Ototoxic Drugs – NCLEX Review (Nursing)

00:00 So, let's look at, there's our icon, right there. 60 second overview.

00:05 I've listed the groups of drugs here that are bad for ears. They're ototoxic.

00:10 Now, you already know at this point when you see the word toxicity and then what's in front of it, tells you what it's toxic to.

00:17 So, ototoxicity means bad for ears.

00:20 I've listed antibiotics for you, loop diuretics and chemotherapy.

00:25 Now, we're gonna move through this review fairly quickly.

00:29 So, I want you to know the pace is fast, but you can always pause and review what you need to know.

00:34 For this part, for this list, I just need you to recognize these are three groups of medications that can cause damage to your ears.

00:44 So, what do I do about that? Make sure you recognized those names.

00:47 First, know the categories, then try to fill in the families.

00:51 Second, know that we don't wanna give two of these groups or families of drugs together.

00:57 Anytime a medication has an adverse effect like this, you don't wanna give it with another medication that could potentially make it worse.

01:06 Now, that's across the board for any toxicities.

01:09 Okay. So, we've learned a couple things here.

01:12 You know you're gonna be looking for that icon because it's a great summary slide.

01:15 That tells you, "Wow, I want start with this one.

01:18 I'm gonna look for that because this is information I need to know." Most important on any exam, whether you're nursing school or the NCLEX, is you keeping the patient safe.

01:28 So, you need to know things that are ototoxic and other toxicities which brings us to the review of our first question.

01:35 Now, we'll sprinkle these questions throughout our review today.

01:39 But let's take a look at this one.

01:40 The nurse assesses a client receiving cisplatin. Okay, that's the drug.

01:45 It is most important for the nurse to ask which question.

01:49 Well, this is a fairly short question but when you're looking at exam questions, you wanna make sure you slow down and are very focused on what the question is asking you.

01:59 Now, that last sentence, there's only two, but the last sentence, it is most important.

02:06 That's the most annoying word, because it's a priority word.

02:10 That tells you more than one of these answers might be correct.

02:14 They're looking for the prioritized. The most important for the nurse to ask.

02:19 So, it's referring to the drug cisplatin. So, before you look at the answer choices, you wanna be thinking, what do I know about cisplatin? What are the risks with it? What are the big key pieces about it? Now, when you look at the answer choices. Have you noticed any changes in your hearing? An obvious question would be to ask yourself. Is cisplatin ototoxic? What about the next choice. Do you awaken often during the night? Do I have any issues with insomnia or something that would wake somebody up if they're on this medication? Is there any swelling in your feet or legs? Why would I ask that? That's sign of edema. Is there any connection between edema and cisplatin? And then, are you experiencing any joint pain? So, is there any connection to joint pain and cisplatin? Well, now, that we've talked about the drugs that are ototoxic, you know for sure, that's the correct answer.

03:16 So, what do you take away for this as you're preparing for exams? Learning information is not enough, right? To become a great nurse or to do well on your exams? You have to think about, why do I need to know this information? How would it keep a patient safe? Well, the reason you need to know about ototoxic drugs is because you wanna ask your patients.

03:37 Have you noticed any changes in your hearing? Are you having a more difficult time understanding conversations? Et cetera.

03:44 So, take that information and do the one step that's gonna push you over and raise your test scores.

03:50 Don't just memorize information.

03:52 Think about how you'll use it as a nurse, and you'll see your test scores go up.