NURS116 wk 1, 2025

• Introduction to Nursing: Overview of nursing roles and responsibilities

• Patient Care: Understanding the fundamentals of patient assessment and care planning

• Communication Skills: Importance of effective communication in healthcare settings

• Professionalism: Discussing ethical standards and professional behavior in nursing.

Key Concepts Overview

• Main concepts outlined in red; related concepts will be discussed in class.

• Critical areas of focus:

  • Patient Health and Illness: Numerous aspects, including functional ability, anxiety, self-management, etc.

  • Development: Stresses importance of nutrition, mood, affect, and mental health conditions.

  • Professional Identity: Emphasizes nursing judgement, communication, collaboration in healthcare.

  • Key terms include: health promotion, ethics, health quality, palliative care, etc.

Pharmacology Basics

• Definition: Pharmacology is the study of medicines.

  • Purpose includes curing, relieving symptoms, and improving quality of life.

  • Transition from nature-sourced remedies before the 20th century to synthetic manufacturing of active ingredients.

    • Examples: Aspirin (Willow bark), Penicillin (molds), Digoxin (Digitalis), Taxol® (Pacific Yew), Morphine (poppy).

Pharmacotherapeutics Overview

• Utilization involves the administration, knowledge of drug movement through the body, and assessing the body's responses.

• Current stats: 500,000 prescriptions per year; average of 10 per person; 18% of healthcare spending.

Defining Drug Classifications

1. Drug/Medication: Chemical agents produced synthetically.

2. Biologics: Derived from animal cells (e.g., antibodies, hormones).

3. Natural Health Products (NHP): Sources from nature (e.g., herbs, vitamins).

Health Canada Regulations

• Health Canada monitors safety, efficacy, and quality of medical products.

• Collaborates with the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association for drug approvals.

  • Publishes the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS).

Drug Approval Process

• Stages of drug trials include laboratory trials (preclinical), Phase I, II, and III clinical trials.

  • Only about 10% of drugs make it through Phase III. -Monitoring of approved drugs is ongoing to detect adverse reports.

• Provinces decide on drug formulary additions and cost coverage.

Placebo Concept

• Placebo: Substance believed to have an effect that may lead to actual effects (placebo effect).

• The Declaration of Helsinki outlines ethical guidelines for clinical trials involving placebos.

Drug Nomenclature

• Three types of names:

  1. Generic: Internationally recognized, one per drug.

  2. Brand/Trade: Market name(s) for drugs (patented).

  3. Chemical: Based on chemical composition defined by IUPAC.

• Examples: Ibuprofen has multiple brand names like Advil and Motrin.

Cost Comparison of Drugs

• Generic drugs are generally cheaper and often covered by insurance.

• Pricing varies: Tylenol (brand) vs Acetaminophen (generic).

Prototype Drugs

• A single drug from a class serves as a reference to predict actions and side effects of other drugs in that class.

Drug Classifications

• Two types:

  1. Therapeutic Class: Based on treatment.

  2. Pharmacological Class: Based on molecular mechanism of action.

Drug Schedules in Canada

• Schedule I: Prescription only, managed by pharmacists.

• Schedule II: Available from pharmacists, restricted access.

• Schedule III: Over-the-counter access in pharmacies.

• Unscheduled: Can be sold without professional supervision.

Nursing Assessment in Pharmacotherapy

• Evaluate alterations to physiology, implementation of pharmacotherapeutics, and include patient education.

• Patient history: medications, supplements, concerns, and recreational drug use.

Administration Rights and Drug Monitoring

• Ensure correct drug rationale aligns with therapeutic goals.

• Monitor for specific adverse effects and educate patients on their treatments.

Drug Formulations and Routes of Administration

• Factors influencing administration routes:

  • Oral (PO), Sublingual (SL), Intranasal, Inhalation, Topical, Transdermal, Rectal, Intravenous (IV), Intramuscular (IM), Subcutaneous (SC).

• Each method has its own kinetics and patient considerations.

Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

• Pharmacokinetics (ADME): Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion.

• Pharmacodynamics: How drugs affect the body (effectiveness and mechanisms).

Drug Absorption Factors

• Influenced by administration route and molecular characteristics (size, charge).

• Lipophilic, non-ionized substances are absorbed easily, whereas hydrophilic, ionized substances face challenges.

Bioavailability and First-Pass Metabolism

• Bioavailability refers to the concentration of a drug in systemic circulation.

• First-pass metabolism indicates how much of the drug is metabolized by the liver before reaching systemic circulation.

Therapeutic Range and Toxicity

• Understanding therapeutic and toxic dose ranges is essential for safe drug administration.

• The Therapeutic Index (TI) indicates the drug's safety margin by comparing TD50 to ED50.