Hydrochlorothiazide (Hydrodiuril) Nursing Considerations

Hey guys, let’s talk about hydrochlorothiazide or H CTZ also known as hydro DRI. This is an oral medication, as you can see here, this picture is actually a combination medic that includes hydrochlorothiazide. So remember the therapeutic class of a drug is how the drug works in the body, which for hydrochlorothiazide is an anti hypertensive, as well as a diuretic. The pharmacologic class is the chemical effect of the drug, which for hydrochlorothiazide is a thiazide diuretic. And guys, you can remember this because it’s actually in the name, hydrochlorothiazide works by increasing the excretion of sodium and water, which produces arterial vasodilation. We use H CTZ for hypertension, digestive, heart failure, renal dysfunction, ACI that’s related to cirrhosis and glucocorticosteroid therapy. So remember, I just mentioned that HCTZ increases the body’s excretion of water and sodium. So as you can imagine, there can be some side effects that come along with this, including dizziness and dehydration. Also guys, we can see some electrolyte issues like hyponatremia and hyperemia. 

Let’s take a look at a few nursing considerations for HCTZ. You will want to monitor your patients, blood pressure, their intake, and put and electrolytes while the patient is taking hydrochlorothiazide. In addition to the side effects that were already mentioned, hydrochlorothiazide can cause hyperemia and hypophosphatemia and guys, this isn’t exactly a drug interaction, but the side effect of hyperemia HCTZ can cause can increase the risk of dein toxicity. So for patients that are on dein potassium levels should be monitored. And finally it is important to teach the patient how to take their blood pressure and instruct the patient to take this medication the same time each day, even if they are feeling better. So when it comes to the dose of hydrochlorothiazide, a 25 milligram dose will get you almost all of the possible effects of the drug. So a higher dose than this has very little benefit and so greatly increases the risk of side effects. So if you aren’t seeing the results that you would like with the patient at a 25 milligram dose, then basically another medication should probably be considered that’s it for hydrochlorothiazide or hydro now go out and be your best self today. And as always happy nursing.