Medication Administration

Question 1

Adverse event (AE)

Answer 1

Any undesirable experience associated with the use of a medical product in a patient. Usually described in terms of intensity.

Question 2

Side effect

Answer 2

A nontherapeutic reaction to a drug. May be transient.

Question 3

Allergic reaction

Answer 3

An acquired hyper response of body defenses to a foreign substance (allergen).

Question 4

Anaphylaxis

Answer 4

A severe type of allergic reaction that involves the massive systemic release of histamine and other chemical mediators of inflammation that can lead to life-threatening shock.

Question 5

What are the three checks of drug administration

Answer 5

1. Checking the drug with the MAR
2. Checking drug when preparing it, pouring it, etc.
3. Checking the drug before administering it to the patient

Question 6

The rate of dissolution

Answer 6

Determines how quickly the drug disintegrates and disperses into simpler forms

Question 7

Distribution

Answer 7

Involves the transport of drugs throughout the body. The simplest factor determining distribution is the amount of blood flow to body tissues.

Question 8

Metabolism (Biotransformation)

Answer 8

The process of chemically converting a drug to a form that is usually more easily removed from the body.

Question 9

Hepatic microsomal enzyme system

Answer 9

As it relates to pharmacotherapy, liver enzymes that inactivate drugs and accelerate their excretion; sometimes called the P-450 system.

Question 10

Prodrugs

Answer 10

Drugs that become more active after they are metabolized.

Question 11

Enzyme induction

Answer 11

Process in which a drug changes the function of the hepatic microsomal enzymes and increases metabolic activity in the liver.

Question 12

Minimum effective concentration

Answer 12

The amount of a drug required to produce a therapeutic effect.

Question 13

Toxic concentration

Answer 13

The level of drug that will result in serious adverse effects

Question 14

Therapeutic range

Answer 14

The dosage range or serum concentration that achieves the desired drug effects

Question 15

Onset of drug action

Answer 15

Represents the amount of time it takes to produce a therapeutic effect after drug administration.

Question 16

Peak plasma level

Answer 16

Occurs when the medication has reached its highest concentration in the bloodstream. Not necessarily associated with optimal therapeutic effect.

Question 17

Duration of drug action

Answer 17

The amount of time a drug maintatins its therapeutic effect

Question 18

Plasma half-life

Answer 18

The length of time required for the plasma concentration of a medication to decrease by one-half after administration.

Question 19

Loading dose

Answer 19

A higher amount of drug, often given only once or twice to “prime” the bloodstream with a sufficient level of drug.

Question 20

Maintenance doses

Answer 20

Given to keep the plasma drug concentration in the therapeutic range.

Question 21

Frequency distribution curve

Answer 21

A graphical representation of the number of patients responding to a drug action at different doses.

Question 22

Median Lethal Dose (LD50)

Answer 22

Often determined in preclinical trials, the dose of drug that will be lethal in 50% of a group of animals

Question 23

Median Effective Dose (ED50)

Answer 23

Dose required to produce a specific therapeutic response in 50% of a group of patients.

Question 24

Median toxicity dose (TD50)

Answer 24

Dose that will produce a given toxicity in 50% of a group of patients

Question 25

Graded dose-response

Answer 25

Relationship between and measurement of the patient’s response obtained at different doses of a drug.

Question 26

Potency

Answer 26

The strength of a drug at a specified concentration or dose

Question 27

Efficacy

Answer 27

The ability of a drug to produce a desired response

Question 28

Agonist

Answer 28

Drug that is capable of binding with receptors to induce a cellular response

Question 29

Antagonist

Answer 29

Drug that block the response of another drug

Question 30

Partial agonist (Agonist-antagonist drug)

Answer 30

Medication that produces a weaker, or less efficacious, response than an agonist

Question 31

Functional antagonists

Answer 31

Inhibit the effects of an agonist not by competing with the receptor but by changing pharmacokinetic factors

Question 32

Idiosyncratic response

Answer 32

Unpredictable and unexplained drug reaction