Eight Suffix Families, Eight Predictions
A vertical eight-rung prediction ladder, each rung carrying a protruding stem tab on the left, a single mechanism glyph in the middle, and the nursing hook on the right.
Page 3 gave you the stem and the class. This page gives you the verb. Every hook below is something the nurse does, because that is the form the exam question takes. Run the ladder until each rung takes under ten seconds.
1 · `-pril` angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor A new dry cough is a reason to call the prescriber and discuss a switch to a -sartan, not a reason to give a cough suppressant. Facial or tongue swelling is an airway emergency.
2 · `-olol` beta blocker Assess the apical pulse for one full minute and hold per prescriber parameters. Never stop abruptly: rebound tachycardia, hypertension, and ischemia follow. Teach the diabetic patient that the racing-heart warning of low glucose may be gone.
3 · `-statin` HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor New muscle pain, weakness, or dark urine is reported the same day, because rhabdomyolysis is the harm. Ask about grapefruit juice and about newly added interacting drugs.
4 · `-floxacin` fluoroquinolone Teach the patient to stop the drug and call for tendon pain or swelling. The current label carries a boxed warning for tendinitis and tendon rupture, peripheral neuropathy, and central nervous system effects, and warns against use in myasthenia gravis.
5 · `-cycline` tetracycline Separate the dose from dairy, antacids, iron and calcium by several hours, because chelation blocks absorption. Teach sun protection. Avoid in pregnancy and in children under 8 years for tooth discoloration.
6 · `-prazole` proton pump inhibitor Intended for the shortest effective course. Long-term use is associated with low magnesium, reduced vitamin B12 absorption, higher fracture risk, and increased Clostridioides difficile infection. These are associations, not certainties, and the nursing action is to question indefinite continuation.
7 · `-sone` / `-solone` corticosteroid Never stopped abruptly. Glucose rises, infection signs are masked, and the patient goes home with the taper written down. A low-grade fever in a steroid-treated patient is a serious finding.
8 · `-terol` beta-2 agonist Tremor and tachycardia are expected and are not a reason to withhold the dose. A rescue inhaler needed more often than usual is a reason to escalate care, not a reason to reassure.
Margin notethe hook is always a verb. Tick boxes: one per strip, for self-testing. → BOOK 05 · P3
No magnesium or vitamin B12 value is printed → BOOK 07.
TakeawayEight stems cover a very large share of tested pharmacology, and each one resolves to an action the nurse takes.