Ferrous Sulfate (Iron) Nursing Considerations

Hi guys, let’s talk about Faris sulfate, also known as iron. This is an oral medication, as you can see here, but it’s also given in other ways of like, as an injectable. So remember when we talk about therapeutic class of a drug, we are talking about how the drug works in the body. While the pharmacologic class is the chemical effect for fair sulfate, its therapeutic class is an anti anemic while it’s pharmacologic class is an iron supplement. So remember iron is essential for hemoglobin, which we see here in the picture, as well as for Mylo and enzymes iron is transported to organs where it becomes part of iron stores. So guys, we give Faris sulfate for the prevention and treatment of iron deficiency anemia. So iron definitely has a reputation for causing constipation, but it can also cause diarrhea, skin staining and epigastric pain. 

So let’s take a look at a few nursing considerations for Faris sulfate. Be sure to assess your patient’s nutritional status and bowel function while on therapy monitor your patient’s hemoglobin Hema in iron levels, as well as liver enzymes, vari sulfate may cause seizures, hypotension, anaphylaxis, and elevated liver enzymes. If you are administering Farris sulfate as an IM injection, be sure to use the Z track method and be sure to teach the patient to take Faris sulfate on an empty stomach to increase absorption and also vitamin C also helps with proper absorption of this drug. So guys, here’s the thing with Faris sulfate. It can definitely be hard on the stomach. So although we would like the patient to take this medication an on an empty stomach for optimal absorption, if they can’t tolerate this, then it’s better for them to take the medication with food with less absorption than not taking the medication at all. Also guys, another thing to note Ferris sulfate canned can stain the stool due to the red dye and iron content. So Faris sulfate should be stopped before a colonoscopy and also before stool tests for a cult blood, because it may cause false positives. So definitely need to stop Ferra sulfate before colonoscopies or stool tests. 

That’s it for Faris sulf or iron now go out and be your best self today and as always happy nursing.