Advanced Practice: Alpha1 - Adrenergic Blocking Medication

Course Summary

This course is for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, Registered Nurses and other Interdisciplinary Health Team Members who are seeking autonomous practice or advanced certification continuing education credits. Antihypertensive medications are used to treat heart disease and stroke, as well as comorbid conditions of the urinary and peripheral vascular systems. The use of an antihypertensive medication lowers blood pressure and improves health outcomes of patients by slowing disease outcomes caused by cardiovascular morbidity. Amongst the classes of drugs used to treat hypertension and cardiovascular disease, alpha1-adrenergic-blocking drugs are often used as second-line agents or in combination with other antihypertensive agents to manage symptoms. The effectiveness of alpha1-adrenergic-blocking medication in certain medical conditions and populations may also include men with benign prostatic hypertrophy. In older individuals, clinicians need to educate patients about the possibility of an initial adverse outcome of symptomatic hypotension and the risk of a drug-drug interaction leading to a severe physical response and injury.