Week 1 Pharmacology

Question 1

What are the three main name types for a medication?

Answer 1

Chemical
Generic
Trade/proprietry

Question 2

What are some of the major uses of medications?

Answer 2

Management of symptoms eg, heartburn.
Preventative meds, eg. seizure medication. 
Diagnostic, eg. Dye to see blood flow. 
Curative, eg. fixes a problem	
Health Maintenance. Eg, vitamins.
Contraception.

Question 3

What are the three properties of an ideal drug?

Answer 3

Effectiveness: Elicits the response intended
Safety: Does not produce harmful effects. There is no such thing as a safe drug.
Specificity: There should be no other side effects. There is no such thing as a selective drug.

Question 4

What is an example of an ideal drug?

Answer 4

Trick question, there is no such drug that currently exists

Question 5

What are some modes of delivery for medications?

Answer 5

Tablets
Capsules
Lonzenges
Sprays
Topical 
Patches
Implants
Parenteral products
Suppositories

Question 6

What is a parenteral product?

Answer 6

Intramuscular injections or IV’s. Administered anywhere other than the mouth an alimentary canal.

Question 7

What is the definition of pharmacokinetics?

Answer 7

The study of the process in which medication changes in the body including the absorption, distribution, biotransformation & excretion.

Question 8

What are the 4 elements of the pharmacokinetic process?

Answer 8

Absorption
Distribution
Biotransformation (metabolism)
Excretion

Question 9

What is absorption in pharmacokinetics?

Answer 9

How the drug gets into the bloodstream. Movement from site of administration to the bloodstream.

Question 10

A drug is absorbed the fastest when administered by which route?

Answer 10

IV

Question 11

What is the name for the absorption rate and effectiveness of a drug?

Answer 11

Bioavailability

Question 12

What is the definition of distribution?

Answer 12

How the drug goes from circulation to the target tissue.

Question 13

What are some things that effect distribution?

Answer 13

Blood flow
Ability of the drug to exit the blood flow
Whether it is bound to a protein

Question 14

What is the definition of biotransformation?

Answer 14

The changes the drug undergoes when circulating through organs such as the liver and kidneys.

Question 15

Where is a drug usually metabolised?

Answer 15

Liver

Question 16

What is the name of the cell in the liver that metabolises drugs?

Answer 16

Hepatocytes

Question 17

What is the first pass effect?

Answer 17

Drugs taken orally, before they go into full systemic circulation and pass through the body, the first place it goes to is the portal circulation ie, blood supply to the liver. Enters the liver before it goes into circulation. The liver then breaks down a certain amount of the drug, for example. 100mg of a drug is taken, the liver breaks down 50mg and 50mg goes into the systemic circulation. The concentration of the drug is diluted by the metabolites in the liver. Nurses dose appropriate to knowing this. Some drugs are ineffective orally as the liver metabolises it all.

Question 18

What are some things that can effect metabolism?

Answer 18

Liver disease
Multiple drugs
Drug tolerance

Question 19

What is excretion of a drug?

Answer 19

How it exits the body

Question 20

What are some examples of excretion routes?

Answer 20

Predominantly through renal excretion (urine)
Exhalation
Salivary
Stool
Bile
Sweat

Question 21

What is half life?

Answer 21

The amount of time it takes for the concentration of a drug to be reduced by half in the body.

Question 22

What are some things that effect half life?

Answer 22

Relies on metabolism and excretion. Depends on gender, weight, renal function, age.

Question 23

What are the 6 rights of medication?

Answer 23

Person
Drug
Time
Dosage
Route
Documentation. Max dose within 24 hours, correct, etc. med charts need to be filled out fully.
Consent

Question 24

What are some nursing considerations we should take before administering a medication?

Answer 24

Rights, interactions/reactions, culture, history, mode of admin, alternatives, patient preference