Clindamycin (Cleocin) Nursing Considerations

Hey guys, let's talk about clindamycin also known as Cleocin. This is an oral medication. As you can see here, a picture of packaging for capsule. It also comes in a liquid form, IV form, topical form, and vaginal form. So remember when we are considering the therapeutic class versus the pharmacologic class, the therapeutic class is what the drug does in the body while the pharmacologic class is the chemical effect. So for clindamycin, the therapeutic class is an anti effective while the pharmacological is Lincosamide. So what is the mechanism of action of clindamycin? So clindamycin is bacteriostatic, which means, this is my little bacteria here. It inhibits protein synthesis, which means it stops bacteria from reproducing. Okay. It's indicated for skin and soft tissue infections, respiratory tract infections, septicemia, intraabdominal infections, and osteomyelitis. So some side effects that can be seen with clindamycin are arrhythmias and diarrhea. Remember diarrhea because anti-infectives also kill that good bacteria with the bad and a really serious side effect that is possible is pseudomembranous colitis.
So let's take a look at a few nursing considerations for clindamycin. First, you are going to want to assess your patient's infection during treatment. Be sure to obtain cultures before the start of therapy and during clindamycin treatment. CBC and liver function tests should be monitored with IV administration of clindamycin. There can be phlebitis at the injection site. So be aware of that, be sure to teach your patient to monitor bowel function during therapy. And an important piece of information: Clindamycin is actually the number one antibiotic cause of C diff. So with that said, any change in your patient's bowel function should be closely assessed for this issue. That's it for clindamycin or Cleocin. Now go out and be your best self today. And as always happy nursing.