NUR165 Test 1 Chapter 1-6Question 1A nurse is caring for four clients. After administering morning medications, she realizes that the nifedipineprescribed for one client was inadvertently administered to another client. Which of the following actions shouldthe nurse take first? Show Get answer to your question and much more Possible Active Learning Templates:Basic Concept: Medication errors; Patient Safety; Three Critical Points; Medication:nifedipineQuestion 2A nurse is caring for a client who is at 6 weeks of gestation and has pneumonia. While the nurse is obtaining theclient's history, the client tells the nurse that she takes the herb feverfew for migraine headaches. Which of thefollowing actions should the nurse take? Get answer to your question and much more
Possible Active Learning Templates:Medications: Herbal medications; Feverfew; Basic Concept: TherapeuticCommunicationQuestion 3A nurse is preparing to administer a medication to a client who states, "That looks different from the pill I usuallytake." Which of the following responses should the nurse make? Get answer to your question and much more Possible Active Learning Templates:Basic Concept: Therapeutic Communication; Medication SafetyQuestion 4A nurse in a public clinic is planning a health fair for older adult clients in the community. In teaching medicationsafety, which of the following foods should the nurse advise the clients to avoid when taking their prescriptions? Get answer to your question and much more Preterm labor and calcium channel blockers A typical pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks. When a woman goes into labor at 37 weeks or earlier, it’s called preterm labor and the baby is said to be premature. Some premature babies need special care when they’re born, and some have long-term physical and mental disabilities because they don’t have enough time to develop fully Calcium channel blockers (CCBs), commonly used to reduce blood pressure, can also be used to relax uterine contractions and postpone a preterm birth. A common CCB for this purpose is nifedipine (Procardia). Read more: What is preterm labor? » The symptoms of preterm labor can be obvious or subtle. Some symptoms include:
See your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms or feel you may be going into labor early. Causes of going into labor prematurely are hard to identify. According to the Mayo Clinic, any woman can go into labor early. Risk factors linked to preterm labor are:
Your doctor may perform one or more of these tests to diagnose preterm labor:
Doctors commonly prescribe CCBs to postpone preterm labor. The uterus is a large muscle made up of thousands of muscle cells. When calcium enters these cells, the muscle contracts and tightens. When calcium flows back out of the cell, the muscle relaxes. CCBs work by preventing calcium from moving into the muscle cells of the uterus, making it less able to contract. CCBs are a subset of a group of drugs called tocolytics. One study shows that nifedipine is the most effective CCB for postponing preterm labor and that it’s more effective than other tocolytics. Nifedipine can reduce the number and frequency of contractions, but its effect and how long it lasts varies from one woman to another. Like all tocolytic medications, CCBs don’t prevent or delay preterm delivery for a significant period. According to one study, CCBs can delay delivery for several days, depending on how far a woman’s cervix is dilated when starting medication. This may not seem like a lot of time, but it can make a big difference for the development of your baby if you’re given steroids along with CCBs. After 48 hours, steroids can improve your baby’s lung function and reduce their risk of mortality. According to the March of Dimes, nifedipine is effective and relatively safe, which is why doctors use it so much. Nifedipine has no side effects for your baby. The possible side effects for you may include:
If your blood pressure drops for a prolonged period, it can affect blood flow to your baby. Women with medical conditions that could be made worse by the side effects described above should not take CCBs. This includes women with low blood pressure, heart failure, or disorders that affect muscle strength. Going into preterm labor can affect the development of your baby. CCBs are a safe and effective way to postpone preterm labor. CCBs postpone labor for up to 48 hours. When you use a CCB along with corticosteroids, the two drugs can help the development of your baby before birth and help ensure you have a safe delivery and a healthy baby. |
