hey there future nurses it's Christine from nurse in the making and today we're going to talk about anti-hypertensive medications but before we dive in don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly videos daily nursing school questions and all things to help you pass nursing school so as we dive into anti-hypertensives I always love to begin by breaking down the word anti means against or opposite and hypertension is high blood pressure so in anti-hypertensive medication would be a medication that does the opposite of high blood pressure which is to lower blood pressure these drugs also manage chronic hypertension and decrease the workload of the heart anti-hypertensives is an umbrella term to describe different groups of drugs and depending on their category their mechanism of action or the way that they work will be different but they all target the same issue and have the same goal which is to lower blood pressure you can remember all the anti-hypertensive medications by the memory trick as easy as a b c d a b c the first A is for ACE inhibitors a stands for Angiotensin converting enzyme so ACE inhibitors is Angiotensin converting enzyme Inhibitors since this is a mouthful we just say ACE inhibitors to inhibit means to stop or hold back these drugs inhibit the enzyme which converts Angiotensin 1 to Angiotensin II the reason we want to stop it from getting to Angiotensin II because Angiotensin II is known to constrict the vessels which we clearly don't want because this causes blood pressure to rise so as we inhibit or stop this from working we are able to keep those vessels dilated and keep blood pressure down ACE inhibitors also prevent the secretion of a hormone called aldosterone this hormone causes our bodies to retain water and sodium which makes our blood pressure high but since ACE inhibitors prevent aldosterone secretion the body doesn't hold on to sodium in water which helps maintain a safe blood pressure now for the medication names of ACE inhibitors these are easy to remember because we are saved by the suffix Pearl is the suffix for ACE inhibitors here are a few to know enalapril lacinopril and captopril these all end in the suffix Pro here is a pharmacology tip instead of remembering all the medication names for ACE inhibitors just remember ACE inhibitors end in the Suffolk Pro since these are prescribed so frequently we have to know the side effects these are easy to Remember by using the memory trick Ace a stands for angioedema this is swelling of the lips eyes or face C is for cough this is usually a very dry cough and E is for elevated potassium levels something to note here is that the NCLEX likes to assess your knowledge on normal findings and dangerous findings so angioedema and an elevated potassium levels are very dangerous swelling of the face and neck can cause the airway to be cut off and elevated potassium levels can cause cardiac dysrhythmias both are very dangerous but as annoying as a dry cough is it's a normal and very common side effect of ACE inhibitors so it's not considered dangerous next we're going to cover arbs arbs are almost like a cousin to ACE inhibitors ARB stands for Angiotensin II receptor blockers remember Angiotensin II constricts the blood vessels so by blocking The receptors we cut off Angiotensin 2's ability to narrow the vessels again we are saved by the suffix you can remember the Arabs medication by the suffix sartan some examples are candaceartan losartan omasartin and Valsartan so again instead of trying to memorize all these just know the medication class for arbs ends in sartan since these drugs are similar to ACE inhibitors we want to watch for the similar side effects but these are often used for patients who can't take ACE inhibitors and are less likely to have a cough or angioedema okay so we covered a which is ACE inhibitors and arbs but next is B which stands for beta blockers beta blockers block beta 1 receptors beta 1 receptors are needed for the function of the sympathetic nervous system the memory trick is sympathetic think stress this system would kick in if you are running away from a bear this system is called the fight or flight system which increases your heart rate increases your blood pressure and increases your respiratory rate but beta blockers block this system which causes a system to relax which lowers the workload of the heart decreasing our heart rate and blood pressure once again instead of memorizing every single medication we look at our suffixes olal is the suffix associated with these so when you see olal or LOL think beta blockers because the heart is not a laughing out loud matter so we have metoprolol natalol propanolol and Carvedilol for the side effects of beta blockers you can think of the bees the first B is bradycardia and heart blocks the next B is for breathing problems beta blockers can cause bronchospasms which is why we want to ban these medications from asthma patients so beta blockers think ban from asthma patients the next B is for bad for heart failure patients in acute settings the next B is for blood sugar masking beta blockers can mask or hide signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia which is low blood sugar and the last B is of course blood pressure lowered we want these patients blood pressures to be lowered but beta blockers can cause blood pressure to be lowered too much causing hypotension if you need more help on anti-hypertensive and other medications you can grab the complete NCLEX pharmacology flashcards it contains over a hundred of the most common medications seen on the NCLEX and on your nursing school exams these flashcards have been used by hundreds of thousands of nursing students to help them pass their pharmacology class you can find the link in my bio to the pharmacology flashcards and a ton of other nursing school resources next on to C which stands for our calcium channel blockers these medications lower heart rate and blood pressure they do this by blocking the movement of calcium throughout the body calcium causes the heart to contract stronger calcium think contract but this medication is blocking the channels that calcium travels through which relaxes the contraction of the heart so these medications decrease the heart's workload increase the supply of the oxygen to the heart and relax the vessels some medications don't have any suffixes we call these outliers but here's a memory trick to remember the medications calcium channel blockers are very nice drugs B is for Verapamil n is for nifedipine and D is for diltiazam okay so a b c d the d stands for diuretics and digoxin which I'll cover in a different video because there's a lot to be covered in these let's talk about some nursing considerations for anti-hypertensives these nursing considerations relate to all anti-hypertensives in general you want to monitor for hypotension and orthostatic hypotension orthostatic hypotension is a drop in blood pressure with position change this can cause dizziness so we want to educate our patients to change their positions slowly you want to tell them to dangle their feet on the side of the bed or the chair before getting up if they get up too quickly it can cause their blood pressure to drop making them become dizzy and possibly leading to a fall next is monitor for electrolyte levels mainly potassium and sodium educate your patient to report any muscle cramping weakness rapid heart rate or unusual symptoms assess for angioedema which I mentioned previously is most commonly associated with ACE inhibitors this is swelling just below the skin and this is very dangerous when it appears near the eyes face and mouth because this could block off the patient's Airway educate your patient to take the medication as ordered meaning they should not stop taking their medication suddenly this can lead to something called rebound hypertension the best way to think of this or the best way to teach your patient is thinking of a rubber band pulling a rubber band tightly back and suddenly releasing it will make it snap sharply in the opposite direction meaning rebound hypertension is stopping the medication all of a sudden and snap the blood pressure shoots back up if they need to stop taking their anti-hypertensives it needs to be tapered you will see the word tapered on the NCLEX a lot in other words the rubber band or medication should be released in a controlled and slowed way this method will help the patient avoid rebound hypertension that's all for anti-hypertensives remember to use the memory trick as easy as a b c d a b c ACE inhibitors and arbs beta blockers calcium channel blockers and digoxin and diuretics if you found this video helpful don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel happy studying future nurses