A nurse is treating a client with opioid use disorder. Which medication is commonly used as a partial opioid agonist for treatment?

• A. Buprenorphine
• B. Methadone
• C. Naloxone
• D. Diazepam

Answer: (A)

Buprenorphine acts as a partial mu-opioid receptor agonist, so it activates the receptor but only to a limited degree. This provides enough relief from withdrawal and cravings while introducing a ceiling effect that lowers the risk of serious respiratory depression and overdose. Its strong receptor affinity helps block other opioids from binding, supporting relapse prevention and making it suitable for maintenance therapy in opioid use disorder. In contrast, methadone is a full opioid agonist with a higher overdose risk, naloxone is an opioid antagonist used to reverse overdose rather than maintain treatment, and diazepam is a benzodiazepine not used to treat opioid dependence.