Meperidine (Demerol) Nursing Considerations

Hey guys, let’s talk about, meperidine also known as Erol. This is an oral medication, as you can see here with the pictures of the pills, and it also comes in other forms like an injectable. So the therapeutic class of meperidine is an opioid analgesic. And remember, this is how the drug works in the body. And the pharmacologic class is an opioid agonist. And remember, this is the chemical effect of the drug. So meperidine works by binding to opiate receptors in the central nervous system. It all pain perception, and it also produces general depression of the central nervous system. We use meperidine for moderate to severe pain and also for sedation purposes. 

So remember meone works by depressing the central nervous system. So with that, we can see things like hypotension. Also, we see some GI issues like nausea, vomiting, and constipation, which is common with opioids. So some of the nursing considerations form a Perine. It may cause alterations in augmentation seizures and also increase pancreatic enzyme levels. So before and during administration, you absolutely want to assess your patient’s blood pressure, their pulse and their respiratory rate. And also during treatment, you’re going to want to assess their bowel function because remember meperidine can cause constipation also guys use caution in patients who are also on a O eyes and in the event of an overdose, the, an, the antidote or reversal agent is Narcan. It is important to teach the patient to take this medication exactly as directed and to report side effects to their provider. So guys, I work in surgery in where I work. We sometimes use meperidine for postoperative shivering in low doses. So that’s it for meperidine or Demerol now go out and be your best self today. And as always happy nursing.