Nursing Assignment: Risks Associated with Medicines and Interventions to Mitigate Them

Running Head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

NURSING ASSIGNMENT1
Response to question 1
The two risk factors that can be associated with the use of these medicines include
gastrointestinal effects and along with that these medicines can also cause dizziness or
drowsiness among the patients (Kaye, 2015). Oral medicines can affect the digestive system
in a number of ways and the most common form of that is the gastrointestinal effects.
Gastrointestinal effects are those effects that affect the gastrointestinal system and leads to
diarrhea, constipation, mucositis and along with the loss of appetite (McCormack &
Korownyk, 2018). Diarrhea is the most common form of gastrointestinal disorder that arises
due to the intake of medicines. This is because the medicines affect the gut microbes that
results in the improper digestion of the food. As a result of the gastrointestinal effects there is
loss of appetite that leads to the lesser food intake in patients. This also affects their health as
they do not get the proper diet that is required to get out of the disease condition. Mucositis is
the formation of mouth sores in the patients who are taking medicines such as citalopram,
amoxicillin or clarithromycin (Volk, Fisher & Fontana, 2013).
As it is clear from the drug chart of Mrs. Tong that she was taking citalopram which is
an antidepressant they tend to affect the neurotransmitters in the brain that includes serotonin,
dopamine, histamine, epinephrine or norepinephrine and thus can control the rate of sleeping
(Ciciriello et al., 2013). Excessive sleepiness is caused due to the sedating effects of the anti-
depressants and the other medicines that has been prescribed by the doctors to Mrs. Tong.
Along with this the patient used to take Atorvastatin that is taken due to the high cholesterol
level. However, Mrs Tong suffers from low blood pressure and ignoring this fact the drug
that is prescribed for her included Ramipril and Felodipine that is used to treat high blood
pressure. Thus the major risk associated with the use of such medicines is the extreme
reduction in the blood pressure leading to chronic heart failure of the patient (Brunström &
Carlberg, 2016).

NURSING ASSIGNMENT2
Response to question 2
The risks that have been identified above include gastrointestinal effects and the
feeling of drowsiness. These risks can be well identified by the nurse who is observing Mrs.
Tong very closely. In order to mitigate the potential risk of the side effects the nurse should at
first analyze the entire drug chart that has been prescribed to the patient (Cooper, 2013). This
will help in the better prediction of the patient’s condition and can also suggest certain other
medicines that can be used or substituted in place of these medicines. The nurse should also
consult with the doctors and should see if the dosage of these medicines can be changed or
reduced. The nurse can also talk to the doctors if there can be any replacement of any of the
medicines (Adhikari et al., 2014). The nurses thus, play a central role in the management of
the side effects of the medicines using the maintenance therapy. The nurse must be aware of
the side effects of the various medicines that is given to Mrs. Tong. The major intervention
that can be taken by the nurses include the regular checking of the patient. This can be done
by the continuous assessment and monitoring of the patient. For this the nurse should resort
to the modern day techniques such as using the smartphones for knowing every details of the
patients that includes recording their blood pressure to keeping an eye on the diet and health
of the patient (Bennadi, 2013).
The another intervention that can be taken by the nurse in order to control the
drowsiness felt by Mrs. Tong is the use of medication therapy that is the most basic and
primary method of intervention for the reduction of the most potential threat and also to
identify the benefits of the medicines for the patient. The harm from the medicines can arise
from the consequences that are unintended as well as due to a number of medication error
(Adhikari et al., 2014). As patient satisfaction is the major goal of the healthcare personnel
thus, it is very important to take care that the patients are getting the correct medicines that
will help them to improve the quality of their life. Thus, the proper management of the side