The nurse has administered a dose of codeine to a client for the management of postoperative pain. The nurse monitors for respiratory depression because ________% of codeine is metabolized and converted to morphine, which can cause respiratory depression in clients.
Record your answer rounding to the nearest whole number.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Chemical changes to drugs always result in functional changes. The products of drug metabolism, or metabolites, usually have less pharmacologic activity than the original molecule. On rare occasions a metabolite may have greater activity than the original drug. This is the case for codeine. Although 90% of codeine is changed to inactive metabolites by the liver, 10% is converted to morphine, which has significantly greater ability to relieve severe pain and has the potential to cause respiratory depression in clients.

The Nurse Has Administered a Dose of Codeine to a Client