Question

a detarrent t alcohol conSumptfon her fall 14. An 82-year-old woman has been taking a sleeping pill for the past 6 months to help asleep. What can you tell her about the use of hypnotic drugs? 15. Mary's husband John occasionally takes Dalmane when he has trouble sleeping. He came home late last night after a banquet and a few too many drinks; he took a Dalmane capsule because he wasn't tired and he had to get up early for an important meeting. At 8 a.m., John was sound asleep and Mary couldn't seem to wake him up. What do you think may have happened? 16. You receive a phone call at the doctor's office from Mr. Smith, who has a prescription for Antabuse. He complains that he feels terrible and has been vomiting. He claims to have just developed a chest cold and has taken a spoonful of Vicks cough syrup. Mr. Smith doesn't think the vomiting has anything to do with the cold. What do you think?

Answer 1

14. Being a nurse our duty is to serve the patient ,in this case the patient is taking hypnotics to induce sleep . I will provide health education to the patient regarding hypnotics . Hypnotics are those drugs whose chief function is to induce sleep . It is used to treat insomnia and some times in surgical anesthesia . They are also known as sleeping pills .

Nursing interventions :-

- Monitor vital signs of the patient

- Check for respiratory depression

- Raise side rails

- Observe for side effects like hangover , dizziness , lightheadedness etc

- Teach non pharmacological methods to induce sleep

- Advice patiens to urinate before taking hypnotics to prevent sleep disturbance

- Instruct to avoid alcohol , antidepressants , antipsychotics ,and narcotics drugs

- Avoid doing activities which need alertness ad proper concentration to prevent accidents and injury

15. Dalmane is a benzodizepine derivative . It's pharmacological name is flurazepam . It is a psychoactive drugs used to induce sleep . It should not be taken with other drugs and agents which causes serious life threatening side effects . Alcohol is one of the agents which have serious interactions with dalmane and cause life threatening side effects like unusual dizziness , lightheadedness , extreme sleepiness , slowed or difficult breathing ,and unresponsiveness . In this case also the same thing has happened . Marys husband has taken drinks along with dalmane capsule which caused him to extreme sleepiness ,that's why Mary wasn't able to wake him up .