06.02 EENT Medications

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In this video, we’re going to talk about giving eye, ear, and nose medications. Sometimes we think, ‘Oh, eye drops, that’s so basic’, but actually there is a right and wrong way to do it, so we’re gonna show you the right steps. For all of these, you want to make sure the eyes, ears, or nose is clean before you instill the medication


First, let’s look at eye drops. You want the patient to lie supine or sit back in a chair with their head slightly hyperextended.
You’re going to use the thumb of your non-dominant hand to gently pull downward on lower eyelid on whichever eye is prescribed
Hold the eye drop bottle in your dominant hand and rest it on the patient’s forehead.
Hold the bottle 1-2 cm above the patient’s eye and drop the prescribed number of drops into conjunctival sac, If the patient blinks or the drop misses, repeat that again.
Afterwards, have the patient gently close their eyes, but don’t rub them. IF the drug can cause systemic effects, hold pressure with a tissue on the lacrimal duct for 30-60 seconds. A good example is beta blocker eye drops like Timolol.
And of course, repeat this on the other side if prescribed.
If you have to give eye ointment, you’re going to keep the patient in the same position and pull their eyelid down in the same fashion.
Hold the eye ointment tube in your dominant hand and rest it on the patient’s forehead.
Gently squeeze the ointment in a single line along the lower conjunctival sac and have the patient close their eyes gently.
For both eye drops and eye ointment you can offer a tissue if their eyes water at all.
Now, let’s look at ear drops. You want to have the patient lie on their side OR in semi-fowler’s with their head turned.
For an adult, you’re going to pull the pinna up and back, but for a child under 3, pull the pinna back and down.
Hold the open dropper about 1 cm above the ear canal of whichever ear is prescribed.
Drop the prescribed number of drops into the ear canal. Then have the patient stay in that position for at least 5 minutes.
You can gently massage the tragus to help the medicine go down. THEN after 5 minutes you can repeat on the other side. I usually give the one side, do other assessments or tasks, then do the other side.
Lastly, let’s look at nose sprays. A lot of times I’ll have the patient do this themselves, but it’s important that we know the RIGHT way to do it!
First, remove the cap from the nose spray bottle and clean the top of the bottle with an alcohol pad.
Then, insert it into the prescribed nostril. Have the patient cover the other nostril and sniff.
You’ll squeeze or spray the med as the patient sniffs. Make sure you do the prescribed number of sprays, and repeat on the other side if needed.

As always, offer a tissue for any leakage. Just make sure the patient doesn’t blow their nose for at least 5 minutes afterward.

So that’s it for EENT meds, make sure you don’t get complacent with these because proper administration is super important.

Okay guys, go out and be your best selves today. And, as always, happy nursing!
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