Practice with a new question every day and build your confidence for the NCLEX exam
A client with heart failure is receiving furosemide 40 mg twice daily. Which finding indicates to the nurse that the client is experiencing a therapeutic effect of the medication?
Furosemide is a loop diuretic that promotes diuresis by inhibiting sodium and chloride reabsorption in the ascending loop of Henle. A weight loss of 1 kg (2.2 lb) in 24 hours indicates a loss of 1 L of fluid, which is the expected therapeutic effect of diuretic therapy in a client with heart failure. The other options may or may not be related to furosemide therapy but do not directly indicate its therapeutic effect.
Start your free account today and join thousands of successful nursing students.
I chose option A because furosemide is a diuretic, so weight loss would indicate fluid loss which is the therapeutic effect for heart failure patients.
I was torn between A and C but remembered that blood pressure changes could be due to many factors, while weight loss directly measures fluid reduction.