NUR 138 PHARMACOLOGY EXAM 1 CHAPTERS 1-5 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS | NUR 138 STUDY GUIDE & PRACTICE TEST 2026/2027
Compliance - ANS ✔✔Implementation or fulfillment of a prescriber's or caregiver's prescribed course of
treatment or therapeutic plan by a patient.
Medication Error - ANS ✔✔Any preventable adverse drug event involving inappropriate medication use
by a patient or health care professional; it may or may not cause the patient harm.
Noncompliance - ANS ✔✔An informed decision on the part of the patient not to adhere to or follow a
therapeutic plan or suggestion.
Nursing Process - ANS ✔✔An organizational framework for the practice of nursing. It encompasses all
steps taken by the nurse in caring for a patient: assessment, nursing diagnoses, planning (with goals and
outcome criteria), implementation of the plan (with patient teaching), and evaluation.
Outcomes - ANS ✔✔Descriptions of specific patient behaviors or responses that demonstrate meeting of
or achievement of behaviors related to each patient's needs. These statements are specific while framed
in behavioral terms and are measurable.
Prescriber - ANS ✔✔Any health care professional licensed by the appropriate regulatory board to
prescribe medications.
Additive effects - ANS ✔✔Drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs
with similar actions is equivalent to the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs given alone.
Adverse drug event - ANS ✔✔any undesirable occurrence related to administering or failing to
administer a prescribed medication
Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) - ANS ✔✔any unexpected, unintended, undesired, or excessive response
to a medication given at therapeutic dosages
Adverse effects - ANS ✔✔A general term for any undesirable effects that are a direct response to one or
more drugs.
Agonist - ANS ✔✔A drug that binds to and stimulates the activity of one or more receptors in the body.
allergic reaction - ANS ✔✔An immunologic hypersensitivity reaction resulting from the unusual
sensitivity of a patient to a particular medication; a type of adverse drug event.
antagonist - ANS ✔✔A drug that binds to and inhibits the activity of one or more receptors in the body.
Antagonists are also called inhibitors.
antagonist effects - ANS ✔✔drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs
is less than the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs given alone
, Bioavailability - ANS ✔✔a measure of the extent of drug absorption for a given drug and route
Biotransformation - ANS ✔✔One or more biochemical reactions involving a parent drug; occurs mainly
in the liver and produces a metabolite that is either inactive or active. Also known as metabolism.
blood-brain barrier - ANS ✔✔The barrier system that restricts the passage of various chemicals and
microscopic entities (e.g., bacteria, viruses) between the bloodstream and the central nervous system. It
still allows for the passage of essential substances such as oxygen.
chemical name - ANS ✔✔The name that describes the chemical composition and molecular structure of
a drug.
contraindication - ANS ✔✔Any condition, especially one related to a disease state or patient
characteristic, including current or recent drug therapy, which renders a particular form of treatment
improper or undesirable.
Cytochrome P450 - ANS ✔✔The general name for a large class of enzymes that play a significant role in
drug metabolism and drug interactions.
dependence - ANS ✔✔A state in which there is a compulsive or chronic need, as for a drug
dissolution - ANS ✔✔The process by which solid forms of drugs disintegrate in the gastrointestinal tract
and become soluble before being absorbed into the circulation.
drug - ANS ✔✔any chemical that affects the physiologic processes of a living organism
drug actions - ANS ✔✔The processes involved in the interaction between a drug and body cells (e.g., the
action of a drug on a receptor protein); also called mechanism of action.
drug classification - ANS ✔✔A method of grouping drugs; may be based on structure or therapeutic use.
drug effects - ANS ✔✔The physiologic reactions of the body to a drug. They can be therapeutic or toxic
and describe how the body is affected as a whole by the drug.
Drug-induced teratogenesis - ANS ✔✔the development of congenital abnormalities or defects in the
developing fetus caused by the toxic effects of drugs
drug interaction - ANS ✔✔Alteration in the pharmacologic or pharmacokinetic activity of a given drug
caused by the presence of one or more additional drugs; it is usually related to effects on the enzymes
required for metabolism of the involved drugs.
duration of action - ANS ✔✔The length of time the concentration of a drug in the blood or tissues is
sufficient to elicit a response.
enzymes - ANS ✔✔Protein molecules that catalyze one or more of a variety of biochemical reactions,
including those related to the body's physiologic processes as well as those related to drug metabolism.
ANSWERS | NUR 138 STUDY GUIDE & PRACTICE TEST 2026/2027
Compliance - ANS ✔✔Implementation or fulfillment of a prescriber's or caregiver's prescribed course of
treatment or therapeutic plan by a patient.
Medication Error - ANS ✔✔Any preventable adverse drug event involving inappropriate medication use
by a patient or health care professional; it may or may not cause the patient harm.
Noncompliance - ANS ✔✔An informed decision on the part of the patient not to adhere to or follow a
therapeutic plan or suggestion.
Nursing Process - ANS ✔✔An organizational framework for the practice of nursing. It encompasses all
steps taken by the nurse in caring for a patient: assessment, nursing diagnoses, planning (with goals and
outcome criteria), implementation of the plan (with patient teaching), and evaluation.
Outcomes - ANS ✔✔Descriptions of specific patient behaviors or responses that demonstrate meeting of
or achievement of behaviors related to each patient's needs. These statements are specific while framed
in behavioral terms and are measurable.
Prescriber - ANS ✔✔Any health care professional licensed by the appropriate regulatory board to
prescribe medications.
Additive effects - ANS ✔✔Drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs
with similar actions is equivalent to the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs given alone.
Adverse drug event - ANS ✔✔any undesirable occurrence related to administering or failing to
administer a prescribed medication
Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) - ANS ✔✔any unexpected, unintended, undesired, or excessive response
to a medication given at therapeutic dosages
Adverse effects - ANS ✔✔A general term for any undesirable effects that are a direct response to one or
more drugs.
Agonist - ANS ✔✔A drug that binds to and stimulates the activity of one or more receptors in the body.
allergic reaction - ANS ✔✔An immunologic hypersensitivity reaction resulting from the unusual
sensitivity of a patient to a particular medication; a type of adverse drug event.
antagonist - ANS ✔✔A drug that binds to and inhibits the activity of one or more receptors in the body.
Antagonists are also called inhibitors.
antagonist effects - ANS ✔✔drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs
is less than the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs given alone
, Bioavailability - ANS ✔✔a measure of the extent of drug absorption for a given drug and route
Biotransformation - ANS ✔✔One or more biochemical reactions involving a parent drug; occurs mainly
in the liver and produces a metabolite that is either inactive or active. Also known as metabolism.
blood-brain barrier - ANS ✔✔The barrier system that restricts the passage of various chemicals and
microscopic entities (e.g., bacteria, viruses) between the bloodstream and the central nervous system. It
still allows for the passage of essential substances such as oxygen.
chemical name - ANS ✔✔The name that describes the chemical composition and molecular structure of
a drug.
contraindication - ANS ✔✔Any condition, especially one related to a disease state or patient
characteristic, including current or recent drug therapy, which renders a particular form of treatment
improper or undesirable.
Cytochrome P450 - ANS ✔✔The general name for a large class of enzymes that play a significant role in
drug metabolism and drug interactions.
dependence - ANS ✔✔A state in which there is a compulsive or chronic need, as for a drug
dissolution - ANS ✔✔The process by which solid forms of drugs disintegrate in the gastrointestinal tract
and become soluble before being absorbed into the circulation.
drug - ANS ✔✔any chemical that affects the physiologic processes of a living organism
drug actions - ANS ✔✔The processes involved in the interaction between a drug and body cells (e.g., the
action of a drug on a receptor protein); also called mechanism of action.
drug classification - ANS ✔✔A method of grouping drugs; may be based on structure or therapeutic use.
drug effects - ANS ✔✔The physiologic reactions of the body to a drug. They can be therapeutic or toxic
and describe how the body is affected as a whole by the drug.
Drug-induced teratogenesis - ANS ✔✔the development of congenital abnormalities or defects in the
developing fetus caused by the toxic effects of drugs
drug interaction - ANS ✔✔Alteration in the pharmacologic or pharmacokinetic activity of a given drug
caused by the presence of one or more additional drugs; it is usually related to effects on the enzymes
required for metabolism of the involved drugs.
duration of action - ANS ✔✔The length of time the concentration of a drug in the blood or tissues is
sufficient to elicit a response.
enzymes - ANS ✔✔Protein molecules that catalyze one or more of a variety of biochemical reactions,
including those related to the body's physiologic processes as well as those related to drug metabolism.
