Question

1)A nurse is caring for a patient scheduled for an operation. The nurse is required to administer drugs to the patient.

What should be the nurse’s intervention regarding the primary care provider’s order for this patient?

What information should a primary care provider’s order include?

Under what circumstances can the nurse question an order?

2. A patient in the hospital has been given cephalosporins and is having frequent liquid stools.

What does this indicate?

What are the nursing interventions when a patient receiving cephalosporins develops diarrhea?

Answer 1

When a patient on Cephalosporin (antibiotics) is having frequent liquid stools suggests infection due to Clostridium difficile. C-difficile produces irritating chemicals that can damage the bowel wall and trigger bowel inflammation, thus causing diarrhea.

Nusing intervention would include:

1) Stop the use of Cephalosporin (remove the causing agent)

2) As diarrhea can cause dehydration and electrolytes loss, advice patient to drink plenty of water

3) Prescribe oral metronidazole (250 mg four times daily) or oral vancomycin (125 mg four times daily) for 10 days to treat the infection

4) Advice patient to avoid milk products, high fiber food, or intake of any anti-diarrhea medicine