Cardiac Meds-so confused

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

So I'm already out of nursing school and working full time as a nurse, and I don't know my meds as well as I should!! While I was in school I had a horrible pharmacology teacher who actually got fired the semester after my class had him. My biggest challenge are the cardiac meds. I know basically what they do, which ones are for arrhythmias, HTN, HR, etc. But I am still so confused about beta blockers, calcium channel blockes, ACE inhibitors, basically what the function of each of these types of meds is. I need Laymens terms because I didn't understand it in nursing school and I'm still a bit lost. For whatever reason I just am having trouble fully understand these different categories of meds, so any help is greatly appreciated.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Private Duty Peds.

Take deep breath, now while at work, find out which meds are used the most and concentrate on those. Learn a few at the time. Try going back to you pharmagology book and make a list of the most popular, side effects, and make up your own little book to put on your clip board at work to use as a reference.

Ask your co-workers for advice, remember, there are too many drugs to learn everything thing about.

For example maybe do this:

Lopressor- beta blocker, slows heart rate and lowers BP. Can cause hypotension, dizziness, slow heart rate.

Norvasc- ace-inhibitor- used to lower Bp, reduces angina, can cause hyoptension, low pulse, edema,

Hope this helps some!

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Specializes in My first yr. as a LVN!.

Excellent website is ; http://www.medicalmnemonics.com/

Maybe using the mnemonics will help ... Im still having a hard time and I had an excellent Pharm. teacher and I still havent taken NCLEX!! So I tried using mnemonics and it has certainly helped... example; Ventricular tachycardia: treatmentLAMB:

Lidocaine

Amiodarone

Mexiltene/ Magnesium

Beta-blocker

good luck to you ....and always carry your pocket med book w you at all times ...

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Specializes in Med/Surg; Psych; Tele.

My advice would be to actually start with the major, broad classes of drugs first. Learn their mechanism of action and marinate over why they would be prescribed (see "indications" in your drug book). Don't pressure yourself. Start with one, or at the most two groups per day....

-->

OK, today I'm going to look at Calcium Channel Blockers....Learn all of the above info FIRST. Then, go and lock a few of the most commonly prescribed ones away into memory *AFTER* you have learned, again, how it (the general drug class) works and why it would be prescribed.

Another advantage of doing it this way is because you will have an established designation in your mind's file when you begin to see commonalities amongst the names.

--> Ex. Amlodipine and Nifedipine....Hmmm, both have that "pine" thing. Oh, I see, nifedipine is a calcium channel blocker. So I bet amlodipine is too (and it is).

Yeah, that's another thing. Don't just learn the brand name - learn both names. At least for the more commonly heard drugs. You should know that metoprolol is lopressor.

Also, not to be lil' Ms. Corrective, but I believe that Norvasc is a calcium channel blocker (not an ACE).

Good luck!

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Hi, hope this will help, most betablockers ends with "lol" like metoprolol, carvedilol, atenolo, bisoprolol, sotalol. They slow down the heart rate and are contra - indicated to patients with heart block.

Most ace inhibitors end with "pril" like captopril, ramipril, perindopril,quinapril, enalapril.They are use to treat heart failure and hypertension.

Good luck and take your time learning them.:nurse:

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ACE inhibitors are interesting antihypertensives - the angiotensin-converting enzyme (kininase) is mainly located in the endothelial lining of the blood vessels; and this is the site of production of most angiotensin II. The ACE inhibitors block the enzyme that converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II; this is how these drugs decrease vasoconstriction and decrease aldosterone production (so this reduces retention of sodium and water). And these drugs inhibit the breakdown of bradykinin, prolonging its vasodilating effects. These effects prevent or reverse remodelling of heart muscle and blood vessel walls. ACE inhibitors are used in the management of heart failure because they decrease peripheral vascular resistance, cardiac workload, and ventricular remodeling. They can cause proteinuria and renal damage in nondiabetic patients (they decrease proteinuria and slow the development of nephropathy in diabetic patients).

And the person might develop a persistent cough or hyperkalemia.

Beta blockers - decrease the heart rate, force of myocardial contractions, cardiac output, and renin release from the kidney.

Calcium channel blockers - these dilate peripheral arteries and decrease peripheral vascular resistance by relaxing vascular smooth muscle. They are used for several cardiovascular disorders (tachydysrhythmias, angina pectoria, hypertension).

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Specializes in Adult Cardiac surgical.
Take deep breath, now while at work, find out which meds are used the most and concentrate on those. Learn a few at the time. Try going back to you pharmagology book and make a list of the most popular, side effects, and make up your own little book to put on your clip board at work to use as a reference.

Ask your co-workers for advice, remember, there are too many drugs to learn everything thing about.

For example maybe do this:

Lopressor- beta blocker, slows heart rate and lowers BP. Can cause hypotension, dizziness, slow heart rate.

Norvasc- ace-inhibitor- used to lower Bp, reduces angina, can cause hyoptension, low pulse, edema,

Hope this helps some!

NORVASC (AMLODIPINE) is NOT an ACE inhibitor, rather a calcium channel blocker!!!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

GingerSue, you've got the right idea of what i'm asking here. As far as which drugs fall under which category, thats not too bad. With some review and a cheat sheet i'm okay with categorizing the drugs. What I am unsure about is what exactly an ACE inhibitor does or a calcium channel blocker or beta blocker. I need to know these in laymens terms, not each specific drug, but the general category of each. GingerSue has the right idea, so any further insight on this would be great. Thanks again for all you suggestions, keep 'em coming!

ACE inhibitors are interesting antihypertensives - the angiotensin-converting enzyme (kininase) is mainly located in the endothelial lining of the blood vessels; and this is the site of production of most angiotensin II. The ACE inhibitors block the enzyme that converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II; this is how these drugs decrease vasoconstriction and decrease aldosterone production (so this reduces retention of sodium and water). And these drugs inhibit the breakdown of bradykinin, prolonging its vasodilating effects. These effects prevent or reverse remodelling of heart muscle and blood vessel walls. ACE inhibitors are used in the management of heart failure because they decrease peripheral vascular resistance, cardiac workload, and ventricular remodeling. They can cause proteinuria and renal damage in nondiabetic patients (they decrease proteinuria and slow the development of nephropathy in diabetic patients).

And the person might develop a persistent cough or hyperkalemia.

Beta blockers - decrease the heart rate, force of myocardial contractions, cardiac output, and renin release from the kidney.

Calcium channel blockers - these dilate peripheral arteries and decrease peripheral vascular resistance by relaxing vascular smooth muscle. They are used for several cardiovascular disorders (tachydysrhythmias, angina pectoria, hypertension).

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

Another consideration is to purchase "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Prescription Drugs". I discovered this book the other day while surfing Amazon.com. The Complete Idiot series does explain things in layman terms for the novice to comprehend, and I swear by these books for basic knowledge from astronomy to religion (I love studying things independently). I also had a horrible pharmacology instructor. This witch was also the program director of my LPN program. Basically, she taught NOTHING. I had to take a seperate review class specifically geared in pharmacology just to pass the boards. Since then, pharmacology has become an obsession for me (maybe that was a blessing in disguise), and I have spent money on buying used pharm books for $1 to get a basic understanding.

My husband laughed, because he said "On, ANOTHER book on drugs..."..but I don't care. Amazon has it where you can search and read a few of the pages to see if that particular book suits your needs. At this point, I want it because I like the tidbits they share to help remember things. I do a great deal of patient teaching in my clinic and (while I do carry a PDA with a nursing drug guide), I really like to comprehend what the drug does in my own words, so that I can better explain to the patient WHY they are getting that prescription. Of course, everything won't be in there, but just enough to get you started.

Also, the Nursing Made Incredibly Easy series has a nursing pharmacology book. They may have the tidbits that you need, also. It takes time, you will not know everything, and there is nothing wrong with carrying a pocket drug guide with you to look up while speaking to the patient. I will usually start out with the common reasons for the drug, and if they have more questions that I can't remember, I pull out my PDA, or pocket guide to read off what they want to know.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

Ace inhibitors (if you notice, they mostly end in 'pril..eg, captopril) affect the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. If the blood pressure drops, the kidney secretes a hormone called renin, which will then, cause the liver to secrete angiotensinogen...then, it circulates in the blood, and when the angiotensinogen reaches the lungs, it converts to angiotensin, and basically the pressure rises. If there is too much of the angiotensinogen being secreted, the pressure will become too high, hence, an ACE inhibitor is prescribed to control it. I know it is a bit more involved than this (as mentioned by GingerSue), but those were the words I used to basically break down how they work comfortably enough for me. And, yes, they can cause a cough and increase potassium.

Beta blockers mostly end in 'olol', (metoprolol, for example), was already explained simply by GingerSue. Cautions with those drugs are patients with asthma, and they can mask symptoms of hypoglycemia, so, if a patient is diabetic, you may have to caution them to check their glucose more, since they may not realize that they are dropping low by symptoms.

Also, I think that she explained calcium channel blockers simply enough; keep in mind with them, to instruct the patient not to consume grapefruit juice with them (normally, I have read that a person may drink it at least 2-3 hours after administration, but I don't teach patients about that very often, because many of my patients are also receiving statin drugs, which have the same precaution).

Good luck, it does take time. Consider writing a few notes on the most common drugs you are administering in your area, and maybe write down one or two key things to trigger the memory. I am still learning...and I don't mind purchasing 'idiot' books to comprehend better.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Excellent website is ; http://www.medicalmnemonics.com/

Maybe using the mnemonics will help ... Im still having a hard time and I had an excellent Pharm. teacher and I still havent taken NCLEX!! So I tried using mnemonics and it has certainly helped... example; Ventricular tachycardia: treatmentLAMB:

Lidocaine

Amiodarone

Mexiltene/ Magnesium

Beta-blocker

good luck to you ....and always carry your pocket med book w you at all times ...

I am so feeling this! Thanks for sharing! I placed the site in my favorites!:kiss

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
ACE inhibitors are interesting antihypertensives - the angiotensin-converting enzyme (kininase) is mainly located in the endothelial lining of the blood vessels; and this is the site of production of most angiotensin II. The ACE inhibitors block the enzyme that converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II; this is how these drugs decrease vasoconstriction and decrease aldosterone production (so this reduces retention of sodium and water). And these drugs inhibit the breakdown of bradykinin, prolonging its vasodilating effects. These effects prevent or reverse remodelling of heart muscle and blood vessel walls. ACE inhibitors are used in the management of heart failure because they decrease peripheral vascular resistance, cardiac workload, and ventricular remodeling. They can cause proteinuria and renal damage in nondiabetic patients (they decrease proteinuria and slow the development of nephropathy in diabetic patients).

And the person might develop a persistent cough or hyperkalemia.

Beta blockers - decrease the heart rate, force of myocardial contractions, cardiac output, and renin release from the kidney.

Calcium channel blockers - these dilate peripheral arteries and decrease peripheral vascular resistance by relaxing vascular smooth muscle. They are used for several cardiovascular disorders (tachydysrhythmias, angina pectoria, hypertension).

Just wanted to say 'thanks' because I had a client a few minutes ago who was prescribed a calcium channel blocker for the first time. I visually saw what you typed up about them and quoted exactly what I remembered from your post. :cheers:

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