Review the medication Nitroglycerin for nursing pharmacology.
Future rns we’re about to give you everything you need to master nitroglycerin for the nclex so if you want to knock the nclex out of the park keep on watching nitroglycerin is a vasodilator that is used to treat chest pain in this mnemonic video i will teach you an easy way to remember everything you need to know about nitroglycerin both for test day and in your
Clinical practice so let’s get started it’s the middle of the night and grandma is in the kitchen getting a midnight snack she’s in her nightgown of course as grandmas often are this night gown is going to be our symbol for nitroglycerin get it night gown for nitroglycerin easy right nitroglycerin falls into the drug category of nitrates let’s start off with talking
About how nitrates actually work while grandma was grabbing a midnight snack she discovered a robber in her house this robber was opening his drawstring bag to examine all the money and jewelry he just stole by the way this drawstring bag being stretched open should remind you of vasodilation since blood vessels are stretched open wider in vasodilation nitroglycerin
And most other nitrate drugs work by causing vasodilation vasodilation of the veins reduces venous return to the heart reducing preload on the heart while vasodilation of the arteries reduces resistance to blood flow reducing afterload on the heart so all in all nitroglycerin really reduces the work of the heart nitroglycerin also vasodilates the coronary arteries
Meaning the heart will get more blood flow and oxygen all of this should set up a nice foundation of how nitroglycerin is used clinically this robber chose the wrong grandmotto rob grandma here is a feisty one and she’s not afraid to kick the robber in the chest man that’s got hurt getting kicked in the chest is our symbol for chest pain or angina nitroglycerin is
Used to treat both acute and chronic chest pain due to coronary artery disease since this pain is caused by ischemia of the heart nitroglycerin relieves the pain here by reducing the workload of the heart and by increasing blood flow supplying the heart as we just discussed the treatments for acute and chronic angina are slightly different so let me quickly review
Them for you for a patient experiencing an acute anginal attack nitroglycerin will most commonly be given sublingually as a tablet that dissolves under the tongue one tablet can be given every 5 minutes up to a max of 3 doses in 15 minutes for patients going home with nitroglycerin tablets you’ll want to teach them to call 911 if their chest pain does not resolve
After the first dose now for a patient who experiences chronic angina it’s more likely that they will be prescribed nitroglycerin as an oral extended release pill or a transdermal patch like most patch medications the patch should be applied to the upper arms or torso removed every 12 hours and rotated between different sites got that great now that we’ve covered the
Clinical uses of nitroglycerin let’s move on to its potential side effects grandma thought ahead and before confronting the robber she snuck outside and popped the robber’s bike tires yep with those flat deflating tires the robber isn’t going to get far when you think about these deflating bike tires i want you to think about low blood pressure because the pressure
Is going down in these tires just like how our blood pressure goes down with hypotension nitroglycerin can cause hypotension which makes sense since we just talked about how it works by causing vasodilation reducing venous return to the heart reduces cardiac output and vasodilation of the arteries reduces vascular resistance to blood flow both of which lead to a
Decrease in blood pressure therefore at high doses nitroglycerin can cause hypotension presenting as dizziness lightheadedness weakness and flushing you should take your patient’s blood pressure before administering nitroglycerin and hold the medication if the systolic pressure is below 90. it’s also a good idea to have your patient lay in bed or sit down while
They take nitroglycerin to prevent falls caused by the dizziness after all patient safety is our top priority you know how back in the day parents and teachers would use paddles to discipline naughty people well grandma still has hers and in this situation that turned out to be a good thing she has used the paddle to smack the robber right in the noggin with enough
Force to break it clean in half this broken paddle reminds me of pde inhibitors you know since pde stands for paddle well actually pde stands for phosphodiesterase and this broken paddle is here to remind you of pde inhibitors which are strictly contraindicated with nitroglycerin and as a reminder pde inhibitors are your erectile dysfunction drugs like sildenafil
Commonly known as viagra why are these drugs contraindicated with each other well nitroglycerin and pde inhibitors are both vasodilators and if taken together they act synergistically to cause severe life-threatening hypotension it’s important to ask your patient if they are currently taking any phosphodiesterase inhibitors before giving them nitroglycerin after
Getting hit in the head with a paddle this robber is definitely going to have a headache in the morning which reminds me headaches are the most common side effect of nitroglycerin this is an expected side effect so no need to get worried and call the doctor for this one the headache can usually be treated with acetaminophen or aspirin after this encounter with
The robber grandma has forgotten all about her midnight snack look she’s left her freezer open and the popsicles are melting on the floor popsicles go bad when they’re left out of the freezer in the heat and light you know that’s similar to nitroglycerin in that nitroglycerin tablets are heat and light sensitive these tablets are usually kept in a dark bottle and
You should tell your patient to keep them in a dark cool place in order to prevent the drug from breaking down before we summarize what we’ve learned be sure to like this video subscribe for more great content and leave us a comment about what other topics you’d like to see us cover and visit us at pixarize.com well that’s one point for grandma zero points for
The robber let’s summarize what we’ve learned nitroglycerin is a vasodilating drug that is used to treat chest pain also called angina potential side effects include hypotension which can be potentially life threatening if nitroglycerin is taken along with pde inhibitors like sildenafil other side effects of nitroglycerin include headache and lastly nitroglycerin
Tablets are sensitive to heat and light and should be stored in a cool dark place and that covers everything thanks for joining me in this mnemonic video and i look forward to seeing you again soon
Transcribed from video
Nitroglycerin Mnemonic for Nursing Pharmacology (NCLEX) By Pixorize