The nurse reviews newly entered prescriptions for assigned clients. Which prescriptions require follow-up before implementation? Highlight the findings that present an immediate safety concern.
Highlight in Table
Choose your responses, then check the answer.
Explanation
Clarify prescriptions that conflict with current respiratory, bleeding, glucose, or infusion-safety data. A nurse should pause an unsafe order and use the chain of communication before implementation.
Quick answer Clarify the morphine order for a respiratory rate of 8/min, enoxaparin with platelets of 38,000/mm³, rapid-acting insulin when glucose is 68 mg/dL and food is unavailable, and concentrated potassium chloride ordered by IV push.
Why this is correct Each selected prescription bypasses a current safety barrier. Opioids can worsen respiratory depression, anticoagulation can compound severe thrombocytopenia, rapid-acting insulin can deepen hypoglycemia without carbohydrate, and concentrated potassium chloride must be diluted and infused rather than injected directly.[2]
Easy analogy or mental picture Think of the nurse as the final gate before a medication reaches the client. A red warning light means close the gate, verify the data, and call through the approved chain; it does not mean silently cancel treatment or invent a replacement order.
Memory hook Breathing, bleeding, glucose, and IV concentration: stop at the red signal.
NCLEX decision rule When an order conflicts with the client's current assessment or a nonnegotiable administration rule, hold implementation and clarify. Do not carry out a dangerous order merely because it appears in the electronic record.
Why the other choices are wrong The remaining prescriptions include the necessary indication, monitoring, route, or hold parameter and fit the displayed client data. They still require routine medication checks, but the record does not show the same immediate contradiction.
References
[1]
NCSBN: 2026 NCLEX-RN Test PlanNational Council of State Boards of Nursing
[2]
FDA: Potassium Chloride for Injection ConcentrateU.S. Food and Drug Administration