Question

You are attending to a 26-year-old suspected overdose patient who is unresponsive. As part of your care, you administer naloxone to reverse the effects of the suspected opioid overdose. Immediately after administering the drug you realize that while the dose and the route were correct, the patient condition did not warrant Naloxone as per your local protocols. Your most appropriate next step should be to:

A. notify your medical control as quickly as possible.
B. take careful notes on the patient condition so that you can accurately complete the required documentation later.
C. continue to provide care for the patient and address any issues that the naloxone administration may have caused.
D. discuss the situation with your partner so that it will not be repeated.

Answer 1

Continue providing care to the patient after inappropriately administering naloxone, monitor for adverse effects, notify medical control, document the incident accurately, and discuss with your partner to prevent future mistakes.

Step-by-step explanation:

When attending to a 26-year-old suspected overdose patient who was administered naloxone inappropriately, the most appropriate next step would be to C. continue to provide care for the patient and address any issues that the naloxone administration may have caused. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist used to reverse respiratory depression due to opioid overdose. It is crucial to closely monitor the patient for any adverse effects, such as precipitated withdrawal, especially since the patient's condition did not originally warrant its use, but no analgesia, euphoria, or respiratory depression should occur if opioids are not present in the system. Additionally, A. notifying your medical control as quickly as possible is essential for guidance and to discuss the situation, followed by B. taking careful notes on the patient's condition to accurately complete the required documentation later. Furthermore, discussing the situation with your partner (D) can aid in preventing future occurrences.