As certified medication administration staff, you have learned how to give your clients their medications safely. Do you wonder what those medications do inside of your client's body?
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic are big words but are concepts explaining how medications work inside the body.
Pharmacokinetics is what the body does to the drug, and Pharmacodynamics is what the drug does to the body.
Case Study:
Jane Brown is complaining of a headache. She has a standing order for 650 mg of Acetaminophen (APAP) by mouth PRN every 8 hours for a headache.
Acetaminophen is not absorbed in the stomach but rapidly absorbed from the small intestine (Pharmacokinetics). Acetaminophen is then broken down by the liver with the by-products released in the urine.
Did you know that Tylenol was originally derived from coal tar! Tylenol has been around since 1893. We are still not exactly sure how Tylenol works in the body (Pharmacodynamics) but scientists believe it works in several ways to help relieve pain but not inflammation - click on the link to see more information. How Tylenol works.
So what can we learn from this information?
These are some tough concepts but understanding where and how medications work in the body can help us understand side effects. Take the attached quiz and I will send you a certificate of completion.
Have a great week!
Lynn Johnston, R.N., your Heathcare Instructor!!
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