Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Glucosamine stimulates the production of cartilage components and allow rebuilding of damaged cartilage. Studies have proven its safety and effectiveness in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Ginkgo biloba promotes arterial and venous vascular changes that increase tissue perfusion and cerebral blood flow. It is also considered an antioxidant. Results from clinical trials vary. Cholesterol-lowering effects, if any, have been shown to be small.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Flaxseed is rich in lignans, one of the major classes of phytoestrogens. They are estrogen-like chemical compounds with antioxidant qualities, able to scavenge free radicals in the body. They are also rich in soluble and insoluble fiber.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Echinacea stimulates phagocytosis and increases respiratory cellular activity and mobility of leukocytes. Echinacea is used to help heal abscesses, burns, eczema and skin wounds, and to treat the common cold. Echinacea may cause a rash.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
CoQ10 has antioxidant properties and is a cofactor in metabolic pathways. It is produced by the human body and is necessary for cell functioning. Levels are reported to decrease with age and to be low in patients with chronic diseases.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Black cohosh can cause nausea, dizziness, increased perspiration and bradycardia. It interacts with several classes of drugs, such as anesthetics and sedatives. It may increase the hypotensive effect of many antihypertensive agents.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Black cohosh has vascular and estrogenic properties. Some studies have shown that black cohosh binds to estrogen receptors. Therefore, black cohosh is used for dysmenorrhea and vasomotor menopausal symptoms.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Side effects of opioids include sedation, confusion, respiratory depression, itching and nausea/vomiting. Considered the most dangerous side effect, respiratory depression is seen not only in overdoses but also in patients who are opioid-naive.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
The duration of naloxone’s drug action is approximately 45 minutes. In most cases, this duration is shorter than the offending opioid and the overdose effect from the opioid may return, requiring re-administration of naloxone.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that competitively binds to opioid receptors. Naloxone is inactivated when given orally and therefore is given mainly by injection. Naloxone is indicated for treating opioid-induced respiratory depression.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Hydromorphone is considered more potent and more soluble than morphine. Oxycodone is slightly more potent than morphine. Hydrocodone is equipotent to morphine on a milligram-to-milligram basis.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Opioids increase smooth muscle tone in various parts of the GI tract. Mu receptors located throughout the GI tract result in reduced peristalsis and increased tone of the rectal sphincter. The overall resultant effect is constipation.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Opioids can cause respiratory depression due to both the drug’s actions on the brain’s medullary respiratory control center and the drug’s ability to suppress the medulla’s response to blood carbon dioxide levels.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Morphine is distributed throughout the body, and sufficient amounts cross the blood-brain barrier to account for most of its pharmacologic effects. Morphine crosses the placental barrier and is excreted in maternal milk.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Opioids are primarily metabolized by the liver. Morphine and hydromorphone are eliminated by the kidneys. In renal failure, morphine’s metabolites may accumulate and cause neurotoxicity, such as myoclonus, confusion and coma.