Drugs Affecting Blood Pressure

Questions: 1. Why is Mrs. Morales on these drugs? 2. How do these drugs work together to address Mrs. Morales's underlying pathologic conditions? 3. What patient variables are most important to consider for Mrs. Morales when assessing her drug therapy? 4. Are the any aspects of core durg knowledge that are especially relevant to consider because they may interact with the core patient vaiables? 5. Which findings from the nursing assessment demonstrate the effectiveness of drug therapy? 6. Which findings from the nursing assessment demonstrate possible adverse effects from drug therapy? 7. What actions are indicated to maximize therapeutic effects? 8. What actions are indicated to maximize adverse effects? 9. What teaching is required for Mrs. Morales regarding her drug therapy? Do you need any additional data to determine appropriate teaching? Answers: 1. Mrs. Morales is a 62 years old lady who is suffering from Hypertension. Mrs. Morales has been advised to remain on lovastatin, hydrochlorothiazide and captopril drug therapy because she has a high blood pressure and is suffering from hypertension. 2. These drugs work together in order to address the underlying pathologic conditions of Mrs. Morales. These are used to treat high blood pressure. The main action of these drugs is to lower the amount of cholesterol made by the liver so that there is a decreased risk of heart disease, stroke and heart attack (Pemu Ofili, 2008). 3. The age of the patient, gender and body weight are important parameters that need to be considered for assessing the drug therapy for a patient. Other factors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, stress and diet also plays an important role. In this case, Mrs. Morales is non-alcoholic and she does not smoke as well. 4. Yes, there are certain aspects of core drug knowledge that are relevant to consider as they may interact with core patient variables. These include the complete information and knowledge about the side effects of combined drug therapy. For instance, captopril, hydrochlorothiazide and lovastatin should not be recommended to patients suffering from diabetes, liver or kidney disease and to pregnant ladies. 5. The following findings from nursing assessment demonstrate the effectiveness of drug therapy. These are reduction in blood pressure from the initial follow-up visit to subsequent visits and reduction in the serum cholesterol levels. Also reduction in weight has stopped and weight of patient remains unchanged after that. Regular exercise and dietary intake especially of low cholesterol foods is also recommended for such patients along with the drug therapy for effective treatment. 6. The possible adverse effects from drug therapy include complaints of cold and persistent cough in this case of Mrs. Morales. Depression, headache, dizziness, chest and body pain are some other effects which could be possible (Kapur Musunuru, 2008). 7. The actions which are recommended to maximize the therapeutic effects of drugs involve proper intake of daily diet. The diet should include foods which are low in cholesterol, like for example, in this case, the patient is advised to stop eating eggs and to eat the red meat only once in a week as these are rich in cholesterol. Reduction in salt intake and use of herbs to enhance the flavour is recommended. Also Mrs. Morales is recommended to do exercise and walk 1 mile daily. 8. The actions which are recommended to minimize the adverse effects of drugs involve proper consideration on the dosage, frequency and amount of drug as well as through which route the drug is administered in the body of patient. In this case, hydrochlorothiazide is discontinued when the drug captopril is introduced and also the dosage of lovastatin was reduced. 9. The teachings required for Mrs. Morales regarding her drug therapy include advising her to actively listen what all her doctor recommends about the name of drugs, their dosage and drugs which need to be discontinued during treatment. Also, she needs to strictly follow her dietary intake and do regular physical exercise. Yes, some additional data regarding the drug therapy is required to determine appropriate teaching. References Pemu, B.P., Ofili, E. (2008). Hypertension in Women: Part 1. The Journal of Cinical Hypertension. Vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 406-410. Kapur, N.K., Musunuru, K. (2008). Cinical efficacy and safety of statins in managing cardiovascular risk. Vascular Risk and Health Management. Vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 341-353.