Question

A charge nurse is observing a staff nurse prepare 1 ml of intravenous digoxin for a client with heart failure. After the staff nurse prepares the medication, the nurse notices precipitate in the syringe. Which action by the staff nurse likely caused this reaction?

D5W was used as the diluent.

The medication was not allowed to reach room temperature.

The medication was added to 1 mL of diluent.

Air was not inserted into the vial.

Answer 1

The staff nurse likely caused the reaction by adding the medication to the diluent without allowing it to reach room temperature.

Step-by-step explanation:

The staff nurse likely caused the reaction by adding the medication to the diluent without allowing it to reach room temperature. When a medication is mixed with a diluent, it is important for both substances to be at the same temperature to prevent any chemical reactions or precipitates from occurring.

In this case, if the medication was added to the diluent without allowing it to reach room temperature, it could have caused a reaction that resulted in the appearance of precipitate in the syringe. To avoid this, the medication should be allowed to reach room temperature before being added to the diluent.