Comprehensive Pharmacology & Nursing Exam: Medication Administration, GI Safety, Drug Interactions, Buccal & IV Routes, Lipid vs. Water Solubility, Inducers & Inhibitors, Half-Life & Plateau, Loading Dose, Drug Development Phases, FDA Approval, Therapeuti

Comprehensive Pharmacology & Nursing Exam: Medication Administration, GI Safety, Drug Interactions, Buccal & IV Routes, Lipid vs. Water Solubility, Inducers & Inhibitors, Half-Life & Plateau, Loading Dose, Drug Development Phases, FDA Approval, Therapeutics vs. Pharmacotherapeutics, Controlled Substances, Adverse Drug Reactions, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Receptor Activity, Pregnancy Categories, Hepatotoxicity, Teratogenicity, Patient Education, Cultural Considerations, Pain Management, Dependence & Withdrawal, ABCs in Nursing Care Exam Questions Verified and Complete with A+ Graded Rationales Latest Updated 2026 What would you do if patient comes to you with ulcer issue (GI bleed) and asks for Motrin for their headache pain? Explain to the patient the benefits vs. the risks. Motrin (ibuprofen) thins the blood and they can have a GI erosion / risk of bleeding. A husband was prescribed PO medication for back pain. His wife wants to take his medication after she also hurt her back. What is wrong with this scenario? For PO medication, there is a gender difference and they can have different side affects when taking the same PO med. Buccal between the gum and cheek Why would you change a med that a patient is receiving from water to lipid solubility? Lipid solubility is fast-acting and can cross the membrane easily. You can deliver meds to the site of action. Water soluble is slower and needs to be bound and carried across the cell membrane. Can make a big difference in how it affects patient. Inducer Drugs that act on the liver to increase the rate of metabolism and the plasma drug level falls. Less of the drug at the site of action Inhibitor Drugs that act on on the liver to decrease the rate of metabolism and leads to an increase adverse effect. Will have more drugs to the site of action. What is drug half-life? the time required for the amount of drug in the body to decrease by 50% If Morphine has a half-life of 3 hours and you take 50mg, how many mg will be left in 3 hours? 25 mg How do you reach plateau? take 4 'loading doses', then maintain daily loading dose the amount of medication you give to reach plateau or the highest concentration. used for drugs with long half life to achieve plateau quickly. i.e. 4 doses within 24 hours - 4 increments. ex) Z pack, Digoxin Phase- preclinical testing 1-5 years. Testing in animals for Toxicity, pharmacokinetics, possible useful effects. Phase I of drug development Healthy Volunteers - Testing for metabolism, pharmacokinetics, and biological effects Phase II of drug development Patients- Testing for therapeutic utility and dosage range. Phase III of drug development Patients - Testing for safety and effectiveness. How long does it take a new drug to get tested before submission to the FDA? 10-15 years Why is it important to ask a patient what medications they are currently taking? Because there can be interactions between their current med and the newly prescribed med. The physician will not prescribe a drug without knowing this information. Therapeautics vs. Pharmacotherapeutics using drugs to diagnose, prevent or treat a disease or to prevent a pregnancy If you are on a prescribed medication, what should you do if you want to take an OTC medication? Ask your physician if it's ok What is a black box warning? strongest safety warning a drug can carry and still remain on the market. Intended to alert prescribers on life threatening risks & ways to prevent or reduce harm controlled substances Schedule II through V - have accepted medical applications but a high potential for abuse. Schedule I: no accepted medical use in the US ex. heroin Controlled Substances Act set rules for the manufacture and distribution of drugs considered to have the potential for abuse If someone has an adverse reaction to a medication that they are taking, what is a possible food-drug interaction? grapefruit juice Would you give a PO or IV to someone has nausea and vomiting? IV (they will throw up the PO) Exp