Advanced Pharmacology
Once you graduate from an NP program, in order to prescribe you'll need: - (correct
Answer) - -Advanced nurse prescriber license
-DEA #
What is the purpose of a DEA #? - (correct Answer) - Needed to prescribed scheduled
drugs
Rules for prescribing Schedule II drugs: - (correct Answer) - -Written script
needed
-1 month supply only
-No refills
What is the PDMP? - (correct 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? - (correct 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: - (correct 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? - (correct Answer) - What the
body does to the drug
1. Absorption
2. Metabolism
3. Distribution
4. Excretion
Quickest route of absorption? Slowest? - (correct Answer) - IV = quickest
IM = slowest
What is the most common way drugs pass through cell membranes? - (correct Answer) -
Passive diffusion
What characteristics of a drug allow it to pass most quickly through cell membranes
(usually through passive diffusion)? - (correct Answer) - Small, uncharged
(unionized), lipid soluble--pass through membrane without any energy
What does it mean when a drug is ionized? - (correct 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? - (correct Answer) - Stomach
Where do weak bases absorb? - (correct Answer) - Small intestine
pH of stomach: - (correct Answer) - 2-4
pH of small intestine: - (correct Answer) - 6-7
pH of large intestine: - (correct Answer) - 6-7
pH of bloodstream: - (correct Answer) - 7.35-7.45
pH of bladder: - (correct Answer) - 5-8
pH of breastmilk: - (correct Answer) - 7.1
Where will a drug absorb if it is a weak base that ionizes at a pH of 4 and lower?
- (correct 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? - (correct Answer) - Drugs
that are weak acids (aspirin) can be trapped and excreted through the urine.
We raise pH of the urine (with sodium bicarb) to force the drug to ionize and allow
it to be excreted, not reabsorbed through the bloodstream.
What is distribution? - (correct Answer) - How a drug will be transported to the
Once you graduate from an NP program, in order to prescribe you'll need: - (correct
Answer) - -Advanced nurse prescriber license
-DEA #
What is the purpose of a DEA #? - (correct Answer) - Needed to prescribed scheduled
drugs
Rules for prescribing Schedule II drugs: - (correct Answer) - -Written script
needed
-1 month supply only
-No refills
What is the PDMP? - (correct 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? - (correct 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: - (correct 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? - (correct Answer) - What the
body does to the drug
1. Absorption
2. Metabolism
3. Distribution
4. Excretion
Quickest route of absorption? Slowest? - (correct Answer) - IV = quickest
IM = slowest
What is the most common way drugs pass through cell membranes? - (correct Answer) -
Passive diffusion
What characteristics of a drug allow it to pass most quickly through cell membranes
(usually through passive diffusion)? - (correct Answer) - Small, uncharged
(unionized), lipid soluble--pass through membrane without any energy
What does it mean when a drug is ionized? - (correct 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? - (correct Answer) - Stomach
Where do weak bases absorb? - (correct Answer) - Small intestine
pH of stomach: - (correct Answer) - 2-4
pH of small intestine: - (correct Answer) - 6-7
pH of large intestine: - (correct Answer) - 6-7
pH of bloodstream: - (correct Answer) - 7.35-7.45
pH of bladder: - (correct Answer) - 5-8
pH of breastmilk: - (correct Answer) - 7.1
Where will a drug absorb if it is a weak base that ionizes at a pH of 4 and lower?
- (correct 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? - (correct Answer) - Drugs
that are weak acids (aspirin) can be trapped and excreted through the urine.
We raise pH of the urine (with sodium bicarb) to force the drug to ionize and allow
it to be excreted, not reabsorbed through the bloodstream.
What is distribution? - (correct Answer) - How a drug will be transported to the
