Sedative Hypnotics: In a Nutshell (Nursing)

00:01 So let’s wrap up sedative hypnotics.

00:03 These are drugs that depress the central nervous system.

00:07 Most often we use them to treat anxiety and difficulty sleeping or insomnia.

00:12 Now there's three main groups of sedative hypnotics: benzodiazepines, benzodiazepine-like drugs, and barbiturates.

00:20 We focus on benzodiazepines because they're safer than barbiturates, there's less risk of developing tolerance and physical dependence.

00:28 There's lower risk of respiratory depression unless you use it with other CNS depressants.

00:34 So remember, don’t kick back a benzodiazepine with the big beer.

00:39 Examples of benzodiazepine drug names include Alprazolam, Clonazepam, Diazepam - which you probably recognize as Valium; Lorazepam and Temazepam.

00:50 Common side effects are sedation.

00:53 Remember these are sedative-hypnotic drugs, so if you’ll kinda sleepy, maybe a little light-headed, tired, drowsy, a little bit confused and some anterograde amnesia - that’s short-term memory loss when you took the medication.

01:06 It’s not safe to drink alcohol or take opioid medications in addition to benzodiazepines.

01:12 While the benzodiazepines have a lower risk for abuse there's still a potential for abuse.

01:19 Now Flumazenil is a benzodiazepine receptor antagonist which is really useful if you're having to treat acute overdose of benzodiazepines.

01:28 Remember to wean benzodiazepines and all Central Nervous System medications slowly.

01:34 You don’t wanna abruptly discontinue them otherwise your patient will experience some very uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms.

01:42 Thank you for watching our video today.