Question

A nurse is caring for a patient taking a drug that is metabolized in the liver. Additionally, the patient has been prescribed to receive two drugs that are both excreted from the same sites in the kidney. (Learning Objectives 1, 3, 4, and 5)

1. When the nurse is reviewing a drug to be given, the nurse notes that the drug is metabolized in the liver. What data can be gathered based on the nurse’s assessment of the patient?
2. When considering the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of a drug, what key points would the nurse tell the patient?
3. When assessing a patient for potential drug–drug interactions, what questions should the nurse ask when caring for this patient?
4. The patient is taking 20 mg of drug with a half-life of 4 hours, what amount of medication will remain 4 hours after medication administration?

Answer 1

The liver performs the functions like the selective uptake, the concentration, metabolism and the excretion of the medications that are metabolized by the liver. The majority of the drugs directly cause hepatotoxicity and drug-induced liver injury. The compounds that induce liver damage are processed by a variety of soluble and membrane-bound enzymes more so those related to hepatocyte endoplasmic reticulum. The hepatocyteis cells of the liver. Each drug has its specific enzyme disposal pathway for its biotransformation (Khurana et al., 2017).

Pharmacology can be defined as the study of the biochemical and physiologic effects of drugs. It is simply the action that the drug has to the body. The nurse should look at the dose-response relationships which explain the relationship between the drug, concentration, and effect. He or she should look at drug receptor interactions, drug-drug interactions. The simplified model of reaction dynamics should be reviewed. The nurse should consider the effects of the drugs to the body, adverse effects, and side effects. The nurse should also look at the pharmaceutical dosage about the weight of the individual (Orr, 2017).

Pharmacokinetics is the reaction of the body to the drug. It is simply what the body does to the drug comprising of four processes which are absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. The nurse will look at the compatibility of the patient with the drugs, side effects and if the patient has any organ dysfunction (Khurana et al., 2017).

During drug-drug interaction, the nurse will assess the patient’s right drug and right dosage according to his age and body weight. He or she should also advise the patient at the right time of taking medicine whether he should take them after meals o before meals. The compatibility of the medication with some particular foodstuff may vary. For example, lactate reduces the activity of some drugs. He should advise the patient accordingly so that the drug interactions should not affect the therapeutic activity of the drug. The nurse should contact inquire the patient if he or she is allergic to some components of the drug used for medication (Orr, 2017).

A medication which has a half-life of 4 hours when taken 20mg, after four hours it will have remained 50% concentration in the body. Only 50% which is 10mg will have been eliminated remaining with 10mg.The half-life of a drug is the time necessary for the drug’s concentration in the blood to be reduced by one half-life. And the half-life is 4, then after four hours, the level will have been cut by one half-life to a 10mg which is 10% (Khurana et al., 2017).

Reference:

Khurana, L., Mackie, K., Piomelli, D., & Kendall, D. A. (2017). Modulation of CB1 cannabinoid receptor by allosteric ligands: Pharmacology and therapeutic opportunities. Neuropharmacology.

Orr, W. C. (2017). U.S. Patent No. 9,622,997. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.