Every person encounters drugs in their life. Sooner or later, you still have to take pills, syrups, give injections, etc. We are not always attentive and often do not read instructions on how to properly take this or that remedy. We rely on our own knowledge, the experience of the older generation, acquaintances, friends, etc. However, we don’t always do everything right and in some cases we can harm ourselves and our children. Let's look at the safety precautions for taking medications so that the treatment will only benefit us.
Can I take several medications together?
As a rule, drugs need to be taken separately from each other. When prescribing a medicine, the specialist indicates what and when our body needs. You don’t need to think that taking “harmless” vitamins with the main drug will not affect the process in any way. Therefore, if you are being seen by several specialists at once, let them know about each other’s prescriptions.
However, there are often cases when the effect of one drug enhances the work of another. Your doctor can also tell you about this. And read the annotation, perhaps it will also indicate which group of drugs can be combined and which cannot.
How and what to take the pills with?
Most often, when taking medications, we don’t think about what we take them with. All liquids that come to hand are used. However, there is a strict rule that all oral medications should only be taken with clean water. Not mineral ( mineral water react with medications, they contain a lot of microelements), not carbonated, not juice, not coffee or tea, but plain water. Alcoholic drinks and beer are also strictly prohibited.
However, there are medications that require consuming them with milk or other drinks. This is extremely a rare event and must be specified by a doctor or recommended in the package insert.
Correct form of taking medications
The annotation always indicates how to take this or that drug correctly. If the tablet is coated, then you do not need to bite it, this is done so that it dissolves in the desired part of the gastrointestinal tract. If it is a capsule, then its gelatin coating dissolves exactly where it is better absorbed and its action becomes more effective.
Chewable tablets or sucking tablets should not be swallowed whole, but rather allowed to dissolve in oral cavity, especially if these are topical drugs. Inside the body they will not bring you any benefit.
Despite these rules, exceptions are the use of drugs by children, when there are no small dosages and the drug must be divided into doses. But even this requirement must be specified in the instructions.
Keep to the exact times of taking medications
Recommendations usually indicate when the drug should be taken - before, after or during meals. However, it should be clarified, because the concepts before meals and on an empty stomach are completely different things. If you neglect this rule, the medicine will be destroyed gastric juices, which accompany the digestion of food and will not bring the desired effect.
If it is indicated that you need to eat before taking the product, follow this instruction as well. Because side effects Some medications may have an adverse effect on the gastrointestinal tract as a whole if taken on an empty stomach.
Which form of medication is most effective?
If you take medications in the form of tablets and capsules, then sooner or later our gastrointestinal tract will still report discomfort. Since, when they enter the stomach, they remain in one place and accumulate, which can lead to damage to the mucous membrane. Much safer for oral consumption are syrups or other liquid forms. They are absorbed faster and are more often recommended for children.
Other forms of drug administration (rectal, injection, intravenous) pass by the gastrointestinal tract and are immediately absorbed into the blood, which speeds up the effect of the drugs significantly. However, if the medicine causes an allergic reaction, its effect will be more difficult to neutralize than if taken orally.
One of the most modern forms, these are transdermal patches and systems with active active substance. In this case, the medicine is absorbed locally, through the skin. If necessary, its effect can be reduced to a minimum.
Be sure to follow safety precautions for storing medications. This is especially true for contact with children. After all, if a child overdoses on a medicine, it can be fatal.
Also store them at the temperature specified in the instructions, otherwise they will lose their properties, and in worst cases become toxic. And, of course, do not use drugs after the expiration date.
When using medicines 5 principles of safe injection of HP must be observed. ("5P"):
· right choice patient
correct choice of medicine
correct choice of drug dose
Correct timing of drug administration
correct choice of method of drug administration
Nurse Without the knowledge of the doctor, he has no right to prescribe or replace one medication with another. If a drug is given to a patient by mistake or its dose is exceeded, the nurse must immediately inform the doctor about this.
There are certain rules for issuing (administering) to patients medicines.
Before giving the patient medicine, you must thoroughly wash your hands, carefully read the label, check the expiration date, the prescribed dose, then monitor the patient's intake of the medicine (he must take the medicine in the presence of a nurse). When the patient takes the medicine, the date and time, the name of the medicine, its dose and method of administration should be noted in the medical history (prescription sheet).
If the drug is prescribed to be taken several times a day, in order to maintain a constant concentration in the blood, the correct time intervals should be observed. For example, if a patient is prescribed benzylpenicillin 4 times a day, it is necessary to ensure that it is administered every 6 hours.
Medicines prescribed to be taken on an empty stomach should be distributed in the morning 30-60 minutes before breakfast. If the doctor recommended taking the medicine before meals, the patient should receive it 15 minutes before meals. The patient takes the medicine prescribed with meals with food. The patient should drink the medicine prescribed after meals 15-20 minutes after eating. Sleeping pills are given to patients 30 minutes before bedtime. A number of drugs (for example, nitroglycerin tablets) must be kept in the patient’s hands at all times.
When performing an injection, you must thoroughly wash your hands and treat them with an antiseptic solution, follow the rules of asepsis (wear sterile gloves and a mask), check the label, check the expiration date, and mark the opening date on the sterile bottle. After administering the drug, you should note in the medical history (prescription sheet) the date and time, the name of the drug, its dose and method of administration.
Medicines should only be stored in the packaging supplied from the pharmacy. You cannot pour solutions into other containers, transfer tablets, powders into other bags, or make your own inscriptions on the packaging of medicines; It is necessary to store medications on separate shelves (sterile, internal, external, group A).
The nurse must know and be able to explain to the patient the change in the effect of drug therapy under the influence various factors- such as following a certain regimen, diet, drinking alcohol, etc. Taking medications in combination with alcohol causes unwanted side effects.
Alcohol taken with clonidine causes quick loss consciousness, a sharp drop in blood pressure and retrograde amnesia (inability to remember events preceding the loss of consciousness).
Alcohol in combination with nitroglycerin sharply worsens the condition of patients with coronary artery disease and can cause a significant decrease in blood pressure.
Alcohol in large doses potentiates, i.e. enhances the effect of indirect anticoagulants (dicoumarin and other coumarin derivatives, in particular warfarin) and antiplatelet agents ( acetylsalicylic acid, ticlopidine, etc.). As a result, heavy bleeding and hemorrhage may occur in the internal organs, including to the brain, with subsequent paralysis, loss of speech and even death.
Alcohol at diabetes mellitus enhances the hypoglycemic effect of insulin and oral antidiabetic drugs, which is fraught with the development of severe comatose state(hypoglycemic coma).
· The most common complication with any method of drug administration is allergic reactions. The nurse must always remember his responsibility for the patient's life when performing medical procedures related to drug therapy.
Prevention allergic reactions:
· Before starting the working day, the nurse should check the presence and completeness of the anti-shock first aid kit.
· Before administering the drug, the nurse should examine the patient's allergy history. It is necessary to find out whether he has taken medications in the past and whether he has had any reactions. When asking about allergies, you should keep in mind the possibility of cross-allergy. If there were reactions, but the doctor still prescribed the drug, its administration should be postponed until you consult a doctor.
· Just because a patient has not had any reactions to medications or has not taken them in the past does not mean that an allergy is not possible. It is necessary to find out whether the patient has risk factors for allergies. If any, you should consult your doctor to confirm the prescription.
· Under no circumstances should you test for drug allergies yourself!
· When administering the drug and after it, the patient should be monitored for the appearance of allergy symptoms. If you suspect the development of an allergy, stop administration immediately.
· The nurse should be attentive to patients receiving drug therapy. If a patient receiving medication course, complains of fever or skin rashes, you should stop the drug and call a doctor immediately.
· If you suspect anaphylaxis, you should act in accordance with the instructions approved by the medical facility.
Antibiotics
Remember! Antibiotics do not affect viruses and are therefore useless in the treatment of diseases caused by viruses (for example, influenza, hepatitis A, B, C, chicken pox, herpes, rubella, measles). Do not forget to read the instructions carefully (please note that when long-term use the antibiotic is used with an antifungal drug, nystatin).
Antibiotics used to prevent and treat inflammatory processes caused by bacterial microflora. The huge variety of antibiotics and the types of their effects on the human body was the reason for the division of antibiotics into groups.
Based on the nature of their effect on bacterial cells, antibiotics are divided into 3 groups:
1. bactericidal antibiotics(bacteria die, but remain physically present in the environment)
2. bacteriostatic antibiotics(bacteria are alive but unable to reproduce)
3. bacteriolytic antibiotics(bacteria die and bacterial cell walls are destroyed)
Based on their chemical structure, antibiotics are divided into the following groups:
1. Beta-lactam antibiotics, which in turn are divided into 2 subgroups:
Penicillins - produced by colonies of the mold Penicillium
- Cephalosporins - have a similar structure to penicillins. Used against penicillin-resistant bacteria.
2. Macrolides(bacteriostatic effect, i.e. the death of microorganisms does not occur, but only the cessation of their growth and reproduction is observed) - antibiotics with a complex cyclic structure.
3. Tetracyclines(bacteriostatic effect) - used to treat respiratory and urinary tract, treatment of severe infections such as anthrax, tularemia, brucellosis.
4. Aminoglycosides(bactericidal effect - characterized by the fact that under the influence of an antibiotic, the death of microorganisms occurs. Achieving a bactericidal effect is especially important when treating weakened patients) - are highly toxic. Used to treat severe infections such as blood poisoning or peritonitis.
5. Levomycetins(bactericidal effect) - use is limited due to the increased risk of serious complications - damage bone marrow, producing blood cells.
6. Glycopeptides- disrupt the synthesis of bacterial cell walls. They have a bactericidal effect, but are bacteriostatic against enterococci, some streptococci and staphylococci.
7. Lincosamides- have a bacteriostatic effect, which is due to inhibition of protein synthesis by ribosomes. In high concentrations, they can exhibit a bactericidal effect against highly sensitive microorganisms.
8. Antifungal antibiotics(lytic action - destructive effect on cell membranes) - destroy the membrane of fungal cells and cause their death. Antifungal antibiotics are gradually being replaced by highly effective synthetic antifungal drugs.
Antishock and anti-inflammatory drugs
The most common remedy in this series is analgin, but it should be borne in mind that it has a rather weak and short-lived effect. It is better to use ketonal (ketoprofen), which is comparable in strength to analgin, but is more harmless (one ampoule 1-2 times, maximum 3 times per day).
Ketans (ketorolac) have an even stronger effect; they are administered up to 3 ampoules per day, but not more than 5 days, due to the risk of developing gastrointestinal bleeding.
Local anesthetics
The use of these drugs is the best option for pain relief of serious injuries. Anesthetics such as lidocaine and bupivacaine last the longest (novocaine may not be used, since it is more weak drug by duration of action).
Remember! Some people may be allergic to local anesthetics. If a person was treated by a dentist and no problems arose during treatment, then most likely there should not be an allergy.
If a person has spent enough time in the cold long time, then to warm it up, as a rule, they use drugs that stimulate breathing and heart contractions - caffeine, cordiamine, sulfocamphocaine and others. However, if possible, it is better to limit their use or even eliminate them, since they cause too much harm to the body.
Ampoule preparations
Used as painkillers in the form of injections for very severe pain, for example, in cases of serious injuries (traumatic brain injuries, severe hip fractures, etc.). The use of tablets in severe situations will be too slow and ineffective, so in these cases intravenous or intramuscular injection drugs.
If you are going on a long hike, then you need to take a sufficient number of disposable syringes (volume 5 ml - for intramuscular injections, volume 2 ml – for subcutaneous injections) and bottle ammonia(to give to sniff in case of fainting and loss of consciousness).
To defuse the atmosphere of meticulous selection of medications for a hike, watch a video from a humorous program with the participation of a famous showman.
