Alright, let's talk about all the different types of antibiotics. Let's talk about sulfanamides, commonly known as sulfa drugs. You can recognize these medications easily by the prefix of sulfa.
Let's look at the mechanism of action for sulfas. They inhibit folic acid production by the bacteria. The bacteria needs folic acid to continue growing. So this ultimately slows the growth of the bacteria in the body.
Remember, sulfanamides are bacteriostatic, meaning they slow the growth of the bacteria. Let's look at the must-know side effects of sulfa drugs. You can remember this by the S's of sulfas. We have a sour stomach, sunburn, stones, and Steven Johnson syndrome. The first S is a sour stomach.
Things like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. loss of appetite, and abdominal tenderness. The next S is sunburn or photosensitivity.
You can remember the medications that cause photosensitivity by the memory trick fear the sun. Next S is stones. Sulfas can also cause something called crystal urea. This occurs when a patient becomes dehydrated while on this medication, and crystal formation in the renal system can lead to kidney stones.
And finally, the last S is for Steven Johnson Syndrome or SJS. Remember, the signs here are a red blistering rash and flu-like symptoms. The patient should stop the medication immediately if symptoms of SJS occur.
We want to educate our patients taking sulfa drugs to make some diet modifications. They should increase their fluids to decrease the risk for kidney stones. They should take a folic acid supplement daily.
Remember, these medications inhibit folic acid synthesis. We have another cross-sensitivity alert. So you want to assess allergies to sulfa drugs, sulfanurea medications such as Glyburide, sulfa derivatives such as diuretics, specifically thiazide and loop diuretics such as furosemide. Let's look at some of the most commonly tested on related to sulfa drugs. These medications inhibit folic acid synthesis and production by the bacteria.
That's why the patient should be instructed to take folic acid daily. You can remember the side effects of sulfa drugs by the S's. Sour stomach, sunburn, stones, and Steven Johnson syndrome or SJS. Again, we have a cross-sensitivity alert to sulfa drugs.
sulfanarylureas, and sulfa derivatives. If you want the rest of this video, check out Nurse in the Making Plus. This includes access to our growing video library, interactive worksheets that go with each video, and practice questions. You can get access to Nurse in the Making Plus with the Complete Nursing School Bundle.
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