Corticosteroids: In a Nutshell (Nursing)

00:01 Okay.

00:02 Let's wrap up, in a nutshell, this section of our video.

00:05 Remember the side effects of corticosteroids from head to toe, right? Moon face, facial hair, mood swings, buffalo hump.

00:13 Possibly, I'm going to have blood pressure that's up because I have, maybe, some extra volume on board depending on how much mineralocorticoid I have.

00:22 That weird fat distribution is my buffalo hump.

00:25 And right around my middle, my blood sugar is going to be harder to control.

00:30 Weird things on my skin.

00:32 It's going to be hard also on my bones.

00:35 Now we talk about the reproductive things.

00:38 I'm going to be less than interested in sex, mess with my cycles, maybe cause impotence.

00:43 Can just really wreak havoc on those hormones.

00:46 So, corticosteroids, what we're going after is to suppress inflammation, but they may also delay healing because inflammation is an important part of healing.

00:56 So keep that in mind, the patient has a wound or a cut that doesn't seem to heal very quickly.

01:02 Monitor blood sugar levels more often than normal if the patient is diabetic.

01:07 Cushing's disease and Cushing syndromes have the same effects on the body.

01:13 The disease is because the body's gone rogue.

01:15 The syndrome is because we've given you corticosteroids.

01:19 Higher the dose, longer the patient's on the therapy, the bigger risk they have for developing those adrenal gland suppression problems.

01:28 Now, the worst case scenario -- that's what WCS means -- for Addison's disease is an Addisonian crisis.

01:36 That's because their adrenal gland has been damaged and can't possibly produce hormones.

01:41 If for some reason we're off on their replacement therapy, they're going to have an Addisonian crisis.

01:47 The same thing happens in patients who abruptly stop high-dose or long-term corticosteroid therapy, instead of slowly weaning the medication.

01:56 They will also experience an Addisonian-like crisis.

02:00 So, that's your job.

02:02 Make sure you understand the impacts of corticosteroids, the risk to their adrenal gland, and how you can keep your patients safe, and help them recognize the early symptoms of danger.

02:14 Thank you for watching our video today.