WEEK 1 Flashcards
What is pharmacology?
The study of drugs and their interactions w/ living systems
What is clinical pharmacology?
The study of drugs in humans
What is Therapeutics( Pharmacotherapeutics)?
Use of drugs to diagnose, prevent, or treat disease or prevent pregnancy; the
medical use of drugs
What are the most important properties of a drug?
- Effectiveness(MOST IMPORTANT)
- Safety( risk-benefit ration)
- Selectivity( only does what you want it to do)
What are some desirable properties of a drug?
- Reversible action
- Predictability
- Ease of administration
- Freedom from drug interactions
- Low cost
- Chemical stability
- Possession of simple generic name
What is the objective of drug therapy?
Provide maximum benefit w/ minimal harm
What determines the strength of a drug response?
- Dosage of medication
- Route medication is given
- Timing in b/w doses
- Unique patient individual differences
- Pharmacokinetics(ADME) ( Movement of the drug through the body)
- Pharmacodynamics( Effects of the drug on the body)
What are the 6 rights of medication?
- Right drug
- Right patient
- Right dose
- Right route
- Right time
- Right documentation
Additional considerations
- Right assessment
- Right evaluation
- Right to education
- Right to refusal
What is the Nurse’s Role in Pharmacology?
- Appropriate assessment before, during and after administering the drug
- Evaluating the safety of the drug for this unique client
- Minimizing and evaluating adverse effects
- Educating the client and/ or family
What is pharmacokinetics?
Movement of a drug thought the body
What are the 4 phases of pharmacokinetics?
ADME= NCLEX Trick: “Add Me”)
Absorption
Distribution
Metabolism
Excretion
What is absorption in pharmacokinetics?
Movement of drug from the site of administration to the bloodstream
What factors affect absorption of a drug?
- Rate of dissolution
- Surface area: better absorption in the small intestine
- Blood Flow: inc BF= inc absorption
- Lipid solubility
- Ion trapping
What are some routes of administration of drugs?
- Intravenous( IV- Parenteral)
Fastest Route of Absorption
Skips the stomach and liver - Intramuscular (IM- Parenteral)/
Subcutaneous(SubQ- Parenteral)
Faster Route of Administartion= due to greater supply of blood vessels than skin (the subcutaneous route is slower) - Oral(PO- Enteral)
Slowest Route of Absportion(First Pass Metabolism) - Subcutaneous medications
Slower Absoption= can be over 24 hours - Sublingual
Faster than Oral(PO) medications
Skips stomach and liver - Inhaled medications
Faster Route of Absorption
Skips the stomach, liver, veins, and initial cardiac circulation - Rectal medications
Faster Route of Absorption
Skips about 2/3 of the First Pass Metabolism and will reach the circulation w/ less compromise to the medication concentration
What are some Oral Preperations?
- Tablets
Made from powdered drugs that have been compressed or molded into solid shapes - Enteric- Coated
Protects the drug from being inactivated in the stomach. It also reduces the chance that the drug will irritate the gastric mucosa. - Sustained Release
Drugs w/ coating that dissolves at different rates. Reduces # of daily does but the higher cost and more variability in absorption
What is distribution in pharmacokinetics?
- Medication materials that have been absorbed and make their way into the targeted organs or various body compartments
- Movement of drugs through the body
What influencers affect distribution?
- Solubility of the medication
Different medications have different solubility making it difficult to get medication where it is intended - Protein binding
Some medications must be attached to a protein for the medication to be delivered to the body - Blood Flow
A decrease in cardiac output can greatly affect getting the medication to the intended location. Need to address the lack of volume prior to medication administration
What is Metabolism in pharmacokinetics?
- Enzymatic alteration of drug structure
- Mainly takes place in the liver and is a Two-Step Process
- The two-step process is
Activation= medication can work in the body
If the mediation doesn’t activate it will not work
Excretion= removing the medication from the body
If the medication doesn’t work it cannot be excreted causing an inc in the medication through the system
What is Excretion in pharmacokinetics?
- How the medication is removed from the system
- It can be done in two ways
Hepatobiliary System
*Metabolizes in the liver< Excretaes medication into the bile< Removed via the stool
Kidney System - Filters inside the glomerulus< Nephron< Collecting duct< removed via the urine
What influencers affect excretion?
- Low Glomerular Filtration Rate(GFR)
GFR estimates how much blood passes through the glomeruli each minute. Glomeruli have tiny filters in the kidneys that filter waste from the blood
If the glomeruli are not filtering blood< kidneys are not functioning appropriately< less excretion of the medication
- Damage to the liver
If the liver is not functioning appropriately< less excretion of medication
How do we compensate for the reduction in excretion?
Decrease the dose or decrease dose frequency to avoid toxicity
What influencers affect excreation?
- Concentration of medication in the plasma
The higher the medication accumulation the faster the system will clear(excrete) the medication - Glomerular Filtrationn Rate(GFR)
If the glomeruli are not filtering blood< kidneys are not functioning appropriately< less excretion of the medication