Albuterol Mechanism of Action, Side Effects, and Assessments
In this video you’ll learn about albuterol we’ll break down albuterol’s mechanism of action the possible side effects for it and what you as the nurse or nursing student will be assessing for pharmacology can be challenging to learn in nursing school right so we are going to break it down super simple for you my friend step by step so that you can finally understand
It and really start critically thinking about it and if you need more help with learning pharmacology in nursing school be sure to download this free pharmacology cheat sheet that we have for you that walks you through how to learn pharmacology faster step by step the link is down below in the description for you to check that out now i’m going to pass you on over
To our lead nurse nicole who’s going to walk you through all of this hit that subscribe button and click the notification bell let’s dive in so today we’re going to talk about albuterol the generic name albuterol and the trade names are pro-air pro-vental and ventalin albuterol’s pharmacologic class is a beta-2 adrenergic agonist and the therapeutic class is
A bronchodilator now albuterol’s indications are what it’s usually given for are breathing difficulties such as wheezing shortness of breath cough and chest taintness that can be associated with asthma or copd which is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease it can also be given as a preventative to patients who have difficulty breathing with exercise to help them
Improve their breathing during exercise the mechanism of action of albuterol is that it binds to beta-2 adrenergic receptors which work within the lungs and cause them to relax or expand also known as bronchodilation this smooth muscle relaxation of the airways helped helps to improve that gas exchange there’s also some effect on the beta 1 receptors which are in
The heart the therapeutic effect of all of this is that albuterol helps to relax the airways causing them to expand and this in turn improves breathing some side effects you’re going to want to watch out for is that albuterol can cause some nervousness a tremor headache and hyperactivity because even though it only it mainly binds to those beta 2 receptor sites
It also has some effect on the beta 1 receptor sites and those are responsible for that fight or flight response you might also get some chest pain arrhythmias palpitations tachycardia and hypertension again because even though it mainly binds to the beta 2 it’s also activating that beta 1. that fight or flight response which increases your heart rate and gets you
Ready to act by increasing your heart rate increasing your blood pressure so those can all be some side effects that we see as well hypokalemia can also happen because of the release and activation of those adrenergic receptor sites it can cause an intracellular shift of potassium into the cells which leaves less potassium in the bloodstream causing hypokalemia dry
Mouth sore throat or thrush which basically is just white sore patches found in the mouth can also occur due to the irritation of the oral mucus lining because of how albuterol is taken your nursing assessment for albuterol you’re going to want to make sure you monitor their vital signs especially their heart rate respiratory rate and blood pressure watch for any
Widening pulse pressure so that’s when the diastolic and systolic um are very far apart so if your diastolic is 60 and your systolic is 130 that’s too far apart so you want to watch for any of that monitor their respiratory status assess their lung sounds respiratory rate and assess for any signs of labored breathing you’re also going to want to monitor their
Potassium levels and if therapy is increased acutely so we want to watch out for that hypokalemia it’s usually more common in an asthma exacerbation and we just want to keep a close eye on that if we acutely increase their albuterol intake some major contraindications for using albuterol would be patients who have hypertension hypokalemia cardiovascular disease
Diabetes glaucoma or a seizure disorder patient education when your patient is taking albuterol is that you want to make sure they take it exactly as prescribed and do not increase their dosage without consulting a healthcare provider this could cause a paradoxical bronchospasm which could leave them worse than they were before educate your patient to rinse their
Mouth out with water after use to help prevent that dry mouth and thrush the white patches and sores in the mouth that we were talking about be sure to have your patient use their inhaler correctly or it may not work as effectively it’s always a good idea to have your patient teach your patient how to use the inhaler and then have them show you how they would
Use it before the first time they use it just to make sure they’re doing it correctly if your patient’s using albuterol as a preventative have them take it 15 to 30 minutes before exercise to get the maximum effectiveness from the medication again some nursing considerations you’re going to want to watch out for with albuterol is that if there is an overuse it
May lead to tolerance bronchospasm or hypokalemia beta blockers can also interfere with the therapeutic effects of this because they’re essentially blocking the effects of the stimulation of those beta sites so monitor blood pressure very closely and watch for widening pulse pressure and that is albuterol if you want to deep dive into all of the other medications
Besides albuterol that you need to learn in nursing school do not miss out on the medication database that we have for you inside the nursing sos membership community now there’s three ways that i can help you more through nursing school number one download this free cheat sheet that walks you through the step-by-step process for learning medications faster don’t
Miss out on that and be sure to check out our nursing school pharmacology box that comes with over 120 flash cards with all of the must-know key information for all the medications that you have to learn in nursing school plus you’ll also get a medication reference guide to take to clinical super handy resource for you that has just the must-know information that
You need to know for all the medications that you will be learning it’s a really nice quick reference guide for you to easily take to clinical and find exactly what you need exactly when you need it and of course if you want me to hold your hand throughout your nursing school journey do not miss out on joining the nursing sos membership community my friend you are
Going to love it it is filled with step-by-step nursing lectures to help you understand everything faster for nursing school you’ll be more prepared for your exams now there is also a full medications database inside the nursing sos membership community for you the links to all of those things are in the description down below now if you like this video make sure
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The nurse that god created only you to be and i’ll see you next time on the nursing school show take care bye
Transcribed from video
Albuterol Side Effects and Mechanism of Action By NursingSOS
