pharm pt 1 - Sheet1

Question 1

What is a drug?

Answer 1

Any chemical that can affect living processes.

Question 2

What is pharmacology?

Answer 2

The study of drugs and their interactions with living systems.

Question 3

What is clinical pharmacology?

Answer 3

The study of drugs in humans.

Question 4

What is therapeutics (pharmacotherapeutics)?

Answer 4

The use of drugs to diagnose, prevent, or treat disease, or to prevent pregnancy.

Question 5

What are the top 3 characteristics of the ideal drug?

Answer 5

Effective, safe, and selective.

Question 6

What does “selective” mean in terms of drug characteristics?

Answer 6

A drug only elicits the response for which it is given (e.g., BP meds).

Question 7

Why is reversibility important in drug characteristics?

Answer 7

If given by mistake, the effects can be reversed.

Question 8

What makes a drug predictable?

Answer 8

Knowing exactly what it will do.

Question 9

Why is ease of administration important?

Answer 9

Simplifies use, often oral and infrequent doses are preferred.

Question 10

How should an ideal drug interact with other medications or food?

Answer 10

It should have no interactions.

Question 11

What are other characteristics of an ideal drug?

Answer 11

Low cost, chemical stability, simple generic name, rapid predictable response, and quick elimination.

Question 12

What factors affect the intensity of drug responses?

Answer 12

Administration, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and individual variations.

Question 13

What are the four components of pharmacokinetics?

Answer 13

Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.

Question 14

What is pharmacodynamics?

Answer 14

The impact of the drug on the body.

Question 15

What are examples of individual variations that affect drug responses?

Answer 15

Physiologic (age, weight, BSA), pathologic (kidney, liver issues), genetics, diet, and tolerance.

Question 16

What is pharmacogenomics?

Answer 16

The study of how genetics influence drug responses.

Question 17

How does starvation affect drug responses?

Answer 17

Lack of protein for binding reduces drug transport in the body.

Question 18

What are the types of tolerance?

Answer 18

Pharmacodynamic, metabolic, and tachyphylaxis.

Question 19

What is the placebo effect?

Answer 19

A response to a treatment that is not due to its therapeutic effect but the patient’s belief in the treatment.

Question 20

What are the Five Rights of Drug Administration (PMART)?

Answer 20

Right patient, drug (med), dose (amount), route, and time.

Question 21

What additional rights do nurses need to ensure?

Answer 21

Right assessment, documentation, evaluation, patient education, and patient refusal.

Question 22

Why is understanding pharmacology critical in nursing practice?

Answer 22

To prevent med errors, understand drug interactions, and administer drugs safely and effectively.

Question 23

What are the steps in patient care application of pharmacology?

Answer 23

Preadministration assessment, dosage and administration, promoting therapeutic effects, minimizing adverse effects, and managing toxicity.

Question 24

What patient education topics are critical for medication?

Answer 24

Drug name/category, dosage, schedule, route, expected response, treatment duration, storage, adverse effects, and interactions.

Question 25

What are the steps of the nursing process in drug therapy?

Answer 25

Assess, analyze, plan, implement, and evaluate.

Question 26

What are the steps of clinical judgment in drug therapy?

Answer 26

Recognize cues, analyze cues, prioritize hypotheses, plan, implement (give the drug), and evaluate.

Question 27

What is included in evaluation during the clinical judgment process?

Answer 27

How the drug works, baseline data, and effectiveness.

Question 28

What are the phases of the drug approval process?

Answer 28

Preclinical testing (1-5 years), clinical testing (2-10 years, Phases I-III), and postmarketing surveillance (Phase IV).

Question 29

What are drug indications?

Answer 29

Conditions for which a drug is approved.

Question 30

Must all prescription drugs have an indication?

Answer 30

Yes, all prescription drugs must have some degree of effectiveness and at least one indication.

Question 31

What are unapproved indications called?

Answer 31

Unlabeled or off-label uses.

Question 32

What is therapeutic usefulness in drug classification?

Answer 32

What is being treated by the drug (e.g., influence blood clotting, lower BP).

Question 33

What is therapeutic classification in drug classification?

Answer 33

How the drug acts (e.g., anticoagulants, antihypertensives).

Question 34

What is pharmacologic classification in drug classification?

Answer 34

How the drug produces its effects on the body and its mechanism of action.

Question 35

What is a prototype drug?

Answer 35

The drug to which all others in a class are compared.

Question 36

Why are generic names preferred over trade names?

Answer 36

Generic names are simpler, consistent, and universally recognized, while trade names can vary, be misleading, or have multiple versions globally.

Question 37

What are the challenges with trade names?

Answer 37

A single drug can have multiple trade names, and the same trade name can have different active ingredients in different regions or products.

Question 38

How is a generic name assigned?

Answer 38

By the US Adopted Names Council.

Question 39

Why do NCLEX and organizations prefer generic names?

Answer 39

To ensure consistency and eliminate confusion—students only need to memorize one name.

Question 40

What is an example of a generic name and its trade names?

Answer 40

Generic: Acetaminophen. Trade: Tylenol, Acephen, Aminophen, Apap, Cetafen, Feverall, etc.

Question 41

What is the difference between a generic and trade name?

Answer 41

Generic: Assigned by the US Adopted Names Council, consistent across uses. Trade: Given by the pharmaceutical company, proprietary, and can vary.

Question 42

What is the exclusivity period for trade names?

Answer 42

A limited time granted to the pharmaceutical company that develops the drug.