STUDENT ACTIVITY SHEET

CHELSY SKY M. SACAN

LESSON TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO PHARMACOLOGY

Pharmacology
BS NURSING / SECOND YEAR
Session 1

Materials:

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING (20 minutes)

You will answer and rationalize this by yourself. This will be recorded as your quiz. One (1) point will
be given to correct answer and another one (1) point for the correct rationalization. Superimpositions
or erasures in you answer/ratio is not allowed. You are given 25 minutes for this activity:

Multiple Choice
1. What is pharmacokinetics?
a. The study of biological and therapeutic effects of drugs
b. The study of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs
c. The study of mechanisms of drug action
d. The study of methods of new drug development
ANSWER: B.
RATIO: Pharmacokinetics is currently defined as the study of the time course of drug
absorption, distribution, metabo- lism, and excretion.

2. The interaction of one drug increased by the presence of a second drug is known as:
a. Potentiation
b. Addictive effects
c. Antagonism
d. Synergism
ANSWER: A
RATIO Potentiation are where the actions of one drug are changed in the presence of another.

3. Considering the absorption of medications during administration, which of the following routes
would yield the quickest response?
a. Oral Medications
b. Subcutaneous injections
c. Intravenous medications
d. Topical medications
ANSWER: C
RATIO: Damage to veins and injection site. A vein can be damaged during injection or by the
use of an IV catheter line.
4. Which of the following best defines the process of pharmacokinetics?
a. The effect of medication on the body
b. The effect of the body on medication
c. The study of medications
d. The preparation of medications for administration
ANSWER: B
Pharmacokinetics, sometimes described as what the body does to a drug, refers to the
movement of drug into, though, and out of the body—the time course of its absorption,
bioavailability, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.

5. When performing an assessment about medication drug history should include which
of the following? a. Complete vital signs
b. Reason for medication
c. Client’s goal therapy
d. Administration of OTC medications
ANSWER: D
RATIO: A good medication history should encompass all currently and recently prescribed
drugs,

6. When considering the pharmacotherapeutic effects of drugs administered to clients, the nurse
considers which property of most Importance:
a. Efficacy
b. Potency
c. Interaction with other drugs
d. Toxicity
ANSWER: A
RATIO: Pharmacotherapeutics is a branch of Pharmacology, which is defined by Merriam-
Webster as “the study of the therapeutic uses and effects of drugs” this is a study of
beneficial and adverse effects of drugs.

7. Safety of a drug is determined by the degree between which of the following?

a. Therapeutic and toxic doses
b. Potency and efficacy
c. Subtherapeutic and toxic levels
d. Side and adverse effects
ANSWER: A
RATIO The difference between the usual effective dose and the dose that causes severe or
life-threatening side effects is called the margin of safety.

8. The nurse is monitoring the therapeutic drug level for a client on vancomycin (Vancocin) and notes
that the level is within the acceptable range. What does this indicate to the nurse? Select all that
apply.
a. The drug should cause no toxicities or adverse effects
b. The drug level is appropriate to exert therapeutic effects
c. The dose will not need to be changed for the duration of treatment
d. the nurse will need to continue monitoring because each client response to a
drug is unique ANSWER: B,D
RATIO: Because each patient response to a drug is unique, the nurse should continue
monitoring the patient throughout the drug's use. Options 1 and 3, and are incorrect.
Because individual patient responses to drugs can be highly variable, adverse effects,
toxicities, or even no effect may occur at levels within the therapeutic range.

9. When a drug is 50% protein bound it means that:

a. 50% of the drug destroys protein
b. A drug not bound to protein is an active drug
c. 50% of the dose is at work
d. Protein must be restricted in the diet
ANSWER: A
RATIO: The percentage of drug NOT protein bound is the amount of drug that is free to work
as expected. In this case, 50% is unable to be effective, because it is protein-bound. Protein
binding has nothing to do with the destruction of protein, drug excretion, or protein in the diet.

10. When reviewing the patient’s medication regimen, the nurse understands that the interval of drug
dosage is related to what?
a. Half-life
b. Biotransformation
c. Metabolism
d. Therapeutic effect
ANSWER: A
RATIO: When reviewing the patient’s medication regimen, the nurse understands that the
interval of drug dosage is related to half life.

11. It is important for the nurse to be aware of the four sequential processes of the pharmacokinetic
phase. What are these processes?
a. Distribution, metabolism, excretion, absorption
b. Biotransformation, excretion, absorption, metabolism
c. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion
d. Metabolism, distribution, absorption, excretion
ANSWER: C.
RATIO: Absorption: Describes how the drug moves from the site of administration to the site
of action. Distribution: Describes the journey of the drug through the bloodstream to various
tissues of the body. Metabolism: Describes the process that breaks down the drug. Excretion:
Describes the removal of the drug from the body.

12. The nurse is teaching the client about newly prescribed medication. Which statement made by
the client would indicated the need for further medication education?
a. "the liquid form of the drug will be absorbed faster than the tablets."
b. "If I take more, I'll have a better response"
c. "taking this drug with food will decrease how much gets into my system."
d. "I can consult my health care provider if i experience unexpected adverse effects"
ANSWER: B
RATIO: Although taking a larger dose of a medication usually results in a greater therapeutic
response, the response also depends on the drugs plasma concentration and could reach a
toxic level. Answers 1, 3, and 4 are all true statements.

13. The nurse is caring for several clients. Which client will the nurse anticipate is most likely to
experience an alteration in drug metabolism?
a. A 3 day old premature infant
b. A 22 year old pregnant female
c. A 32 year old man with kidney stones
d. A 50 year old executive with hypertension
ANSWER: A
RATIO Pregnancy does not significantly affect drug metabolism, the concern with pregnancy
is primarily focused on alterations in distributions due to the fetal-placental barrier.

14. A client is being discharged from the hospital with a nebulizer for self-administration of inhalation
medication. Which statement made by the client indicates to the nurse that the client education has
been successful?
a. "Inhaled medications should only be taken in the morning."
b. "Doses for inhaled medications are larger than those taken orally"
c. "Medicines taken by inhalation produce a very rapid response."
d. "Inhaled drugs are often rendered inactive by hepatic metabolism reaction”
ANSWER: D
RATIO Once in the liver, enzymes convert prodrugs to active metabolites or convert active
drugs to inactive forms. The liver's primary mechanism for metabolizing drugs is via a specific
group of cytochrome P-450 enzymes.

15. The Nurse is caring for a client with hepatitis and resulting in hepatic impairment. The nurse
would expect the duration of action for most medications to:
a. Decrease
b. Improve
c. Be unaffected
d. Increase
ANSWER: D
RATIO: Clients with hepatic impairment do not effectively metabolize drugs, which increases
the duration of action. Options 1,2,3 are incorrect.

LESSON WRAP-UP (5 minutes)

You will now mark (encircle) the session you have finished today in the tracker below. This is simply
a visual to help you track how much work you have accomplished and how much work there is left
to do.

You are done with the session! Let’s track your progress.

Muddiest Point
In today’s session, what was least clear to you?
None so far

For next session, review Principles of Drug Administration, Dosage Calculations

This document and the information thereon is the property of PHINMA

Education (Department of Nursing) 8 of 8