A nurse is caring for a client who is febrile. The nurse knows that the client needs an antipyretic medication. The nurse should check in which area of the MAR for this order?

Choice A reason: Antipyretics lower fever; Dilaudid relieves pain, not fever. This choice errors per nursing pharmacology. It’s universally distinct, unrelated to analgesic purpose.

Choice B reason: Dilaudid, an opioid analgesic, manages pain effectively. This aligns with nursing pharmacology standards precisely. It’s universally recognized, distinctly applied for pain relief.

Choice C reason: Antidepressants treat mood; Dilaudid targets pain instead. This choice misaligns with nursing standards. It’s universally distinct, off-target for Dilaudid’s role.

Choice D reason: Antibiotics combat infection; Dilaudid addresses pain only. This errors per nursing pharmacology principles. It’s universally distinct, missing analgesic classification.

Choice A reason: Bactericidal drugs, like penicillin, directly kill bacteria by disrupting cell walls or metabolism. This matches the question’s definition, ensuring effective infection control. It aligns with nursing pharmacology standards for classifying drugs that destroy bacteria, a critical distinction in treatment, universally recognized and distinctly applied in practice.

Choice B reason: Antineoplastic drugs target cancer cells, not bacteria, focusing on tumor growth inhibition. Destroying bacteria is bactericidal, not antineoplastic. This misidentifies the drug’s purpose, conflicting with nursing pharmacology principles. It’s irrelevant to bacterial destruction, a clear error in classification universally understood in healthcare.

Choice C reason: Analgesics relieve pain, lacking action against bacteria. Bactericidal drugs kill bacteria, not manage symptoms. This choice misaligns with the question’s focus on destruction, per nursing pharmacology standards. It fails to address infection, a distinct mismatch universally recognized in drug categorization.

Choice D reason: Bacteriostatic drugs inhibit bacterial growth, not destroy them outright. Bactericidal agents kill directly, per nursing terminology. This errors by suggesting stasis over destruction, contradicting the question’s intent. It’s a common distinction in pharmacology, universally applied for effective infection management.