Medication Administration Flashcards
Adverse event (AE)
Any undesirable experience associated with the use of a medical product in a patient. Usually described in terms of intensity.
Side effect
A nontherapeutic reaction to a drug. May be transient.
Allergic reaction
An acquired hyper response of body defenses to a foreign substance (allergen).
Anaphylaxis
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.
What are the three checks of drug administration
- Checking the drug with the MAR
- Checking drug when preparing it, pouring it, etc.
- Checking the drug before administering it to the patient
The rate of dissolution
Determines how quickly the drug disintegrates and disperses into simpler forms
Distribution
Involves the transport of drugs throughout the body. The simplest factor determining distribution is the amount of blood flow to body tissues.
Metabolism (Biotransformation)
The process of chemically converting a drug to a form that is usually more easily removed from the body.
Hepatic microsomal enzyme system
As it relates to pharmacotherapy, liver enzymes that inactivate drugs and accelerate their excretion; sometimes called the P-450 system.
Prodrugs
Drugs that become more active after they are metabolized.
Enzyme induction
Process in which a drug changes the function of the hepatic microsomal enzymes and increases metabolic activity in the liver.
Minimum effective concentration
The amount of a drug required to produce a therapeutic effect.
Toxic concentration
The level of drug that will result in serious adverse effects
Therapeutic range
The dosage range or serum concentration that achieves the desired drug effects
Onset of drug action
Represents the amount of time it takes to produce a therapeutic effect after drug administration.
Peak plasma level
Occurs when the medication has reached its highest concentration in the bloodstream. Not necessarily associated with optimal therapeutic effect.
Duration of drug action
The amount of time a drug maintatins its therapeutic effect
Plasma half-life
The length of time required for the plasma concentration of a medication to decrease by one-half after administration.
Loading dose
A higher amount of drug, often given only once or twice to “prime” the bloodstream with a sufficient level of drug.
Maintenance doses
Given to keep the plasma drug concentration in the therapeutic range.
Frequency distribution curve
A graphical representation of the number of patients responding to a drug action at different doses.
Median Lethal Dose (LD50)
Often determined in preclinical trials, the dose of drug that will be lethal in 50% of a group of animals
Median Effective Dose (ED50)
Dose required to produce a specific therapeutic response in 50% of a group of patients.
Median toxicity dose (TD50)
Dose that will produce a given toxicity in 50% of a group of patients
