Escitalopram Nursing Considerations, Side Effects, and Mechanism of Action Pharmacology for Nurses HD

Grab our free cheatsheet covering the 50 most commonly prescribed medications right here: http://NRSNG.com/50meds Listen to all the episodes at: https://www.nrsng.com/medmaster-podcast/ View the blog post here: Escitalopram Generic Name: escitalopram Trade Name: Lexapro Indication: major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, PCD, PTSD, social phobia Action: Increases the extracellular levels of serotonin in the synaptic cleft by selectively inhibiting its reuptake Therapeutic Class: Antidepressant Pharmacologic Class: SSRI Nursing Considerations  contraindicated with MAOI  may cause suicidal thoughts, insomnia, drowsiness, diarrhea, nausea, serotonin syndrome  may cause QT prolongation with certain medications  assess for sexual dysfunction  may take 4-6 weeks for full affect to take place  monitor for serotonin syndrome (mental changes, NV, tachycardia, hyperthermia)