Medication- General Terms & Rules Flashcards
Timing of Medications
Onset
Onset = time of the drug to start working within the body
Timing of Medications
Peak
Peak: time when the drug is working its best
Timing of Medications
Duration
Duration: the length of time the drug has a high enough concentration to be “therapeutic”
Timing of Medications
Half-Life
Half-Life: the time it takes for ½ of the drug to be eliminated
Timing of Medications
General rule of a drug’s ½ life
The longer the ½ lifef, the more medication is still in the body
(longer effect)
Goals of Drug Therapy
- Maintain a ______(1)_____ or ______(2)______ of medication in the blood.
- Avoid too ____(3)____ or too ______(4)____ of the drug for the patient.
- _______what it’s suppose to do.
- Therapeutic Index
- Therapeutic Level
- little
- much
- do
Reasons for Treatment with Medications
Have a problem now that needs treatment, meds will cure problem
Acute needs
Reasons for Treatment with Medications
On-going need
Ex. to keep BP under control, birth control, etc.
Maintenance needs
Reasons for Treatment with Medications
Add to body’s actions
Ex: insulin, vitamins
Supplemental needs
Reasons for Treatment with Medications
Keep the patient comfortable, not expecting a cure
Palliative needs
Reasons for Treatment with Medications
Preventative medications
ex: antibiotics for surgery, birth control
Prophylactic needs
Monitoring Medications
The more medications a patient has in his/her system at once the _______(1)_____ chance of drug _____(2)_____!
- increased
- interactions
Monitoring Medications
Drug interactions can be _____(1)_____, ______(2)_____, or _____(3)_____.
- small
- large
- life threatening
Monitoring Medications
Adverse Drug Effect/ Side Effect
Unwanted effects, produced by the therapeutic level of the drug
Monitoring Medications
Characterisitics of Adverse Effects/ Side Effect
- Usually predictable (nausea, drowsiness)
- MD probably won’t change the drug because of the side effects