Nursing Pharmacology

Test Bank - Focus on Nursing Pharmacology (8th Edition by Karch) 4 liability. Schedule I drugs have high abuse potential and no accepted medical use. Schedule III drugs have a lesser abuse potential than II and an accepted medical use. Schedule IV drugs have low abuse potential and limited dependence liability. When involved in phase III drug evaluation studies, what responsibilities would the nurse have? Working with animals who are given experimental drugs Choosing appropriate patients to be involved in the drug study Monitoring and observing patients closely for adverse effects Conducting research to determine effectiveness of the drug Ans: C Feedback: Phase III studies involve use of a drug in a vast clinical population in which patients are asked to record any symptoms they experience while taking the drugs. Nurses may be responsible for helping collect and analyze the information to be shared with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but would not conduct research independently because nurses do not prescribe medications. Use of animals in drug testing is done in the preclinical trials. Select patients who are involved in phase II studies to participate in studies where the participants have the disease the drug is intended to treat. These patients are monitored closely for drug action and adverse effects. Phase I studies involve healthy human volunteers who are usually paid for their participation. Nurses may observe for adverse effects and toxicity. What concept is considered when generic drugs are substituted for brand name drugs? Bioavailability Critical concentration Distribution Half-life Ans: A Feedback: Bioavailability is the portion of a dose of a drug that reaches the systemic circulation and is available to act on body cells. Binders used in a generic drug may not be the same as those used in the brand name drug. Therefore, the way the body breaks down and uses the drug may differ, which may eliminate a generic drug substitution. Critical concentration is the amount of a drug that is needed to cause a therapeutic effect and should not differ between generic and brand name medications. Distribution is the phase of pharmacokinetics, which involves the movement of a drug to the body’s tissues and is the Test Bank - Focus on Nursing Pharmacology (8th Edition by Karch) 5 same in generic and brand name drugs. A drug’s half-life is the time it takes for the amount of drug to decrease to half the peak level, which should not change when substituting a generic medication. A nurse is assessing the patient’s home medication use. After listening to the patient list current medications, the nurse asks what priority question? Do you take any generic medications? Are any of these medications orphan drugs? Are these medications safe to take during pregnancy? Do you take any over-the-counter medications? Ans: D Feedback: It is important for the nurse to specifically question use of over-the-counter medications because patients may not consider them important. The patient is unlikely to know the meaning of orphan drugs unless they too are health care providers. Safety during pregnancy, use of a generic medication, or classification of orphan drugs are things the patient would be unable to answer but could be found in reference books if the nurse wishes to research them. After completing a course on pharmacology for nurses, what will the nurse know? Everything necessary for safe and effective medication administration Current pharmacologic therapy; the nurse will not require ongoing education for 5 years. General drug information; the nurse can consult a drug guide for specific drug information. The drug actions that are associated with each classification of medication Ans: C Feedback: After completing a pharmacology course nurses will have general drug information needed for safe and effective medication administration but will need to consult a drug guide for specific drug information before administering any medication. Pharmacology is constantly changing, with new drugs entering the market and new uses for existing drugs identified. Continuing education in pharmacology is essential to safe practice. Nurses tend to become familiar with the medications they administer most often, but there will always be a need to research new drugs and also those the nurse is not familiar with because no nurse knows all medications.