Rheumatoid Arthritis Presentation 1

Rheumatoid arthritis

Why is Prednisolone used ? • Prednisolone is a corticosteroid drug used because it can be used in low doses to decrease the symptom of inflammation • The drug can be injected into joints to relieve rheumatoid and other form of arthritis.

Side effects • • • • • • •

Peptic ulceration with perforation Osteoporosis, Muscloskeletal effect Mood change Muscle weakness Ingestion and abdominal distention Gatro-intestinal effects- dyspesia,

Nursing Care • Administrate the drug as prescribed, give first dose of day as early as possible, with small snack because it can be very irritating to stomach lining and lead to ulcer disease. It helps to relieve pain and stiffness while also reducing inflammation. However, it will not slow down the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. • Encourage patient to assume

• Give analgesia as necessary, nonnarcotic analgesia appears to work better. Give it on time to avoid troughs

Legal and Ethics • According to Nmc Code of Professional Conduct the nurse have duty of care. • Communicate with your colleague that if the patient says they are in pain they are in pain. • Ethically as nurses we are obliaged to manage the pain as much as possible. • Highlight the patient might be in pain and its better to give them analgesia now, and evaluate the results. It might be the medical team to prescribe an

Legal and Ethics • In this situation, the first priority would be the patient in pain. There many ways around ensuring the patient receives analgesia. • At a last resort, if your colleague doesn’t recognise and acknowledge the non-maleficence: to report the pain to another member of staff, and later discuss with senior member of staff how a patients pain should be managed and