Pharmacology and the Nursing Process Chapter 2

Additive Effect - drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of 2 or more drugs with similar actions is equivalent to the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs given alone (1+1=2) Adverse Drug Event - any undesirable occurrence related to administering or failing to administer a prescribed medication. Adverse Drug Reaction - any unexpected, unintended, undesired, or excessive response to a medication given at therapeutic dosages (not an overdose) Adverse Effects - a general term for any undesirable effects that are a direct response to one or more drugs Agonist - a drug that binds to and stimulates the activity of one or more receptors in the body. Allergic Reaction - an immunologic hypersensitivity reaction resulting from the unusual sensitivity of a patient to a particular medication; a type of adverse drug event. Antagonistic Effects - Drug interaction which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs is less than the sum of the individual effects of the same drug given alone (1 + 1 = less than 2); it is usually caused by an antagonizing (blocking or reducing) effect of one drug on another Bioavailability - A measure of the extent of drug absorption for a given drug and route (from 0% to 100%) Biotransformation - One or more biochemical reactions involving a parent drug. Biotransformation occurs mainly in the liver and produces a metabolite that is either inactive or active. Also known as a metabolism