Week 1Discussion ( advanced care in Acute setting 1)
Week 1: Principles of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics
How do ACE inhibitors work? What exactly do antibiotics do to the bacteria they target? What effects do anti-depressants have on blood flow?
Questions like these are related to the underlying pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes of pharmacotherapeutics. As an advanced practice nurse, understanding these fundamental pharmacotherapeutic concepts is important to ensure that the selection and administration of prescription drugs to your patients will be safe and effective to treat and/or manage their symptoms.
This week, you will apply pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic concepts for a variety of pharmacotherapeutics and analyze how they may be influenced by patient factors. You will also recommend potential adjustments to treatment plans, when needed, to account for the selection of appropriate pharmacotherapeutics, routes of administration, and medication interactions.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Apply principles of pharmacokinetics when prescribing pharmaceuticals for critically ill patients
Analyze how medication combinations affect pharmacokinetics in the body
Recommend alterations in medication treatment plans based on medication interactions and pharmacokinetic effects
Discussion: Impact of Pharmacokinetics on Medication Selection and Administration
As an advanced practice nurse, you will likely be responsible for selecting and prescribing pharmaceuticals to address your patients’ health needs and concerns. To what extent is understanding the pharmacokinetics of a certain medication important in your decision-making process when prescribing a medication for your patient?
Knowing the pharmacokinetic effects of medications—such as how long will the medication be absorbed and exert an effect on the body before it is eliminated—can have important implications for addressing your patient’s health needs.
For this Discussion, think about the types of decisions you might make, with an understanding of pharmacokinetics, when prescribing medications for your patients. Reflect on how having a working knowledge of pharmacokinetics of medications is important in your role as an advanced practice nurse.
To prepare:
Review the Learning Resources on pharmacokinetics.
Review the Discussion Prompt and Response Prompt assigned by your Instructor.
By Day 3 of Week 1
Post your response to the Discussion Prompt assigned by your Instructor. Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 1
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days and expand upon your colleagues’ posts by addressing the Response Prompt assigned by your Instructor.
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Doogue, M. P., & Polasek, T. M. (2013). The ABCD of clinical pharmacokinetics. Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety, 4(1), 5–7. doi:10.1177/2042098612469335
Sakai, J. B. (2008). Practical pharmacology for the pharmacy technician. Philadelphia, PA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Chapter 3, “Pharmacokinetics: The Absorption, Distribution, and Excretion of Drugs” (pp. 27–40).
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