A client diagnosed with schizophrenia receives fluphenazine decanoate (Prolixin Decanoate) from a home health nurse. The client refuses medication at one regularly scheduled home visit. Which nursing intervention is ethically appropriate?
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A
Allow the client to decline the medication and document.
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B
Tell the client that if the medication is refused, hospitalization will occur.
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C
Arrange with a relative to add medication to the clients morning orange juice.
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D
Call for help to hold the client down while the injection is administered.
The choice that aligns with the client data is Allow the client to decline the medication and document..
A. Allow the client to decline the medication and document.
This works since It is ethically and legally appropriate for the nurse to allow the client to decline the medication and provide accurate documentation. The clients right to refuse treatment should be upheld unless the refusal puts the client or others in harms way. Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment The underlying principle in the stem is best addressed by choosing the response that is both specific to the cue provided and consistent with evidence-informed psychiatric nursing practice. From a nursing standpoint, this selection guides assessment and interventions toward what is most clinically meaningful in the moment—risk reduction, safety, accurate appraisal, and support for adaptive coping.
B. Tell the client that if the medication is refused, hospitalization will occur.
This could seem tempting if the idea in “Tell the client that if the medication is refused, hospitalization will occur.” addresses a different mechanism or priority than the one emphasized by the stem The wording does not track the stem’s main cue, so selecting it would shift the nurse away from the most precise interpretation or priority.
C. Arrange with a relative to add medication to the clients morning orange juice.
This might be chosen when the idea in “Arrange with a relative to add medication to the clients morning orange juice.” addresses a different mechanism or priority than the one emphasized by the stem The wording does not track the stem’s main cue, so selecting it would shift the nurse away from the most precise interpretation or priority.
D. Call for help to hold the client down while the injection is administered.
This sounds reasonable when the idea in “Call for help to hold the client down while the injection is administered.” addresses a different mechanism or priority than the one emphasized by the stem The wording does not track the stem’s main cue, so selecting it would shift the nurse away from the most precise interpretation or priority.
Conclusion
The stem provides enough information to select the most accurate interpretation without adding extra assumptions. The chosen answer reflects the correct framework, and the remaining choices drift toward incomplete, premature, or misdirected reasoning.