McKenna's Pharmacology for Nursing, 2e

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P A R T 7  Drugs acting on the reproductive system

ONLINE RESOURCES

KEY POINTS

■■ Oxytocic drugs act like the hypothalamic hormone oxytocins to stimulate uterine contractions and induce or speed up labour and to control bleeding and promote postpartum involution of the uterus. ■■ Prostaglandins are drugs that stimulate uterine activity to cause uterine evacuation. These drugs can be used to induce termination in early pregnancy or to promote uterine evacuation after intrauterine fetal death. ■■ Tocolytics are drugs that relax the uterine smooth muscle; they are used to stop premature labour in women after 20 weeks of gestation. CHAPTER SUMMARY ■■ Oestrogens are primarily used pharmacologically: to replace hormones lost at menopause to reduce the signs and symptoms associated with menopause, to stimulate ovulation in women with hypogonadism and in combination with progestogens for oral contraceptives. ■■ Progestogens, which include progesterone and all of its derivatives, are female sex hormones that are responsible for the maintenance of a pregnancy and for the development of some secondary sex characteristics. ■■ Progestogens are used in combination with oestrogens for contraception, to treat uterine bleeding and for palliation in certain cancers with sensitive receptor sites. ■■ Fertility drugs stimulate FSH and LH in women with functioning ovaries to increase follicle development and improve the chances for pregnancy. ■■ A major adverse effect of fertility drugs is multiple births and birth defects. ■■ Oxytocic drugs act like the hypothalamic hormone oxytocins to stimulate uterine contractions and induce or speed up labour and to control bleeding and promote postpartum involution of the uterus. ■■ Prostaglandins are drugs that stimulate uterine activity to cause uterine evacuation. These drugs can be used to induce labour at term, induce termination in early pregnancy or to promote uterine evacuation after intrauterine fetal death. ■■ Tocolytics are drugs that relax the uterine smooth muscle; they are used to stop premature labour in women after 20 weeks of gestation.

An extensive range of additional resources to enhance teaching and learning and to facilitate understanding of this chapter may be found online at the text’s accompanying website, located on thePoint at http://thepoint.lww.com. These include Watch and Learn videos, Concepts in Action animations, journal articles, review questions, case studies, discussion topics and quizzes.

WEB LINKS

Healthcare providers and students may want to explore the following Internet sources: www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/ Content/national+womens+health-1 Department of Health and Ageing, Australia. National Women’s Health Policy. www.nzmenopause.co.nz/ New Zealand Menopause Institute. www.jeanhailes.org.au/ The Jean Hailes Foundation for Women’s Health. www.thewomens.org.au/health-professionals/ clinical-resources/clinical-guidelines-gps The Royal Women’s Hospital. Clinical Practice Guidelines. Campbell, P. & Pickard, S. (2007). Prescribing and advising on oral contraception. Nurse Prescribing, 5(1) , 8–14. Farrell, M. & Dempsey, J. (2014). Smeltzer & Bare’s Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing (3rd edn). Sydney: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Fehring, R. (2004). The future of professional education in natural family planning. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 33 , 34–43. Goodman, L. S., Brunton, L. L., Chabner, B. & Knollmann, B. C. (2011). Goodman and Gilman’s Pharmacological Basis of Beresford, S. A., Brzyski, R., et al.; WHI Investigators. (2008). Health risks and benefits 3 years after stopping randomized treatment with estrogen and progestin. JAMA, 299 , 1036–1045. Kass-Wolff, J. H. & Fisher, J. E. (2011). Menopause and the hormone controversy: Clarification or confusion? Nurse Practitioner, 36(7) , 22–30. McKenna, L. (2012). Pharmacology Made Incredibly Easy (1st Australian and New Zealand edn). Sydney: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. McKenna, L. & Mirkov, S. (2014). McKenna’s Drug Handbook for Nursing and Midwifery (7th edn). Sydney: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. BIBLIOGRAPHY Therapeutics (12th edn). New York: McGraw-Hill. Heiss, G., Wallace, R., Anderson, G. L., Aragaki, A.,

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