Tolerance and physical dependence can develop during appropriate medical use of opioids and do not by themselves indicate a substance use disorder.
Correct Answer
True
True. A patient with cancer pain may need rising doses and would have withdrawal if opioids stopped suddenly, yet not have a substance use disorder. A substance use disorder involves continued use despite harm, not just these adaptations.
Category: Substance Use Concepts
Question 2
Withdrawal effects generally resemble the intoxicating effects of the substance that was stopped.
Correct Answer
False
False. Withdrawal usually produces the opposite of intoxication. A depressant such as alcohol leaves the nervous system overexcited when stopped, while opioid intoxication causes constipation and pinpoint pupils but withdrawal causes diarrhea and dilated pupils.
Category: Substance Use Concepts
Question 3
Person-first language such as "a person with a substance use disorder" is preferred over labels like "addict" because stigma can keep people from seeking care.
Correct Answer
True
True. Stigmatizing language can make people avoid care, leave against medical advice or delay calling for help. Nurses build trust with neutral, person-first wording.
Category: Substance Use Concepts
Question 4
A nicotine patch should be applied to the same skin site each day so that absorption stays consistent.
Correct Answer
False
False. Patients rotate nicotine patch sites, placing each new patch on clean, dry, hairless skin in a different spot, because reusing one site increases skin irritation. Mild redness or itching under the patch is a common local effect.
Category: Nicotine Cessation Drugs
Question 5
A person who stops using opioids for a time, such as during residential treatment, is at high risk of overdose if they return to their former dose.
Correct Answer
True
True. Tolerance fades during abstinence, so a dose the person once handled can now cause severe respiratory depression. This is why overdose education and naloxone matter at discharge.
Category: Opioid Overdose Reversal
Question 6
Naloxone is taken every day as maintenance therapy to reduce opioid cravings.
Correct Answer
False
False. Naloxone is an emergency rescue drug that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. Daily relapse prevention uses drugs such as naltrexone, buprenorphine or methadone.
Category: Opioid Overdose Reversal
Question 7
The naloxone in sublingual buprenorphine-naloxone is poorly absorbed when the product is taken as directed, but it can cause withdrawal if the product is injected.
Correct Answer
True
True. Naloxone has poor bioavailability by mouth, so it has little effect when the film or tablet dissolves under the tongue. Injected, it blocks buprenorphine's euphoria and can precipitate withdrawal in an opioid-dependent person, which deters misuse.
Category: Opioid Use Disorder Drugs
Question 8
Every patient who takes methadone is being treated for opioid use disorder.
Correct Answer
False
False. Methadone is also used to treat chronic pain, so the nurse should not assume a patient taking it has opioid use disorder. The indication should be confirmed like any other medication history.
Category: Opioid Use Disorder Drugs
Question 9
Buprenorphine has a greater safety margin for respiratory depression than methadone.
Correct Answer
True
True. As a partial agonist, buprenorphine has a ceiling on its respiratory depressant effect, which is part of why it can be prescribed in office practice. It can still cause dangerous respiratory depression, especially with other CNS depressants or if a child swallows it.
Category: Opioid Use Disorder Drugs
Question 10
Benzodiazepines can be combined safely with opioids because the two drug classes act on different receptors.
Correct Answer
False
False. Taking benzodiazepines with opioids can cause profound sedation, respiratory depression, coma and death, which is the subject of an FDA boxed warning. Their CNS depressant effects add together even though their receptors differ.
Category: Alcohol Withdrawal Drugs
Question 11
Chlordiazepoxide's long half-life can let it accumulate in the body and cause oversedation.
Correct Answer
True
True. The long half-life smooths out withdrawal but lets the drug build up, especially if the patient also drinks. Sedation and memory impairment are expected, and older adults are especially sensitive.
Category: Alcohol Withdrawal Drugs
Question 12
Disulfiram is used to treat the symptoms of acute alcohol withdrawal.
Correct Answer
False
False. Disulfiram is a deterrent that helps maintain abstinence by making drinking unpleasant. It does nothing for withdrawal, which is treated with benzodiazepines.
Category: Alcohol Deterrent Therapy
Question 13
A reaction to alcohol can still occur for some time after the last dose of disulfiram, so alcohol is avoided after the drug is stopped.
Correct Answer
True
True. Disulfiram irreversibly inhibits the enzyme that clears acetaldehyde, so the effect lasts until the body makes new enzyme. Patients should keep avoiding alcohol for a period after stopping the drug, as their prescriber directs.
Category: Alcohol Deterrent Therapy
Question 14
Older adults are less sensitive than younger adults to the sedating effects of benzodiazepines.
Correct Answer
False
False. Older adults are more sensitive to benzodiazepine sedation and should be assessed for confusion, cognitive impairment and fall risk.
Category: Alcohol Withdrawal Drugs
Question 15
A child who swallows nicotine vaping liquid can develop seizures, dysrhythmias and respiratory failure, which is a medical emergency.
Correct Answer
True
True. Very high nicotine doses are toxic, and children are at particular risk from liquids and chewing tobacco. Nicotine products should be stored securely out of children's reach.
Category: Nicotine Cessation Drugs
Question 16
Systemic adverse effects of nicotine replacement therapy, such as nausea, dizziness and palpitations, are most likely when the dose is well below the patient's previous nicotine intake.
Correct Answer
False
False. Signs of nicotine excess such as nausea, dizziness and palpitations are most likely when the replacement dose is higher than the patient's previous intake; too low a dose instead leaves withdrawal symptoms. That is why the starting dose is based on how much nicotine the patient used before.
Category: Nicotine Cessation Drugs
Question 17
Varenicline commonly causes nausea and can cause vivid or abnormal dreams.
Correct Answer
True
True. Nausea and vomiting are common, and abnormal dreams and nightmares are frequent enough that the nurse should ask about sleep and dreams. Changes in mood or thinking should also be reported.
Category: Nicotine Cessation Drugs
Question 18
Bupropion can be taken safely together with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor.
Correct Answer
False
False. Bupropion is contraindicated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors because the combination raises the risk of dangerous hypertensive reactions. A medication history should be checked before starting it.
Category: Nicotine Cessation Drugs
Question 19
Irritability, anxiety, poor concentration and strong cravings are common symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.
Correct Answer
True
True. These symptoms reflect physical and psychological dependence on nicotine. They are uncomfortable and a major reason people return to tobacco, but nicotine withdrawal is not expected to be fatal.
Category: Nicotine Cessation Drugs
Question 20
Most of the cancer risk from smoking comes from nicotine itself rather than the other chemicals in tobacco smoke.
Correct Answer
False
False. Nicotine drives the dependence, but cancer and much of the lung and heart damage come from other smoke components such as benzene, formaldehyde, arsenic and carbon monoxide. This is why nicotine replacement is safer than smoking.
Category: Nicotine Cessation Drugs