The Nurse‘s Role in Pharmacology (Nursing)

00:01 So, let's wrap this video up and talking about, okay, what is my specific role as a nurse in pharmacology? Well, first, you have to be really good at assessment.

00:11 Want you to do appropriate assessment before you give the medication, during the administration of the medication, and after administering the drug.

00:20 So what does that mean? Well, if I'm going to give a medication, like, let's say, digoxin, that's a medication that directly decreases your heart rate.

00:30 So, it'd be really important that I take your blood pressure and your pulse before I give that medication.

00:35 The general rule is if your pulse is < 60, then I would hold that medication and contact the health care provider.

00:41 So that's just one example of appropriate assessment before you give the medication.

00:46 Now, while the medication was being received, if I was giving an IV, I'd want to watch the patient and for any response while I was giving the medication. And then after I gave the drug, If it was IV medication, I'd be watching their heart rhythm strip to make sure there weren't any weird dysrhythmias or problems happening.

01:05 So that's just an example with one type of medication, the appropriate assessment a nurse would do before, during, and after.

01:13 Next, our job is to evaluate the safety of the drug for this unique client.

01:19 Some specific drugs are really hard on the kidneys, or the liver.

01:24 So if I know the patient is elderly, or no matter what their age, that they're having renal problems, there are certain antibiotics that I would not want to administer without having lab tests… again, that's that assessment, and having a detailed discussion with the health care provider to make sure they're aware of this patient's unique characteristics, because safety is always our number 1 concern.

01:47 Now, minimizing and evaluating adverse effects is another important part of our role.

01:53 There are some antibiotics that you give that can be just brutal to your patient.

01:56 They end up with this syndrome where they have flushing and pain, and we know that we can do some things to minimize those effects.

02:04 When we talk about the antibiotics, we'll talk about that more specifically.

02:08 But just know, if you knew you're going to be flushed or have some pain, there's things we can do to minimize and evaluate those effects.

02:15 If we give the medication very slowly, IV, that will minimize those adverse effects.

02:21 If we pre-medicate with something like some acetaminophen, that will also help.

02:25 So that's another example of "I need to know what those possible adverse effects are, and do everything I can to minimize them and evaluate if the patient's experiencing them while we give it." And finally, our job is to educate the client and the family, depending on who's involved in the patient's care.

02:43 So here's the idea. You don't want to run to the patient's room as they're being discharged and give them a stack of papers that are printed off and call that patient education.

02:52 You have an opportunity to educate your client and/or their family every time you give a medication.

02:58 So everyone learns better in small bites of information that are repeated over time.

03:04 So that's the best way to educate your patients.

03:06 Teach them about their medications every time you give them.

03:10 Help your diabetic clients understand the role of insulin in their blood sugar management.

03:14 Help your hypertensive patients understand the role of their blood pressure medications and etc.

03:20 So there's your overall introduction to what pharmacology is and what your role is as a future nurse in safe and effective medication administration.