{"id":213,"date":"2019-11-12T17:52:43","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T17:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/chapter\/5-9-expectorants\/"},"modified":"2025-01-16T22:26:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T22:26:02","slug":"5-9-expectorants","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/chapter\/5-9-expectorants\/","title":{"raw":"5.9 Expectorants","rendered":"5.9 Expectorants"},"content":{"raw":"Guaifenesin is an example of an expectorant.\n\nMechanism of Action: <\/strong>Expectorants reduce the viscosity of tenacious secretions by irritating the gastric vagal receptors that stimulate respiratory tract fluid, thus increasing the volume but decreasing the viscosity of respiratory tract secretions.\n\nIndications:\u00a0<\/strong>Expectorants are used for a productive cough and for loosening mucus from the respiratory tract.\n\nNursing Considerations: <\/strong>Avoid in children under the age of four. Guaifenesin is only recommended for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding when benefit outweighs the risk.\n\nSide Effects\/Adverse Effects: <\/strong>Guaifenesin may cause a skin rash, headache, nausea, and vomiting.[footnote]Frandsen, G., & Pennington, S. (2018). Abrams\u2019 clinical drug: Rationales for nursing practice <\/em>(11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.[\/footnote]<\/sup>\n\nHealth Teaching & Health Promotion: <\/strong>Clients should take care to avoid irritants that stimulate their cough. Additionally, the medication can cause drowsiness. Clients should avoid taking them with other CNS depressants or alcohol.[footnote]uCentral from Unbound Medicine. https:\/\/www.unboundmedicine.com\/ucentral<\/a>[\/footnote]<\/sup> Encourage increased fluid intake to thin secretions, if not contraindicated.\n\nNow let's take a closer look at the medication grid for guaifenesin in Table 5.9.[footnote]This work is a derivative of\u00a0Pharmacology Notes: Nursing Implications for Clinical Practice<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Gloria Velarde<\/a>\u00a0licensed under\u00a0CC BY-NC-SA 4.0<\/a>[\/footnote],[footnote]Frandsen, G., & Pennington, S. (2018). Abrams\u2019 clinical drug: Rationales for nursing practice\u00a0<\/em>(11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.[\/footnote],[footnote]This work is a derivative of\u00a0DailyMed<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0U.S. National Library of Medicine<\/a> in the Public Domain<\/a>. [\/footnote]<\/sup>\n\nTable 5.9 Guaifenesin Medication Grid\n\n\n\n\n
\n
Class\/Subclass<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Prototype\/Generic<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Nursing Considerations<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Therapeutic Effects<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Side\/Adverse Effects<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Expectorant<\/th>\nguaifenesin<\/a><\/td>\nNo eating or drinking for 30 minutes after syrup\n\nEncourage client to cough and deep breathe\n\nEncourage increased fluid intake to thin secretions, if not contraindicated<\/td>\nHelps loosen sputum (mucus) and thin bronchial secretions to make coughs more productive<\/td>\nIncreased drowsiness in large doses\n\nGastrointestinal: Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n ","rendered":"

Guaifenesin is an example of an expectorant.<\/p>\n

Mechanism of Action: <\/strong>Expectorants reduce the viscosity of tenacious secretions by irritating the gastric vagal receptors that stimulate respiratory tract fluid, thus increasing the volume but decreasing the viscosity of respiratory tract secretions.<\/p>\n

Indications:\u00a0<\/strong>Expectorants are used for a productive cough and for loosening mucus from the respiratory tract.<\/p>\n

Nursing Considerations: <\/strong>Avoid in children under the age of four. Guaifenesin is only recommended for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding when benefit outweighs the risk.<\/p>\n

Side Effects\/Adverse Effects: <\/strong>Guaifenesin may cause a skin rash, headache, nausea, and vomiting.[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Health Teaching & Health Promotion: <\/strong>Clients should take care to avoid irritants that stimulate their cough. Additionally, the medication can cause drowsiness. Clients should avoid taking them with other CNS depressants or alcohol.[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup> Encourage increased fluid intake to thin secretions, if not contraindicated.<\/p>\n

Now let’s take a closer look at the medication grid for guaifenesin in Table 5.9.[3]<\/sup><\/a>,[4]<\/sup><\/a>,[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Table 5.9 Guaifenesin Medication Grid<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
Class\/Subclass<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Prototype\/Generic<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Nursing Considerations<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Therapeutic Effects<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Side\/Adverse Effects<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Expectorant<\/th>\nguaifenesin<\/a><\/td>\nNo eating or drinking for 30 minutes after syrup<\/p>\n

Encourage client to cough and deep breathe<\/p>\n

Encourage increased fluid intake to thin secretions, if not contraindicated<\/td>\n

Helps loosen sputum (mucus) and thin bronchial secretions to make coughs more productive<\/td>\nIncreased drowsiness in large doses<\/p>\n

Gastrointestinal: Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

  1. Frandsen, G., & Pennington, S. (2018). Abrams\u2019 clinical drug: Rationales for nursing practice <\/em>(11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. uCentral from Unbound Medicine. https:\/\/www.unboundmedicine.com\/ucentral<\/a> ↵<\/a><\/li>
  3. This work is a derivative of\u00a0Pharmacology Notes: Nursing Implications for Clinical Practice<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Gloria Velarde<\/a>\u00a0licensed under\u00a0CC BY-NC-SA 4.0<\/a> ↵<\/a><\/li>
  4. Frandsen, G., & Pennington, S. (2018). Abrams\u2019 clinical drug: Rationales for nursing practice\u00a0<\/em>(11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  5. This work is a derivative of\u00a0DailyMed<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0U.S. National Library of Medicine<\/a> in the Public Domain<\/a>. ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":83,"menu_order":9,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-213","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":186,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/213\/revisions\/214"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/186"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/213\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=213"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=213"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accnursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}