Overview
Introduction and Learning Objectives
ACE inhibitors produce their benefit and their harm through the same mechanism, which is why their adverse effects cannot be memorized as a list.
ACE inhibitors produce their benefit and their harm through the same mechanism, which is why their adverse effects cannot be memorized as a list. A nurse who can name which arm of the mechanism a finding belongs to already knows what to assess next and what to say when escalating. You will meet this class in hypertension, in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, in albuminuric kidney disease and after myocardial infarction - and the data that matters differs in each. By the end of this lesson you should be able to: - Trace each ACE inhibitor effect to its mechanism and use that to decide what to assess next. - Establish indication-specific baseline and outcome data before the first dose. - Interpret blood-pressure, potassium, renal and volume trends rather than isolated values. - Identify the medication and supplement combinations that convert a safe regimen into acute kidney injury or hyperkalemia. - Prioritize nursing action and escalate with trajectories and context rather than raw numbers.