Herbal supplements are a growing commodity today in alternative medicine. With people wanting to be healthier, many are turning to herbal supplements as alternatives to prescription medications
a. What should you know as a nurse assessing a new client?
b. What side effects are there with herbal medications and conventional medications or surgical treatments?
c. What is the main disadvantage of buying herbal supplements?
Students' answers should include the following:
a. A list of any and all medication and herbal supplements the client may be taking, along with any other complementary and alternative medicines he or she is currently taking
b. Some side effects with combining herbal supplements and conventional medicine or treatments may include excess or increased bleeding, enhancing cardiac medications, and decreasing or increasing glucose medications to list a few.
Discussion on combining herbal use with anesthesia drugs for surgery or other procedures can be considered.
c. Some disadvantages to discuss are the fact that herbal supplements are not FDA approved, which means, they may or may not be made of the same concentration of herbs between companies.
Discussion can also elaborate on the impact different dosages vary from the different suppliers.
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