a one-off it would be one thing, but I feel like every semester there is at least one test that just knocks everyone's grades down because there is so much crap on it that no one could reasonably be expected to have learned from the assigned readings and homework assignments. I always leave tests wondering why I even go to class because I feel like nothing I learn in class is actually on the test.

[jiowa12]

This question sounds like something you might experience on the nclex. Just take the information learned and move on. I remember getting questions like that in nursing school and would be frustrated, but I learned to take tests and make the best choice from the question. Good luck to you.