Unit 1 Introduction to Pharmacology

Question 1

Pharmacotherapeutics

Answer 1

The clinical uses of drugs to prevent and treat disease.

Question 2

Pharmacokinetics

Answer 2

Pharmacokinetics is the study of what happens to a drug from the time it is put into the body until the parent drug and all metabolites have left the body. Thus, the study of drug Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion represent pharmacokinetics (ADME)

Question 3

The nurse is preparing to administer a transdermal patch to a patient and finds that the patient already has a medication patch on the right upper chest. What will the nurse do?

A. Remove the old medication patch and notify the health care provider.
B. Apply the new patch without removing the old one.
C.Remove the old patch and apply the new patch in the same spot.
D. Remove the old patch and apply the new patch to a different, clean area.

Answer 3

D

Assume that it is just time for a new patch

Question 4

A patient reports severe pain and has orders for morphine sulphate. The nurse knows that the route that would give the slowest pain relief would be which route?

A.IV
B.Intramuscular
C.Subcutaneous
D.PO

Answer 4

D.

Per oral has the highest first pass effect

Question 5

Pharmacodynamics

Answer 5

The study of the biochemical and physiological interactions of drugs at their sites of activity; it examines the properties of drugs and their pharmacological interactions with body protein receptors

Question 6

The nurse is giving a medication that has a high first-pass effect. The health care provider has changed the route from IV to PO. The nurse expects the oral dose to be

A.higher because of the first-pass effect.
B.lower because of the first-pass effect.
C.the same as the IV dose.
D.unchanged.

Answer 6

A. You need a higher dose because less will be going into the bloodstream

Question 7

A nurse has been asked to participate in an elective procedure that violates the nurse’s personal ethical principles. The nurse should

A.refuse to participate.
B.ask to switch assignments with another nurse.
C.speak to the manager or supervisor.
D.perform the procedure.

Answer 7

C. you MUST speak to the manager or supervisor first you cannot abandon the patient

Question 8

A nurse does not notice that a patient’s IV site is swollen, red, painful, and warm to touch, nor that the IV has quit infusing properly. This is an example of failure to:
A.Assess
B.Evaluate
C.Ensure safety
D.Obtain informed consent

Answer 8

Nurse did not assess the site properly to notice the complications that were occurring

Question 9

1. An older woman took a prescription medicine to help her to sleep; however, she felt restless all night and did not sleep at all. The nurse recognizes that this woman has experienced which type of reaction or effect?
   a. Allergic reaction
   b. Idiosyncratic reaction
   c. Mutagenic effect
   d. Synergistic effect

Answer 9

B

Question 10

2. While caring for a patient with cirrhosis or hepatitis, the nurse knows that abnormalities in which phase of pharmacokinetics may occur?
   a. Absorption
   b. Distribution
   c. Metabolism
   d. Excretion

Answer 10

C.

Question 11

3. A patient who has advanced cancer is receiving opioid medications around the clock to “keep him comfortable” as he nears the end of his life. Which term best describes this type of therapy?
   a. Palliative therapy
   b. Maintenance therapy
   c. Supportive therapy
   d. Supplemental therapy

Answer 11

A.

Question 12

4. The nurse is giving medications to a patient in heart failure. The intravenous route is chosen instead of the intramuscular route. Which patient factors most influences the decision about which route to use?
   a. Altered biliary function
   b. Increased glomerular filtration
   c. Reduced liver metabolism
   d. Diminished circulation

Answer 12

D.

Question 13

5. A patient has just received a prescription for an enteric-coated stool softener. When teaching the patient, the nurse should include which statement?
   a. “Take the tablet with 60 to 90 mL of orange juice.”
   b. “Avoid taking all other medications with any enteric-coated tablet.”
   c. “Crush the tablet before swallowing if you have problems with swallowing.”
   d. “Be sure to swallow the tablet whole without chewing it.”

Answer 13

D.

Chewing contradicts the purpose of the drug

Question 14

6. Each statement describes a phase of pharmacokinetics. Put the statements in order, with 1 indicating the phase that occurs first and 4 indicating the phase that occurs last.
   a. Enzymes in the liver transform the drug into an inactive metabolite.
   b. Drug metabolites are secreted through passive glomerular filtration into the renal tubules.
   c. A drug binds to the plasma protein albumin and circulates through the body.
   d. A drug moves from the intestinal lumen into the mesenteric blood system.

Answer 14

D, C A, B

Question 15

7. A drug that delivers 500 mg has a half-life of 4 hours. How many milligrams of drug will remain in the body after 1 half-life?

Answer 15

250 mg

500/2 = 250