Antibiotics by class
Medication class detail with safety cues and nursing action focus.
Infectious DiseaseRespiratoryRenal / Urinary / ElectrolytesIntegumentary / Burns / Woundsneeds review
Antibiotics by class
Examples: penicillins, cephalosporins, vancomycin, macrolides, fluoroquinolones
Mechanism
Targets bacterial growth or cell structures; exact teaching depends on the antibiotic class.
Used for
- Bacterial infections
- Sepsis protocols
- Pneumonia
- UTI
- Wound infection
Side effects
- Allergy/anaphylaxis
- Diarrhea
- C. difficile risk
- Nephrotoxicity or ototoxicity for selected agents
Nursing actions
- Obtain cultures before first dose when ordered and do not delay urgent antibiotics unnecessarily.
- Check allergies, renal dosing concerns, and infusion reactions.
- Teach to complete the course unless provider instructions change.
Hold / question cues
- Anaphylaxis
- Severe rash
- Critical renal change with nephrotoxic agent
- New severe diarrhea
Antidote / reversal
- No routine class-specific antidote or reversal agent is seeded for this class; hold/question unsafe doses, support ABCs, notify the provider, and use facility or poison-control guidance for toxicity.
NCLEX pearl
- Culture first when ordered, then give the antibiotic promptly.