A patient is receiving a morphine infusion. Suddenly the patient becomes unconscious and the respiratory rate falls to 10 per minute. Which medication should the nurse anticipate administering?

Appeared in: NORCET-11 Prelims

Explanation

Naloxone is a pure opioid antagonist that rapidly reverses opioid-induced respiratory depression.
It displaces morphine from opioid receptors, restoring breathing and consciousness.
Naloxone is the first-line emergency treatment for opioid overdose.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

Option A: Naltrexone is used for long-term relapse prevention in opioid or alcohol dependence, not for acute overdose reversal.
Option C: Methadone is a long-acting opioid agonist used for maintenance therapy, not for reversing opioid toxicity.
Option D: Benzodiazepines are CNS depressants and can worsen respiratory depression; not an antidote for opioid overdose.

Related Visual

Emergency management of opioid overdose showing recognition of symptoms, airway support, naloxone administration, and monitoring.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: Knowing Emergency management of opioid-induced respiratory depression helps nurses interpret findings accurately and avoid errors in routine assessment, medication administration, and patient teaching.
Nurses must act quickly to reverse opioid-induced respiratory depression to prevent brain injury or death.
Naloxone should be available wherever opioids are administered.
What if? If the overdose was due to benzodiazepines, flumazenil would be the antidote, not naloxone.

How to Approach the Question

Read the scenario for signs of opioid toxicity: unconsciousness and low respiratory rate.
Recall the specific antidote for opioid overdose.
Eliminate options not used for acute reversal of opioid effects.
Select the agent with rapid onset and proven efficacy in emergencies.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Emergency management of opioid-induced respiratory depression
Stem keywords: morphine infusion, unconscious, respiratory rate 10 per minute
Lead-in keywords: should the nurse anticipate administering
Clinical cues: Sudden unconsciousness and low respiratory rate indicate opioid toxicity

Question ID

QiFNlXCtiss2uZrnBCPRZ4

Reference Book

E6 Pharmacology Nursing Lilley 11e Part 1 pp. 170-172, 166-168

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) p. 4584-4586

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