RN Nursing · Vitamins and Minerals · Practice question
A nurse is teaching a client who is pregnant and has iron-deficiency anemia about taking ferrous sulfate elixir. Which of the following instructions should the nurse include in the teaching? (Select all that apply.)
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"Increase your intake of dairy products to increase the absorption of this medication."
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✓
"Increase your fiber intake to prevent constipation."
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✓
"Drink the elixir using a straw to prevent staining your teeth."
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"Take the medication with an antacid if it upsets your stomach."
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"Stop taking the medication if your stools become green or black"
Answer & explanation
Correct: "Increase your fiber intake to prevent constipation." · "Drink the elixir using a straw to prevent staining your teeth."
When teaching a pregnant client about ferrous sulfate elixir for iron-deficiency anemia, two instructions are essential. First, increasing fiber intake to prevent constipation is correct because iron supplementation frequently causes constipation as an adverse GI effect; a high-fiber diet along with adequate fluid intake helps maintain bowel regularity. Second, drinking the elixir through a straw is appropriate because liquid iron preparations can stain tooth enamel; using a straw minimizes contact with the teeth, and rinsing the mouth afterward is also recommended. Increasing dairy product intake is incorrect and potentially harmful to therapy because calcium found in dairy binds to iron in the GI tract and significantly reduces its absorption; dairy products should actually be avoided around the time of iron administration. Taking the medication with an antacid is incorrect because antacids raise gastric pH and impair iron absorption; if GI upset occurs, the client should take iron with a small amount of food rather than an antacid. Stopping the medication if stools turn green or black is incorrect because dark or greenish-black stools are an expected, harmless side effect of oral iron therapy and do not indicate bleeding or a reason to discontinue the medication.
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