🩸 Anticoagulant Review Part 1: Heparin Anticoagulants (aka blood thinners) help prevent clots from forming or growing larger by interrupting the clotting cascade. As a nursing student, heparin is a must-know! Follow @nursewellversed for visual nursing education 🧠 ➡️ How it works: Inactivates thrombin & Factor Xa ➡️ Short-term use only: Given subQ or IV ➡️ Monitor labs: aPTT (clotting time) Platelets (watch for HIT) ✅ Antidote: Protamine sulfate 🩸 Bleeding Risk: Bleeding is the #1 side effect

5 things to know about IV drip Heparin🩸💉👩‍⚕️ Heparin = Anticoagulant 🩸Stops clot Formation 🩸Slows growth of current clots #1: Draw baseline aPTT or Anti Xa & know the frequency of your lab draws! #2: Heparin is always hung as a PRIMARY line, not a piggyback #3: High risk = Double RN verification is required❗️ #4: Antidote = Protamine Sulfate #5: Monitor for Signs of Bleeding -Bruising -Hematomas -Blood in Urine or Stool -Bleeding gums -Hypotension and/or tachycardia #heparindrip #heparin #a

Heparin use in acute cardiac presentations . This is part 3 of a 4 part mini series. | ECT4Health- Nurse/Paramedic Education