NURS 676 ADVANCED PHARMACOLOGY
ACTUAL EXAM PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS
WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
●● What is the purpose of a DEA #?
Answer: Needed to prescribed scheduled drugs
●● Rules for prescribing Schedule II drugs:
Answer: -Written script needed
-1 month supply only
-No refills
●● What is the PDMP?
Answer: Prescription Drug Monitoring Program
Used to effectively track patient's controlled substance uses across
different health facilities (in the same state)
●● What are clinical practice guidelines?
Answer: Recommendations that are intended to optimize patient care
that are informed by a systematic review of the evidence and an
assessment of the benefits/harms of alternative care practices
,Ex: sepsis, CAP
●● Common causes of medication errors:
Answer: -Illegible writing
-Drug names that sound alike
-Medications that look alike
-Administering a drug with the wrong route
●● What is pharmacokinetics? What are its 4 categories?
Answer: What the body does to the drug
1. Absorption
2. Metabolism
3. Distribution
4. Excretion
●● Quickest route of absorption? Slowest?
Answer: IV = quickest
IM = slowest
●● What is the most common way drugs pass through cell membranes?
,Answer: Passive diffusion
●● What characteristics of a drug allow it to pass most quickly through
cell membranes (usually through passive diffusion)?
Answer: Small, uncharged (unionized), lipid soluble--pass through
membrane without any energy
●● What does it mean when a drug is ionized?
Answer: It means that the drug is stuck in the compartment it was
ionized in and has to be moved to the next compartment (cannot be
absorbed into the bloodstream)
●● Where do weak acids absorb?
Answer: Stomach
●● Where do weak bases absorb?
Answer: Small intestine
●● pH of stomach:
Answer: 2-4
●● pH of small intestine:
Answer: 6-7
, ●● pH of large intestine:
Answer: 6-7
●● pH of bloodstream:
Answer: 7.35-7.45
●● pH of bladder:
Answer: 5-8
●● pH of breastmilk:
Answer: 7.1
●● Where will a drug absorb if it is a weak base that ionizes at a pH of 4
and lower?
Answer: In the small intestine (since the stomach has a pH of 2-4, so the
drug will become ionized and move to the small intestine where it will
be able to absorb into the bloodstream)
●● How can we manipulate the urine pH in cases of overdose?
Answer: Drugs that are weak acids (aspirin) can be trapped and excreted
through the urine.
ACTUAL EXAM PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS
WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
●● What is the purpose of a DEA #?
Answer: Needed to prescribed scheduled drugs
●● Rules for prescribing Schedule II drugs:
Answer: -Written script needed
-1 month supply only
-No refills
●● What is the PDMP?
Answer: Prescription Drug Monitoring Program
Used to effectively track patient's controlled substance uses across
different health facilities (in the same state)
●● What are clinical practice guidelines?
Answer: Recommendations that are intended to optimize patient care
that are informed by a systematic review of the evidence and an
assessment of the benefits/harms of alternative care practices
,Ex: sepsis, CAP
●● Common causes of medication errors:
Answer: -Illegible writing
-Drug names that sound alike
-Medications that look alike
-Administering a drug with the wrong route
●● What is pharmacokinetics? What are its 4 categories?
Answer: What the body does to the drug
1. Absorption
2. Metabolism
3. Distribution
4. Excretion
●● Quickest route of absorption? Slowest?
Answer: IV = quickest
IM = slowest
●● What is the most common way drugs pass through cell membranes?
,Answer: Passive diffusion
●● What characteristics of a drug allow it to pass most quickly through
cell membranes (usually through passive diffusion)?
Answer: Small, uncharged (unionized), lipid soluble--pass through
membrane without any energy
●● What does it mean when a drug is ionized?
Answer: It means that the drug is stuck in the compartment it was
ionized in and has to be moved to the next compartment (cannot be
absorbed into the bloodstream)
●● Where do weak acids absorb?
Answer: Stomach
●● Where do weak bases absorb?
Answer: Small intestine
●● pH of stomach:
Answer: 2-4
●● pH of small intestine:
Answer: 6-7
, ●● pH of large intestine:
Answer: 6-7
●● pH of bloodstream:
Answer: 7.35-7.45
●● pH of bladder:
Answer: 5-8
●● pH of breastmilk:
Answer: 7.1
●● Where will a drug absorb if it is a weak base that ionizes at a pH of 4
and lower?
Answer: In the small intestine (since the stomach has a pH of 2-4, so the
drug will become ionized and move to the small intestine where it will
be able to absorb into the bloodstream)
●● How can we manipulate the urine pH in cases of overdose?
Answer: Drugs that are weak acids (aspirin) can be trapped and excreted
through the urine.
