Hey there, it's Christine from Nurse in the Making. Today I'm going to be going over the most common types of antidotes. Here is a list of the top antidotes you need to know as a nurse, as a nursing student, and most definitely for the NCLEX.
So be sure to be familiar with these. If you're following along on your NCLEX farm flashcards, I am going over the antidote section of those cards and those cards look like this. Before we dive into these antidotes, first let's talk about what is an antidote.
Basically, antidotes work to reverse toxicity of a certain medication. If you break apart the word, it basically tells you what it means. Anti means against and do means to give. So this means to give against.
I think of it as antidote, think anti-drug. Not only am I going to talk about the antidotes, but I'm also going to tell you memory tricks on how to remember them. Some of them might be a stretch and a little bit silly but that's how we get through nursing school right so let's dive in our first medication is benzodiazepines benzodiazepines are sedatives that often end in zolam and zepan like the medications diazepam and alazopram the antidote for benzodiazepines are flumanazole you can easily remember this by thinking i flew fast in my mercedes-benz next is a medication digoxin this is a cardiac glycoside meaning it increases the force of the contraction, making the beat stronger, but slowing the heart rate. So it's not quite an antihypertensive.
This allows the heart to be able to squeeze more blood out during contractions. The antidote for this is Digibine or Digifab. It practically tells you in the name it's for digoxin because it has that dig in the word, like Digibine and Digifab.
Next is the medication Heparin. Heparin is an anticoagulant, meaning it's thin. the blood.
The antidote for this is protamine sulfate. You can remember this by thinking you will need help from a pro to stop bleeding out. Heparin, protamine, sulfate, get it.
Next is a medication, warfarin. The brand name for this is Coumadin and warfarin, just like heparin, is an anticoagulant, meaning it thins the blood. The antidote for this is vitamin K. You can remember this by thinking during war, vitamin K kills warfarin. Vitamin K plays a big role in blood clotting.
During warfarin therapy, patients are instructed to stay on a consistent vitamin K intake because if they increase their intake of vitamin K too much, it'll make the medication ineffective because well, vitamin K is the antidote for warfarin. Next is the antidote for opioids. Opioids are pain relievers also referred to as narcotics.
Example of opioids are morphine, fentanyl and tramadol. This is very commonly given because opioids have a major side effect for respiratory depression. You can remember the antidote, which is naloxone, the brand name Narcan, by thinking no more opioids. Next is the antidote for acetaminophen.
The brand name for this is Tylenol. This is a non-silicate medication used for pain relief and fevers. I'm sure we've all heard of Tylenol. The antidote for this is acetalcysteine, brand name Eucamist.
Acetalcysteine protects the liver cells and inhibits metabolism of acetalcysteine. by the liver. A gastric lavage is typically done first of the stomach and then after acetylcysteine is given through a nebulizer. It's pretty easy to recognize the antidote for acetaminophen because they both have the same beginning.
Acetaminophen, acetylcysteine. Next is the antidote for beta blockers. Beta blockers are antihypertensive that end in oolol like atenolol or metoprolol. You can remember this antidote by this little rhyme.
Beta blockers be gone. with glucagon. Next is the antidote for cholinergic toxicity.
Cholinergic toxicity can be caused by medications such as organophosphates and carbonates. The antidote for this is atropine. You can remember this by thinking we don't have time to chat.
We have a toxic situation. Cholinergic and atropine. Next is the antidote for magnesium sulfate. Magnesium sulfate is used to treat hypomagnesemia and it also helps prevent seizures in pregnant women with preeclampsia at risk for eclampsia.
The antidote for this is calcium gluconate. And since magnesium is often administered on the labor and delivery floor, I like to think of the antidote by Maggie calls for help. Next is the antidote for iron toxicity. Iron toxicity often occurs in children.
This is because iron pills or multivitamins commonly look like candy, the little chewy gummies, and they often swallow them and eat too much, which leads to iron toxicity. The antidote for this is defyroxime. Deferoxamine is a chelagin agent, meaning it removes metals from the blood and eliminates it through the urine. You can recognize this is for iron because it has fer in it, and this means containing iron.
If you've ever seen an iron... iron vitamin bottle or supplement, it says ferrous on it. Next is the antidote for insulin reaction. Glucagon works to counterbalance the actions of insulin.
You can remember this by thinking if you want your insulin gone, you give glucagon. on. Next is the antidote for aspirin.
It's commonly used for pain, inflammatory conditions, and it's also an anti-platelet. Aspirin doesn't technically have an antidote, but it alkalizes the body with sodium bicarbonate. So sodium bicarbonate is essential for the management of aspirin overdose. The memory trick here is when you take aspirin, you most likely have a headache and you also want a salty or sodium snack when you have a headache.
So aspirin with sodium bicarbonate. Next is the antidote for EPS symptoms. These symptoms are often associated with antipsychotic medications. The antidote for this is benzotropine, brand name Cogentin.
This is an anticholinergic medication, like I said, to treat those EPS symptoms seen in antipsychotic medications. I remember this by the saying, every antipsychotic is blocked with benzotropine. That's all for the most common antidotes seen on the NCLEX. If you don't already have...
these antidote flashcards. They're found in the new NCLEX farm flashcards. You can find the link to these in the description below. Happy studying future nurses!