Fundamentals of Nursing Q 490
The nurse prepares to administer buccal medication. The medicine should be placed in what area?
A. On the client’s skin.
B. Between the client’s cheeks and gums.
C. Under the client’s tongue.
D. On the client’s conjunctiva.
Correct Answer: B. Between the client’s cheeks and gums
Buccal administration involves placing a drug between the gums and cheek, where it also dissolves and is absorbed into the blood. Because the medication absorbs quickly, these types of administration can be important during emergencies when you need the drug to work right away, such as during a heart attack.
Option A: An advantage of a transdermal drug delivery route over other types of medication delivery such as oral, topical, intravenous, intramuscular, etc. is that the patch provides a controlled release of the medication into the patient, usually through either a porous membrane covering a reservoir of medication or through body heat melting thin layers of medication embedded in the adhesive.
Option C: Sublingual administration involves placing a drug under the tongue to dissolve and absorb into the blood through the tissue there. These drugs do not go through the digestive system, so they aren’t metabolized through the liver. This means you may be able to take a lower dose and still get the same results.
Option D: The three primary methods of delivery of ocular medications to the eye are topical, local ocular (ie, subconjunctival, intravitreal, retrobulbar, intracameral), and systemic. The most appropriate method of administration depends on the area of the eye to be medicated. The conjunctiva, cornea, anterior chamber, and iris usually respond well to topical therapy. The eyelids can be treated with topical therapy but more frequently require systemic therapy. The posterior segment always requires systemic therapy, because most topical medications do not penetrate to the posterior segment. Retrobulbar and orbital tissues are treated systemically.