ATI RN
RN ATI Capstone Pharmacology 2 Quiz Questions
Question 1 of 5
When reading about a drug, the nurse learns it has a median toxic dose of 50 mg. The patient has been receiving 60 mg of the drug. What analysis does the nurse make?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Median toxic dose (TD50) is where 50% show toxicity-60 mg exceeds this, raising adverse effect risk (e.g., toxicity signs), not lethality for all. Effect may persist, not fail. Efficacy/potency are defined, just exceeded. Lethal dose (LD50) differs-60 mg isn't half lethal. Excess drives risk, per pharmacodynamics.
Question 2 of 5
A 62-year-old man with Parkinson's disease on levodopa and carbidopa presents to his primary care physician for follow-up. He is following his prescribed course of medications. He is stable in terms of his motor function but recently has begun to have visual and auditory hallucinations. What is the most likely explanation for these findings?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Hallucinations in a Parkinson's patient on levodopa/carbidopa suggest a medication-related issue. Drug toxicity is correct-levodopa increases dopamine, and excess in non-motor areas (e.g., mesolimbic) can cause hallucinations, especially with long-term use or dose accumulation. Overactivity at basal ganglia improves motor symptoms, not hallucinations. Subtherapeutic dosing would worsen motor control, not cause this. Dementia or infection (E) could contribute, but hallucinations align more with levodopa's known side effect profile. Carbidopa reduces peripheral effects, but central dopamine excess remains possible, making toxicity the likely culprit in this stable motor context.
Question 3 of 5
A 37-year-old woman is brought to the emergency department by a friend after consuming an entire month's supply of amitriptyline. She is tachycardic, drowsy, nauseous, and has a headache. Which of the following could the physician administer to help this patient?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Amitriptyline overdose (TCA) causes anticholinergic and cardiac toxicity. Bicarbonate corrects acidosis and stabilizes sodium channels, reducing arrhythmias. Dimercaprol , Methylene blue , and Vitamin K (E) are irrelevant. Naloxone treats opioids. Bicarbonate's role in TCA overdose is critical for this presentation.
Question 4 of 5
A 38-year-old man who is a chronic coffee drinker for 20 years drinks approximately seven cups of coffee per day. He suddenly decides to stop drinking coffee. Which of the following effects may he exhibit?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Failed to generate a rationale of 500+ characters after 5 retries.
Question 5 of 5
Which one of the following pairs of 'drug/mechanism of action' is most accurate?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Lithium's mood-stabilizing effect in bipolar disorder involves inhibiting inositol monophosphatase, reducing inositol recycling and dampening overactive phosphoinositide signaling, a unique mechanism. Carbamazepine blocks sodium channels, not GABA facilitation (that's barbiturates). Ethosuximide inhibits T-type calcium channels in thalamic neurons, not sodium channels, to control absence seizures. Phenelzine, an MAOI, inhibits monoamine oxidase, not dopa decarboxylase (carbidopa does that). Procaine, a local anesthetic, blocks sodium channels, not T-type calcium channels. Lithium's inositol depletion is well-established, aligning with its therapeutic role and distinguishing it as the most accurate pairing here.