Anticoagulants

[xokelly2]

Hello....I am in my first six months of nursing (Telemetry) and i'm wondering if anyone knows of a good reference that describes in "laymans" terms the actions of the various anticoagulants/anti platlet agr. etc???( or if anyone just has any good tips) I often times see lots of stroke/cardiology pts who aren't satisfied with my explinations and panic that they will have a stroke if thier ptt/pt gets out the norm. I myself get confused let alone trying to tell the pt what is up. Coumadin, Heparin, Asprin, Plavix, Reopro, Integrilin, etc... and where they fall on the coagulation cascade. such as such. Any help would be greatly appriciated. Thanks!!! Kell

[bluestar]

Do you have Micromedex at your facility? If so, there's a "carenotes" section that will print out explanations of these meds, etc. that are pretty easy for the layman to understand.