When a Patient with Hypertension Who Has a New Prescription

question 23

Multiple Choice

When a patient with hypertension who has a new prescription for atenolol (Tenormin) returns to the health clinic after 2 weeks for a follow-up visit, the BP is unchanged from the previous visit. Which action should the nurse take first?

• A) Provide information about the use of multiple drugs to treat hypertension.
• B) Teach the patient about the reasons for a possible change in drug therapy.
• C) Remind the patient that lifestyle changes also are important in BP control.
• D) Question the patient about whether the medication is actually being taken.

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Definitions:

Normal Distribution

A bell-shaped curve that represents the spread of a variable in a way that most occurrences take place around the central peak and the probabilities for values further away from the mean taper off equally in both directions.

Standard Deviations

A measure of the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values relative to the mean.

Crystallized Intelligence

The ability to use learned knowledge and experience effectively.

Primary Mental Abilities

Fundamental skills and cognitive functions such as reasoning, memory, and perception that are considered essential for intelligence.