Ativan

I'm an ICU RN and have to say that I wouldn't give a pt a liquid to swallow when they are that close to death. I would have given the Ativan IV instead.

Why didn't she give Robinul to decrease secretions? Takes away the rattle sound and makes families much more at ease.

Not that I'm a graduate yet, but I also wonder about not giving Robinul or similar agent to decrease those secretions. The other thing I wonder about is giving oral ativan because if the patient's not moving any secretions, most of the ativan is going to be mixed in the secretions, not being absorbed into the body and therefore not being of any real use. Furthermore, I was under the impression that morphine would be a better drug than ativan for suppressing air hunger.

It just doesn't strike me as a usual thing. I completely (and usually do) reserve the right to be wrong about this and learn from it!

Depends on the diagnosis it is an anticholinergic so there are some dx can't administer it. Otherwise I would request the provider for it.

Are you sure it wasn't "atropine" instead of Ativan? We give atropine to help dry secretions on hospice patients. I agree Morphine would be a better choice; atropine drops and morphine.

There was a scopolamine patch PRN. I really needed clarification

Are you sure it wasn't "atropine" instead of Ativan? We give atropine to help dry secretions on hospice patients. I agree Morphine would be a better choice; atropine drops and morphine.

I am sure it was Ativan. I was standing beside her when she drew it up. A PRN scopolamine patch was available. Atropine was not available.

Thank you for the clarification, all of you. Thank you for the quick response. This is a great link. I am going to love being here and it's a comfort to know that this is available for my questions

Ativan (liquid) is sublingual if pt won't be able to swallow, more common scenario when patient is actively dying.

Agreed with above re: sublingual Ativan intensol. Personally, I think morphine would have been more appropriate for what you're describing.

What i do when pt is dying i sometime alternate intensol and morphine sublingual, for comfort..

We usually use scopolamine patches and atropine drops for secretions, although they don't always work. If the pt was "gasping" morphine would be good to decrease work of breathing. Ativan is not a horrible choice, but I would not have given it first based on what you're telling me.