drugs!

Good Job! That's one of the reasons care plans are so important for school. You get to spend time learning about medications that a pt is receiving and then apply it in the real world. The best is when you learn neat tips that are not really specified drug books....like the off-label uses. You may know that Benadryl is used for itching, anaphylaxis, or sleep, but did you know that it can be used as adjunct for migraines. It also has antinausea and antitussive (anti-cough) properties. It can treat vertigo and motion sickness. Ativan works great for pts with intractable vomiting. There are so many cool, little tips that you are going learn. Keep it up!

Oh, yeah! My mom has been an RN for 30 years now, and she's told me about how a drug is meant for a specific action but can be used for another. There was a patient, who had been in a deep coma for sometime and wasn't expected to come out, so the doctor had tried a certain drug (i can't remember what it was for but certainly not to bring a patient out of a coma) and the patient recovered! Crazy, but very cool. I'm not sure of the ethical practices behind that, but I imagine it fits into that category of doing whatever possible to help the patient. Benefits outweigh risks? Sometimes, I do overthink this and blend many concepts, like research, informed consent, and practice. It's scary that we can get in trouble for just about everything we do.

Thank you so much for that! It's those moments that really put our character to the test! I work to ensure I have a strong level of knowledge to assist in these kinds of things. :) I never really thought about nursing, in the way it's being taught. From a naive, beginners stand point, you just kind of look at it as taking care of people, with compassion. There's so much to it, and everybody is right, when they say it can't be described or defined in just one, simple definition. It's just amazing!

Learning off-label stuff is cool... I just gave Demerol for rigors. Only used it for pain control in the past.

OP, it'll really sink in the first time you have someone manifest the serious potential effects...

I'll never forget the first time I assessed a patient after Dilaudid and found her RR=6...

nor the first time I had a pt dump her pressure to 55/35 after I pushed some morphine...

Never forget... there's a reason that you need to be licensed to push meds