Pharmacology Key Terms and Definitions

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, nursing process, and age-related considerations from the lecture notes.

Biotechnology

Process that may involve manipulating deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) and recombining genes into hybrid molecules that can be inserted into living organisms (often Escherichia coli bacteria) and repeatedly reproduced.

Brand (trade) name

Manufacturer's chosen name for a drug, which is protected by a patent.

Controlled substances

Drugs, substances, and certain chemicals used to make drugs that are categorized by federal law according to therapeutic usefulness and potential for abuse; also known as scheduled drugs.

Drug classifications

Groups of medications that are classified according to their effects on particular body systems, their therapeutic uses, and their chemical characteristics.

Generic name

Chemical or official name of the drug that is independent of the manufacturer and often indicates the drug group.

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs

Medications available for purchase without a prescription.

Pharmacoeconomics

Costs of drug therapy, including costs of purchasing, dispensing, storage, administration, and laboratory and other tests used to monitor patient responses; also considers losses due to expiration.

Pharmacogenomics

Study of how a person's genetic makeup, or genome, leads to variable responses to drugs; more generally refers to genetic polymorphisms that occur in a patient population, such as an ethnic group, as opposed to an individual person (also known as pharmacogenetics).

Pharmacotherapy

Use of drugs to prevent, diagnose, or treat signs, symptoms, and disease processes; also known as drug therapy.

Placebo

Inert substance containing no medication and given to reinforce a person's expectation to improve.

Prescription drugs

Medications that are ordered in writing by a licensed healthcare provider.

Prototype

Often the first drug of a particular drug class to be developed; usually the standard against which newer, similar drugs are compared.

Pharmacokinetics

Drug movement through the body to reach sites of action, metabolism, and excretion.

Polymorphism

The occurrence of two or more clearly different forms (or phenotypes) in a species important in drug therapy because it explains the functionally different response to drugs in a general patient population or a specific individual or group.

Prodrugs

Initially inactive drugs that exert no pharmacologic effects until they are metabolized.

Serum drug level

Laboratory measurement of the amount of a drug in the blood at a particular time.

Serum half-life

Time required for the serum concentration of a drug to decrease by 50%; also called elimination half-life.

Absorption

Process that occurs from the time a drug enters the body to the time it enters the bloodstream to be circulated.

Agonist

Drug that produces effects similar to those produced by naturally occurring hormones, neurotransmitters, and other substances.

Antagonist

Drug that inhibits cell function by occupying receptor sites.

Antidote

Substance that relieves, prevents, or counteracts the effect of a poison.

Bioavailability

Portion of a drug dose that reaches the systemic circulation and is available to act on body cells.

Biotransformation

When drugs are altered from their original form into a new form by the body; also referred to as metabolism.

Distribution

Transport of drug molecules within the body; after a drug is injected or absorbed into the bloodstream, it is carried by the blood and tissue fluids to its sites of action, metabolism, and excretion.

Enterohepatic recirculation

Drugs or metabolites that are excreted in bile, reabsorbed from the small intestine, returned to the liver, metabolized, and eventually excreted in urine.

Enzyme induction

Production of larger amounts of drug-metabolizing enzymes by liver cells; process accelerates drug metabolism because larger amounts of the enzymes (and more binding sites) allow larger amounts of a drug to be metabolized during a given time.

Enzyme inhibition

Process in which a molecule binds to enzymes and inhibits their activity.

Excretion

Elimination of a drug from the body; effective excretion requires adequate functioning of the circulatory system and of the organs of excretion (kidneys, bowel, lungs, and skin).

First-pass effect

Initial metabolism of some oral drugs as they are carried from the intestine to the liver by the portal circulatory system prior to reaching the systemic circulation for distribution to site of action.

Hypersensitivity

Immune-mediated reaction to a drug.

Loading dose

Dose larger than the regular prescribed daily dosage of a medication; used to attain a therapeutic blood level.

Maintenance dose

Quantity of drug that is needed to keep blood levels and/or tissue levels at a steady state or constant level.

Nephrotoxicity

Toxic or damaging effect of a substance on the kidney; potentially serious because kidney damage interferes with drug excretion, causing drug accumulation and increased adverse effects.

Pharmacodynamics

Reactions between living systems and drugs; drug actions on target cells and the resulting alterations in cellular biochemical reactions and functions.

Assessment

Collection of patient data that affects drug therapy.

Controlled-release

Oral tablet or capsule formulations that maintain consistent serum drug levels; may also be referred to as extended release or sustained release.

Dosage form

Form in which drugs are manufactured; includes elixirs, tablets, capsules, suppositories, parenteral drugs, and transdermal systems.

Enteric-coated

Coating of a tablet or capsule that makes it insoluble in stomach acid.

Evaluation

Determining a patient's status in relation to stated goals and expected outcomes.

Evidence-based practice

Scientific evidence that yields the best practice in patient care.

Interventions

Planned nursing activities performed on a patient's behalf, including assessment, promotion of adherence to drug therapy, and solving problems related to drug therapy.

Medication history

List of prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, herbal supplements, or illegal substances taken by the patient (both current and past).

Nursing diagnosis

Description of patient problems or needs based on assessment data.

Nursing process

Systematic way of gathering and using information to plan and provide individualized patient care.

Parenteral

Injected administration; subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous route.

Planning/goals

Expected outcomes of prescribed drug therapy.

Rights of medication administration

Assist to ensure accuracy in drug therapy; rights include right drug, right dose, right patient, right assessment, right route, right time, right reason, right documentation, right patient education, right evaluation, and right to refuse the medication.

Topical

Application of drugs (e.g., solutions, ointments, creams, or suppositories) to skin or mucous membranes.

Transdermal

Adsorption of drugs (e.g., skin patches) through the skin.

Adult

Person who ranges in age from 19 to 64 years.

Age-related changes

Physiologic events due to increasing age, which affect drug responses.

Older adult

Person who is 65 years of age or older.

Polypharmacy

Use of several drugs during the same period.

Risk to benefit ratio

Poor outcome (adverse effects of medications) in relation to good outcome (desired medication effects); increases with increasing age.