Infection
This is the priority nursing action before initiating empiric antibiotic therapy in a septic patient.
What is obtaining blood cultures?
This complication occurs when antibiotics destroy normal flora, allowing opportunistic organisms like C. diff to proliferate.
What is superinfection?
Even with this lab result, HIV is still present in the body.
What is undetectable viral load?
This medication is given after high-dose methotrexate to protect healthy cells.
What is leucovorin?
This lab value is most important to monitor for infection risk in a patient on methotrexate.
What is WBC count?
A patient receiving vancomycin develops flushing, hypotension, and tachycardia during infusion—this reaction is known as this.
What is vancomycin infusion reaction?
These antibiotics kill bacteria by disrupting cell wall synthesis, leading to osmotic lysis causing them to be bactericidal; including penicillins and cephalosporins.
What is beta-lactam antibiotics?
This symptom in a chemo patient requires immediate reporting due to infection risk.
What is fever?
A patient on methotrexate reports mouth sores and fatigue—these condition are most concerning for which expected complication.
What is bone marrow suppression?
The nurse anticipates this medication class before chemo to prevent nausea and vomiting.
What are antiemetics?
This lab monitoring strategy is required for drugs like vancomycin and gentamicin to prevent toxicity while maintaining efficacy.
What are peak and trough levels?
A patient taking tetracycline reports taking it with milk to reduce stomach upset—this indicates need for this teaching correction.
What is avoid dairy due to decreased absorption?
These three rapidly dividing cell types are most affected by chemotherapy.
What are bone marrow, GI tract and hair follicles?
This type of cell is targeted and destroyed by HIV.
What are CD4 cells?
These two toxicities are monitored for patients on cisplatin.
What are nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity?
A patient on ciprofloxacin, a quinolone antibiotic, reports sudden heel pain—this is the nurse’s priority concern.
What is tendon rupture?
This supplement is given with isoniazid to prevent peripheral neuropathy.
What is vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)?
A patient receiving gentamicin has rising creatinine levels and reports tinnitus. This is the nurse’s priority action.
What is hold the medication and notify the provider?
This expected harmless side effect of doxorubicin may alarm patients if not taught beforehand.
What is red-orange urine?
This medication blocks estrogen receptors in breast cancer treatment.
What is tamoxifen?
The nurse knows to separate the administration of oral antibiotics and antacids by this amount of time?
What is by at least one hour?
A patient with sepsis is started on broad-spectrum antibiotics. Culture results later identify a Gram-positive organism sensitive to penicillin. Continuing broad-spectrum therapy instead of narrowing treatment increases risk for this two-part complication.
What are antibiotic resistance and superinfection?
A chemotherapy patient presents with fever, low WBC count, and mouth sores. This is the nurse’s priority action. (2 things)?
What is notify the provider and initiate infection precautions?
You are caring for a patient receiving Interferon Alfa-2 and your receive an order to administer a live flu vaccine. This is your next action.
What is hold the vaccine and notify the provider.
This medication class works by inhibiting reverse transcriptase.
What are NRTIs?