Sleep meds

[greysage]

are any of your patients experiencing "sleep med" weirdness?? such as ,walking the halls and "flashing" the staff and they are unable to remember any of this behavior the next day???? or they yell out and are confused as a bed bug ??? any specific meds you have a problem with? i have a feeling of impending doom after giving Ambien to anyone over the age of 40... from what i have read in it's literature, it should only be taken when 8-10 hours of un-interrupted sleep can be had...hmmmm....q 4 hour vital signs,pre-proceedure baths,med rounds in the middle of the night because someone decided BID colace should be given at 0400 and 1600 (???????) {this was done by a day shift nurse who has said on more than one occassion that night shift nurses don't give their "fair share" of meds}, serial labs that must be drawn...i always include "sleep deprivation" - observe for s/s prn, in my care plan...

any thoughts on this subject from my new peer group????

any luck in getting the MD's to change sleep med orders???

[PeachyOrthoRN, RN]

Most of our post op ortho pts come back with either ambien or restoril ordered prn. As a standing rule we don't usually give them to anyone over the age over 60 for the very reasons you mention. I don't know how many times they have gotten confused and almost gotten hurt because of those stupid pills. We even hesitate to give them when the patient regularly takes them at home. If we do give a sleep med it tends to be Benadryl not as many side effects, and for some reason tylenol works as well for helping them to sleep. Don't ask me why but it does. I hope that this somewhat answers your questions. :)