CNUR 202 MIDTERM EXAM REVIEW STUDY GUIDE | COMPLETE NURSING MIDTERM PREP,
PRACTICE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 2026/2027
Pharmacology - ANS ✔✔The study of the science of drugs
Pharmacotherapeutics - ANS ✔✔The clinical use of drugs to prevent and treat disease
Generic vs Trade name - ANS ✔✔Trade name is the brand and generic name is the drug
Controlled drugs and substances act - ANS ✔✔Provides requirements for the control and sale of
narcotics, controlled drugs, and substances of misuse
What are the phases of drug activity? - ANS ✔✔1) Pharmaceutical phase
2) Pharmacokinetic phase
3) Pharmacodynamic phase
Pharmaceutical phase - ANS ✔✔The drug being given and dissolved in the body
Pharmacokinetic phase - ANS ✔✔The movement of the drug throughout the body by
absorption, metabolism, and secretion
Pharmacodynamic phase - ANS ✔✔The drug receptor interaction that illicit an action on the
body
Bioavailability - ANS ✔✔The amount of drug that enters the circulation unchanged
What is bioavailability dependent on? Why? - ANS ✔✔The route of administration. Iv
medications are 100% bioavailable whereas enteral or topical are not
,First pass metabolism - ANS ✔✔Oral drugs absorbed by the GI tract that are metabolized by
liver enzymes and therefore most of the active drug does not exit the liver
What factors influence the absorption of oral medications? - ANS ✔✔-pH of the stomach
-Presence or absence of food
-Medical conditions such as malabsorption, poor perfusion, or varying GI motility speeds
Enteric coated drugs - ANS ✔✔The drug has an enteric coating to prevent the gastric acids and
enzymes from destroying the drug
Time release drugs - ANS ✔✔The drug is coated with wax or water insoluble substances to
ensure it is released over an extended period of time
What tissues allow drugs to be rapidly distributed? - ANS ✔✔Heart, brain, kidneys and liver
What tissues result in slow distribution of a drug? - ANS ✔✔Skin, fat and muscle
What causes poor distribution of a drug? - ANS ✔✔-It is in a tissue that has poor blood supply
-If a physical barrier is present
How is drug distribution impacted by protein binding? - ANS ✔✔The drug binds to the protein
in order to illicit the response that is wanted by administering the drug. If the protein is low in
the blood the drug will not illicit the response wanted because there isn't enough binding sites
What would happen if you administered two drugs that bind the same protein? - ANS ✔✔They
would compete against each other in order to bind the site resulting in neither drug working to
the fullest of it's ability.
, Where does metabolism of a drug occur? - ANS ✔✔Most often in the liver but also the kidneys,
lungs, plasma, and GI tract
What are drugs broken down into by the body? - ANS ✔✔They are broken down into less active
states, more soluble compounds, or more potent metabolites to make them more usable by the
body.
What factors affect drug metabolism? - ANS ✔✔-Age
-Diet
-Gender
-Liver function
-Genetic factors
-Comorbidities
What are the main drug excretion routes? - ANS ✔✔Kidneys and Biliary tract.
-Kidneys remove water soluble drugs
-Biliary tract takes the drug that pass through the liver and either reabsorb them or eliminate
them to faces
How long does it take for a drug to be eliminated from your body? - ANS ✔✔5 half lives
If you are taking a drug every day what characteristic do you want it to have? - ANS ✔✔A long
half life so that you don't need to be taking it every couple hours
What is steady state? - ANS ✔✔Steady state is keeping the level of a drug in your body constant
for maximum therapeutic value. (Amount of drug absorbed = amount of drug eliminated)
PRACTICE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 2026/2027
Pharmacology - ANS ✔✔The study of the science of drugs
Pharmacotherapeutics - ANS ✔✔The clinical use of drugs to prevent and treat disease
Generic vs Trade name - ANS ✔✔Trade name is the brand and generic name is the drug
Controlled drugs and substances act - ANS ✔✔Provides requirements for the control and sale of
narcotics, controlled drugs, and substances of misuse
What are the phases of drug activity? - ANS ✔✔1) Pharmaceutical phase
2) Pharmacokinetic phase
3) Pharmacodynamic phase
Pharmaceutical phase - ANS ✔✔The drug being given and dissolved in the body
Pharmacokinetic phase - ANS ✔✔The movement of the drug throughout the body by
absorption, metabolism, and secretion
Pharmacodynamic phase - ANS ✔✔The drug receptor interaction that illicit an action on the
body
Bioavailability - ANS ✔✔The amount of drug that enters the circulation unchanged
What is bioavailability dependent on? Why? - ANS ✔✔The route of administration. Iv
medications are 100% bioavailable whereas enteral or topical are not
,First pass metabolism - ANS ✔✔Oral drugs absorbed by the GI tract that are metabolized by
liver enzymes and therefore most of the active drug does not exit the liver
What factors influence the absorption of oral medications? - ANS ✔✔-pH of the stomach
-Presence or absence of food
-Medical conditions such as malabsorption, poor perfusion, or varying GI motility speeds
Enteric coated drugs - ANS ✔✔The drug has an enteric coating to prevent the gastric acids and
enzymes from destroying the drug
Time release drugs - ANS ✔✔The drug is coated with wax or water insoluble substances to
ensure it is released over an extended period of time
What tissues allow drugs to be rapidly distributed? - ANS ✔✔Heart, brain, kidneys and liver
What tissues result in slow distribution of a drug? - ANS ✔✔Skin, fat and muscle
What causes poor distribution of a drug? - ANS ✔✔-It is in a tissue that has poor blood supply
-If a physical barrier is present
How is drug distribution impacted by protein binding? - ANS ✔✔The drug binds to the protein
in order to illicit the response that is wanted by administering the drug. If the protein is low in
the blood the drug will not illicit the response wanted because there isn't enough binding sites
What would happen if you administered two drugs that bind the same protein? - ANS ✔✔They
would compete against each other in order to bind the site resulting in neither drug working to
the fullest of it's ability.
, Where does metabolism of a drug occur? - ANS ✔✔Most often in the liver but also the kidneys,
lungs, plasma, and GI tract
What are drugs broken down into by the body? - ANS ✔✔They are broken down into less active
states, more soluble compounds, or more potent metabolites to make them more usable by the
body.
What factors affect drug metabolism? - ANS ✔✔-Age
-Diet
-Gender
-Liver function
-Genetic factors
-Comorbidities
What are the main drug excretion routes? - ANS ✔✔Kidneys and Biliary tract.
-Kidneys remove water soluble drugs
-Biliary tract takes the drug that pass through the liver and either reabsorb them or eliminate
them to faces
How long does it take for a drug to be eliminated from your body? - ANS ✔✔5 half lives
If you are taking a drug every day what characteristic do you want it to have? - ANS ✔✔A long
half life so that you don't need to be taking it every couple hours
What is steady state? - ANS ✔✔Steady state is keeping the level of a drug in your body constant
for maximum therapeutic value. (Amount of drug absorbed = amount of drug eliminated)
