- The brand name, which is the name chosen by the drug manufacturer
- The official name that appears in the USP-NF
When is the drug used?
The nurse is required to know why the drug is given to the patient and what
symptoms a patient exhibits to indicate that the drug should be administered.
The nurse cannot rely solely on the prescriber because the patient’s condition
might have changed since the patient was assessed. Furthermore, there is always
a potential that the order is in error. There are a variety of reasons an order can
be in error. These include, but are not limited to, writing an order or a prescrip-
tion for the wrong patient, for a drug to which the patient is allergic, for a drug
that will interact badly with another drug the patient is taking, a dose that is too
small or too large for the patient based on weight, or simply the wrong drug.
Medication errors can be reduced or eliminated if everyone involved in the
process uses critical thinking skills and checks and double checks the orders,
the patient, and the medication.How does the drug work?
It is critical that the nurse understands how the drug is absorbed, distributed,
metabolized, and eliminated before administering the drug to the patient. One of
these mechanisms might be malfunctioning. For example, the patient might have
lower than expected urinary output and is unable to excrete the drug in normal
volume resulting in a potential toxic buildup in the body.
The nurse must also know the drug’s onset of action, peak action, and dura-
tion of action. As you’ll recall from the previous chapter, onset is the time period
when the drug reaches the minimally effective concentration in the plasma. The
peak action is when the drug reaches the maximum concentration in the plasma.
The duration is the length of time the therapeutic action will last.What interacts with the drug?
The effectiveness of a drug can be influenced by interactions with food, herbal
remedies, and other drugs that alter or modify the drug’s action. Such interac-
tions might increase the drug’s effectiveness, decrease it, or neutralize it. The
nurse must be aware of known interactions in order to avoid them.(^44) CHAPTER 3 Pharmacology and the Nursing Process