Patient was educated on the side effects of using Vancocin as follows:
- Nausea and vomiting
- This is the most common side effect of Vancocin.
- Taking the antibiotic with some food and water can minimize the effects of nausea and vomiting.
- Diarrhea
- Human intestines have a lot of bacteria, both good and bad, living in a sensitive balance with each other.
- This helps maintain the normal natural intestinal environment. Vancocin works by killing the bacteria.
- While doing this, Vancocin does not differentiate between good and bad bacteria.
- Consequently, apart from killing the bad infectious bacteria, Vancocin also kills the good bacteria in the intestinal system, thus compromising the balance between good and bad bacteria.
- This can result in reduction in the number of good bacteria and increase in the number of Vancocin resistant bad bacteria, leading to irritation of the intestinal mucosa and diarrhea.
- Red man syndrome
- Administering the Vancocin IV medication too fast can result in red man syndrome, characterized by flushing of the body, low blood pressure, and muscle pains. Inflammation at the site of injection with redness and tenderness around the injection site also can occur.
- Administering IV Vancocin at the desired rate can help prevent this complication.
