The drug that i have chosen to do my presentation over is prednisone prednisone is part of the drug class of cortical steroids the trade name is delta zone it is well absorbed and it has a half-life of three to four hours the mechanism of action of prednisone is that it decreases inflammation by increasing capillary permeability and lyosomal stabilization there is
Also minimal mineral corticoid activity lyosomal enzymes are mediators of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases so with the increase in lysomal enzymes and prednisone it just helps keep inflammation under control mineral corticoids are a class of steroids the primary one is aldosterone which as we all know has to do with salt and water regulation the purpose of
Prednisone is that it provides relief for inflamed areas of the body it works on the immune system to help relieve swelling redness itching and allergic reactions it’s most commonly used for inflammation multiple sclerosis collagen and dermatologic disorders some precautions that we want to be aware of when giving prednisone is that it should not be used if pregnant
Pregnancy complications include cleft palate stillbirth and pre-term delivery so we want to make sure that we are educating our patients not to take this if they are pregnant prolonged use could cause adrenal gland problems and taking prednisone may cause thinning of bones or slow bone development in children so we do not want to give this medication to children
And also we want to think about something else that could be used for our geriatric patients because as we know they are the most prone to diseases like osteoporosis so because this can thin the bones we want to rethink giving that to them some side effects include headache and confusion dizziness and appropriate happiness changes in mood or depression fatigue
Slowed healing and seizures some considerations for nurses include hypokalemia and hypoglycemia we want to monitor the potassium glucose levels because these may occur they most likely occur on long-term therapy we want to make sure we monitor the weight daily as well as the intake and output and we want to notify the prescriber if the weekly gain of weight is
Greater than 5 pounds we want to do this because the most famous side effect of prednisone is fluid retention cortisol cortisone is involved in regulating the body’s balance of water sodium and other electrolytes which is why it’s a most famous side effect is fluid retention so something that we want to do as nurses is monitor the blood pressure because as we
Know changes in our electrolytes can cause changes in blood pressure also a way to control the fluid retention is eating potassium-rich foods such as leafy greens beans nuts dairy foods and starchy vegetables assessed mental status infection and adrenal function we want to assess for infection because prednisone mass infection systems so it can look like there
Is an infection present when there isn’t even after withdrawal so we want to make sure that it is in fact prednisone symptoms and not an infection that is present and monitor temperature some contraindications or precautions include pregnancy diabetes mellitus osteoporosis seizures children renal diseases acute myocardial infarction or ulcerative colitis as well
As many other things prednisone is best taken in the morning with breakfast because it mimics the timing of your own body production of cortisone taking it in the evening may cause difficulty sleeping we want to be aware of adrenal crisis occurring because it is a medical emergency caused by a lack of cortisol prednisone is only available by doctor’s prescription
The available forms include tablet solution and extended release this medication should be taken with food or milk to avoid stomach irritation and it should not be discontinued abruptly because as i have stated it is a medical emergency and an adrenal crisis some lab values to look at for prednisone is that it increases cholesterol sodium blood glucose uric acid
And calcium and it decreases calcium as well potassium t4 and t3 you
Transcribed from video
Prednisone By Maria Stephens
