Nursing Interventions for Multiple Drug Interactions for Older Patients - Essay Example

"Nursing Interventions for Multiple Drug Interactions for Older Patients" is an outstanding example of a paper on care.
Mrs. J experiences the following symptoms: she coughs frothy blood sputum; decreased breath sounds on the right lower lobe, a ventricular rate of 132, atrial fibrillation,  her peripheral pulses are at 1+, her PMI is at 6th ICS and faith generally, hepatomegaly is 4cm below the costal margin, her T IS 37.6C, HR 118, RR 34, and BP 90/58. She also complains of feeling like her heart is running away, feeling exhausted to the extent of not feeding herself, not getting enough air, and being anxious.

Nursing Interventions

The medications administered to Mrs. J were appropriate since they were made to alleviate her pain and give the body a chance to defend itself. For instance, IV furosemide is effective in treating hypertension in conjunction with enalapril and metoprolol pills. These pills, when used together, are effective in controlling high blood pressure. Enalapril helps to prevent constriction of the blood vessels; hence blood can freely flow.  Metropolo enhances blood flow, especially to the heart, therefore; stabilizing the normal blood flow. IV morphine sulfate is used in the emergency departments to alleviate possible pains experienced by the patient. For instance, Mrs. J was in an emergency department; ICU, although she denies any pain, it had to be administered just in case.

Moreover, an Inhaled short-acting bronchodilator was necessary for Mrs. J to open her airways so that air would freely flow. She had complained of not getting enough air. This intervention was required to open her airways. Inhaled corticosteroids are effective for asthma patients. However, Mrs. J has a history of smoking; there would be possible inflammation of the airways; thus, this medication was necessary to clean up the airways. Oxygen needed to be administered to her since she felt that air was not enough. Oxygen was made available for her to breathe.

Cardiovascular Conditions Leading to Heart Failure

Coronary heart disease is a high risk leading to heart attacks. This is a result of the accumulation of fatty deposits on arteries, which reduces blood flow, causing a heart attack. The nurse would advise the patient to stop using foods with high cholesterol. High blood pressure leads to heart failure. This is a condition whereby your heart works harder than it should supply blood to the rest of the body parts. With time the heart muscles become stiff or weakened a condition that leads to a heart attack. The patient would take antihypertensive drugs for medication. Abnormal heart rhythms are another condition whereby either the heart beats so fast or slow; these instances lead to heart failure. The patient would be advised to change lifestyle, do more exercises, stress management, and take a low sodium diet, among other interventions.  Cardiomyopathy is another condition that leads to heart failure. This is due to the damage of the heart muscles by a disease or substance abuse. The necessary intervention is for the patient to have a change in lifestyle; for instance, the patient would stop abusing substances.

Nursing Interventions for Multiple Drug Interactions for Older Patients

The nurse should obtain a pharmacist's recommendation to reduce inappropriate prescriptions. The pharmacist should be able to recommend fewer drugs that are effective for a particular condition. This will help to minimize multiple drug interactions.

Secondly, for the inpatient setting, automated alerts would be used to minimize errors in medication. Such a process would help the nurse to administer medication to patients when necessary. The system would be useful for nurses to administer medication when it is appropriate.

Moreover, the nurse should review the patient's history. This would help the nurse to administer medication appropriately by ignoring other drugs if they were recommended otherwise previously. This would help to reduce multiple drug interactions for older patients.

Lastly, the nurse would educate patients on the need to comply with medications, polypharmacy, and inappropriate prescribing. This would help older patients from having to take multiple medications, which would increase the risk of drug interactions. Patients should be tested and duly prescribed from hospitals to avoid drug interactions.

Health Promotion and Restoration Teaching Plan

Mrs. J would use a medical and educational plan for rehabilitation. First, she would be brought to speed on the causes, effects, and possible outcomes for heart disease and smoking. This message would be of great deal to help change her perception towards accepting the changes that will help to transition her health.

Moreover, she would be taught how to change her perennial actions of smoking and to skip medications. For instance, she would be given different tasks to do, which will take the time that she used to smoke. She would also be allocated a timer that will be necessary to remind her when to take medication. Regular check-ups should also be assigned so that the nurse would follow her healing process.

Method for Education

Mrs. J would be allocated regular check-ups with a medical officer.  The medical officer would be responsible for explaining to her the causes and effects of her condition. This would keep her in check if she has followed the instructions given and if she is taking medications. This would help to prevent possible future admission to the hospital.

COPD Triggers and Smoking Cessation

Smoking is one of the triggers that would accelerate COPD, and for frequent use as Mrs. J, she would visit a hospital more often. Also is she would be in situations where it would be hard for her to breathe, which would result in her visiting a hospital more often. For instance, places that there is the pollution of air would lead to this.

Moreover, she should avoid smoking since it is aiding in deteriorating her health more. Therefore, she should keep off cigarettes from her home and car and talk to a professional that will help in the process of quitting.