A Nurse Asking Questions

BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN · Jan 22, 2005

i am currently taking pharm and we were assigned a question our instructor says its like a case study of the week. she asks what are the different ways a nurse asks a patient "what kind of medications are they taking?"
so far i have:
are you taking more than one prescription drug?
" " any over the counter drugs?
" " any herbal medications?
do you try or drink any powered or liquid replacements?
does anybody else know of any other questions a nurse might ask, to find out what kind of medications a patient might be taking? please let me know, thanks:) :)

often times you need to be very specific. they may not know what otc means. many (especially the elderly) do not realize what they are taking are considered 'meds'. tylenol, aspirin, motrin, multivitamins, stool softeners (you might have to say 'something to help you go to the bathroom), alka seltzer (do people still take this stuff???), tums, maalox, milk of mag (just to name a few). you also may want to ask (regarding herbals), do you take anything from the health food store??

many do not consider these things to be medications (because you don't need a prescription), nor do they appreciate the interactions they may cause, (or the redundancy). i had a home care pt who was taking "excedrin" for headaches, on top of coumadin. some may not know, for example, that excedrin is aspirin and tylenol, and that it does the same thing as coumadin. same with otc cold meds.

i think it's hard to ask a 'general' question, as it depends on the pt, who is involved with their care, and how organized and involved in their care they are.

ENCHANTEDRN2B · Jan 22, 2005

often times you need to be very specific. they may not know what otc means. many (especially the elderly) do not realize what they are taking are considered 'meds'. tylenol, aspirin, motrin, multivitamins, stool softeners (you might have to say 'something to help you go to the bathroom), alka seltzer (do people still take this stuff???), tums, maalox, milk of mag (just to name a few). you also may want to ask (regarding herbals), do you take anything from the health food store??
many do not consider these things to be medications (because you don't need a prescription), nor do they appreciate the interactions they may cause, (or the redundancy). i had a home care pt who was taking "excedrin" for headaches, on top of coumadin. some may not know, for example, that excedrin is aspirin and tylenol, and that it does the same thing as coumadin. same with otc cold meds.
i think it's hard to ask a 'general' question, as it depends on the pt, who is involved with their care, and how organized and involved in their care they are.

well, thanks for the help your right about the patient not knowing what otc drug even means i don't know why i didn't think about that. thanks:rolleyes:

Nurse Ratched, RN · Jan 22, 2005

My college pt population doesn't think of contraceptives when I ask them if they are taking any medicines - they envision medicine as something you take when you're sick. I always add on a second question, "How about birth control pills, patch or ring?" About half the time, the answer is yes to the second question even when the answer to the first was no lol.

I do think it's important to remember to ask about things that might not be taken po.

LPN01112005 · Jan 22, 2005

You need to remember that it is usually best to ask your question in a way that will prohibit the patient from answering with a yes or no answer. In other words, instead of saying "are you taking any medications", you could say "tell me the names of any medications or dietary supplements you are taking" or "tell me about your daily medication routine".

ENCHANTEDRN2B · Jan 22, 2005

My college pt population doesn't think of contraceptives when I ask them if they are taking any medicines - they envision medicine as something you take when you're sick. I always add on a second question, "How about birth control pills, patch or ring?" About half the time, the answer is yes to the second question even when the answer to the first was no lol.
I do think it's important to remember to ask about things that might not be taken po.

Thanks for the info, I forgot about birth control. May I ask, what is a ring?

mariedoreen · Jan 23, 2005

Don't forget to ask about vitamins too... we're told to make sure and cover that and I can tell you all these years whenever I was asked about meds I always said no, because vitamins were not meds to me.

Nurse Ratched, RN · Jan 23, 2005

Thanks for the info, I forgot about birth control. May I ask, what is a ring?

Nuva Ring - lady partslly inserted hormone-containg flexible plasticky ring used for contraception :).

Forgot to mention earlier, I usually start off with meds, then ask about chronic medical conditions. If there's a condition without a med attached to it, then you can explore that.

mitchsmom · Jan 23, 2005

EnchantedRN2B, NuvaRing is a form of birth control:

http://www.nuvaring.com/Consumer/index.asp

mitchsmom · Jan 23, 2005

oops, jinx!

zambezi, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2005

Along the lines of "medication" I also ask about alcohol use, "street drugs" (marijuana, cocaine, meth, etc...), and tobacco products...

I usually ask the patient:

Tell me the names of the medicines/pills that you take at home...

Do you take anything regularly that you can buy at the store: tylenol, advil, cold/flu medications, etc...

Do you take any herbal medications...

Are there any pills that you doctor has prescribed to you that you no longer take that he/she dosen't know that you have stopped? (I usually only ask this one if the patient has lots of chronic conditions that the take things for)