A nurse is completing a discharge plan for a 24-year-old patient who will begin taking phenytoin. Which information is important to teach this patient?

Question

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Because antiepileptic drugs can harm a fetus, female patients of childbearing age should be counseled about the use of contraceptives, which may also have drug-to-drug interactions with the antiepileptic drugs. Patients should be counseled that withdrawal of a seizure medication should be done only with the advice of their prescriber and not just when a certain period of time has passed without seizures. Taking a seizure medication is not a guarantee that seizures will not occur; managing seizures often requires experimenting with several different medications. Patients should report side effects and, if they are serious, should discontinue a drug but only under the guidance of their prescriber.

A Nurse Is Completing a Discharge Plan for a 24-Year-Old