NURS 6521 Week 1: Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts

NURS 6521 Week 1: Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts Essay Assignment Paper

Walden NURS 6521: Advanced Pharmacology | Week 1 Essay Assignment Paper

This course is composed of eight (8) separate modules. Each module consists of an overarching topic in which each week within the module includes specific subtopics for learning. As you work through each module, you will have an opportunity to draw upon the knowledge you gain in various discussion and assignment components which will be due throughout each of the modules. Check out Walden University NURS 6521: Advanced Pharmacology Course Syllabus

In 2011, more than 3.7 billion drug prescriptions were filled at pharmacies in the United States (The Kaiser Family Foundation, 2011). With billions of drugs prescribed each year for the treatment and management of various disorders, it is essential for advanced practice nurses to familiarize themselves with common drug treatments and effects of these treatments on patients. When prescribing drugs, ensuring patient safety is the major concern. In many clinical settings, nurses work more closely with patients than any other health care provider, making it their responsibility to assist physicians with this task. As an advanced practice nurse maintaining patient safety, you must consider the many patient factors that impact pharmacotherapeutics.

This week you explore factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in patients. You also examine patient factors that advanced practice nurses must consider when developing drug therapy plans.

Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts Learning Objectives

By the end of this week, students will:

Analyze factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics processes in patients
Assess patient factors and history to develop personalized plans of care
Understand and apply key terms, concepts, and principles related to pharmacotherapeutics
Understand and apply key terms, concepts, and principles related to prescribing drugs to treat geriatric patients

Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts Learning Resources

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning Resources. To access select media resources, please use the media player below.

Required Readings for the NURS 6521 Week 1: Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts essay paper

Arcangelo, V. P., Peterson, A. M., Wilbur, V., & Reinhold, J. A. (Eds.). (2017). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice: A practical approach (4th ed.). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Chapter 2, “Pharmacokinetic Basis of Therapeutics and Pharmacodynamic Principles” (pp. 17-31)
This chapter examines concepts related to pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. It also explores patient factors that health care providers consider when prescribing drug therapy to patients.

Chapter 3, “Impact of Drug Interactions and Adverse Events on Therapeutics” (pp. 33-51)
This chapter explains drug-drug, drug-food, drug-herb, and drug-disease interactions. It also reviews patient factors that influence drug interactions and then covers adverse drug reactions.

Chapter 4, “Principles of Pharmacotherapy in Pediatrics” (pp. 53-63)
This chapter explores concepts relating to drug selection, administration, and interaction for pediatric patients. It also compares age-related pharmacokinetic differences in children and adults.

Chapter 6, “Principles of Pharmacotherapy in Elderly Patients” (pp. 73-89)
This chapter describes issues and factors that affect drug therapy for elderly patients. It then explores concepts relating to drug selection, administration, and management for elderly patients.

American Geriatric Society 2015 Beers Criteria Update Expert Panel. (2015). American Geriatrics Society 2015 updated beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults. NURS 6521 Week 1: Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts

This article is an update to the Beers Criteria which includes lists of potentially inappropriate medications to be avoided in older adults as well as newly added criteria that lists select drugs that should be avoided or have their dose adjusted based on the individual’s kidney function and select drug–drug interactions documented to be associated with harms in older adults.

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Weitzel, K. W., Elsey, A. E., Langaee, T. Y., Benjamin, B., Nessl, D. R., Obeng, A. W.,…Johnson, J. A. (2014). Clinical pharmacogenetics implementation: Approaches, successes, and challenges. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 0(1): 56–67.

Drugs.com. (2012).

This website presents a comprehensive review of prescription and over-the-counter drugs including information on common uses and potential side effects. It also provides updates relating to new drugs on the market, support from health professionals, and a drug-drug interactions checker.

Required Media for the Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts paper

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Introduction to advanced pharmacology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

In this media presentation, Dr. Terry Buttaro, Associate Professor of Practice at Simmons School of Nursing and Health Sciences, discusses the importance of pharmacology for the advanced practice nurse.

Optional Resources

The following resources are highly recommended for your professional library. You are encouraged to review these resources each week.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/

Institute for Safe Medication Practices. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.ismp.org/

More readings::

NURS 6521 Discussion Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

NURS 6521 Week 2: Ethical and Legal Aspects of Prescribing

NURS 6521 Discussion: Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics Essay Assignment Paper

As an advanced practice nurse assisting physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders, it is important to not only understand the impact of disorders on the body, but also the impact of drug treatments on the body. The relationships between drugs and the body can be described by pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Pharmacokinetics describes what the body does to the drug through absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, whereas pharmacodynamics describes what the drug does to the body. When selecting drugs and determining dosages for patients, it is essential to consider individual patient factors that might impact the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharamcodynamic processes. These patient factors include genetics, gender, ethnicity, age, behavior (i.e., diet, nutrition, smoking, alcohol, illicit drug abuse), and/or pathophysiological changes due to disease. In this Discussion, you reflect on a case from your past clinical experiences and consider how a particular patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes altered his or her response to a drug.

Discussion: Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics Essay

To prepare: NURS 6521 Week 1: Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts Essay Assignment Paper

Review this week’s media presentation with Dr. Terry Buttaro, as well as Chapter 2 of the Arcangelo and Peterson text, and the Weitzel et al (2014) article in the Learning Resources. Consider the principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
Reflect on your experiences, observations, and/or clinical practices from the last five years. Select a case from the last five years that involves a patient whose individual differences in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic factors altered his or her anticipated response to a drug. When referring to your patient, make sure to use a pseudonym or other false form of identification. This is to ensure the privacy and protection of the patient.
Consider factors that might have influenced the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes such as genetics (including pharmacogenetics), gender, ethnicity, age, behavior, and/or possible pathophysiological changes due to disease.
Think about a personalized plan of care based on these influencing factors and patient history in your case study.

With these NURS 6521 Week 1: Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts thoughts in mind:

By Day 3

Post a description of the case you selected. Then, describe factors that might have influenced pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes of the patient from the case you selected. Finally, explain details of the personalized plan of care that you would develop based on influencing factors and patient history in your case.

NURS 6521 Week 1: Basic Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts