Immediately elevate your patient's head. If she has severe orthostatic hypotension, place her in a supine position. If severe hypertension doesn't resolve with position change, prepare to administer I.V. antihypertensive medications, as ordered. If your patient has status epilepticus, she has one or a series of seizures that persist for 20 to 30 minutes without a recovery period. Although brief, generalized seizures typically aren't life-threatening, uncontrolled status epilepticus may lead to cardiorespiratory arrest and death, so aggressively treat all seizure activity.
Some seizures are idiopathic.
How to assess A patient having a tonic-clonic seizure has an abrupt onset of muscle hyperactivity, characterized by tonic or clonic nonpurposeful movements of the extremities and a sudden loss of consciousness. After the muscle movements stop, she has a period of lethargy and doesn't remember details of the seizure. Assess your patient for signs of injury that may occur during a seizure, such as a laceration of the tongue or head, contusions, or fractures. How to intervene Control the seizure activity and protect your patient. If necessary to maintain her airway, insert a nasal airway moistened with water-soluble lubricant.