Xanax and Stress

[souleater11]

hi everyone,

I saw this NCLEX practice question in the internet and I want to share it since I can't find the official rationale.

NCLEX-RN: PHARMACOLOGY & NURSING SCIENCES-c1b79e75_ppt2txt

which statement indicates the client understands discharge teaching about the medication alprazalam (Xanax) ?

A. I can double my dose when I am more anxious than normal

B. I can take this medication with a glass of wine

C. This medication is not for the routine stresses of my life

D. This medication is not for my panic attacks

My answer is C but im not sure because Xanax is indicated for anxiety which can relieve a patient's stress.

I would like to know your answers and explaination.

Thanks a lot.

[mimiluvs]

C is d answer

My rational is.........

A. U can not double a does of meds without Dr's order

B. Meds with wine is contraindicated

C. Routing stress is not anxiety CORRECT

D. The drug is antianxiety meds panic attack is a stage of anxiety

[franly1222]

my answer is A. Noting that nipride is for hypertension and the side effect of the drug is hypotension. The client is now experiencing within the therapeutic effect of the drug. rechecking the BP frequently is necessary and informing the physician is a good action by nurse

[NursieDP]

Why are you choosing A? Nipride is a antihypertensive/vasodilator and your expected action is a lowered BP and 120/90 is in the normal range. So I would choose D.

Yes.... The med is working and that is a normal BP

[NursieDP]

You DO NOT turn off a BP drip when it is working.

The pt is not hypotensive.

The doctor would yell at you AND your charge nurse if you did.

D is the answer.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

For the hypertension question the answer would be D.

C is tempting but unless they were bottoming out you wouldn't rapidly d/c the drip.

[Dcmom]

i'd go for ,D.

[hodgieRN]

Just a side note....

Remember, in the NCLEX world, never try to add other factors that aren't mentioned in the question. It never mentioned anything about hypotension, so that will never be a factor in this scenario. Simply put, the BP was successfully corrected and that's it.

Also, remember to take a step back and look at how the questions is being asked. An intervention was done and the questions wants you to evaluate the intervention. By checking the pt's tolerance to the medication, you are officially evaluating if the intervention was successful. C is an intervention. If the pt was hypotensive, then the next step would be an intervention to stop the hypotension, but since the pts BP is normal, the correct answer would be the evaluation choice.

Always take a second and look at the question from a different angle. That will help you weed out the curve balls. Everyone is taught that Nipride is very potent and can make you bottom out. They are purposefully trying to pull you away from the right answer by making you think a drop from 190 to 120 is sudden death. And in the real world, you might slightly fiddle with the drip, but they are hoping that you are thinking that too. That also pulls you away from the right question. That's why you use the only info provided with nothing extra added and no "in the real world" reasoning.

[Mandy0728]

It's definitely C! I take Xanax so trust me, all the other answers are false!

[clau12]

I would say A because the bp is dropping to fast, could cause damage as well.

In another 15 minutes the bp will bottom out dangerously low.