Pharmacology Update 2010

Thirty years ago there were 700 drugs to choose from—today, there are over 8,000 to choose from.  In addition, there are over 600 herbal products and untold numbers of over-the-counter drugs that have the potential to interact with prescription drugs.  Prior to panicking, the primary care nurse should realize that he/she would probably need to know the “ins and outs” of approximately 60 drugs in his/her clinical practice.  Barb Bancroft’s presentation will provide some practical pearls on how to learn drugs, mechanisms of action, side effects, and interactions with other remedies—home, herbal, and over-the-counter as well as foods and grapefruit juice.

 

OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT OUTLINE 

  1. Provide a format for learning the generic names of the drugs.
    Examples of suffixes used for classes of drugs:  “statins”, “prazoles”, “conazoles”, “olols”, “alols”, “ilols”, “dipines”, “coxibs”, “mabs”, “glitazones”.

  2. Understand the cytochrome P450 system and the metabolism of drugs.
    Definition of cytochrome P450, isoenzymes of importance, drugs metabolized by the most important isoenzymes, drugs that induce isoenzymes, drugs that inhibit isoenzymes. Grapefruit juice and the CYP 450 system.

  3. Discuss the four causes for approximately 90% of the prescribing errors. 
    Lack of knowledge about the drug, insufficient knowledge about the patient, failure to adhere to the time-honored rules of prescribing, mental slips or lapses of memory

  4. Discuss the common treatment regimens for selected clinical conditions.
    Hypertension, chronic heart failure, diabetes mellitus type 2, depression

  5. Describe the gender and ethnic-based differences in drug metabolism and drug administration
    Antidepressants, analgesics, antipsychotics, anticoagulants, and antihypertensive agents

  6. Discuss future trends in pharmacology and management of common clinical entities.
    Combination therapies for depression, oral insulin for diabetes, herbal products and disease management

Each of the above objectives is 50 minutes with a total of 300 minutes Lecture, slides, handouts, discussion 

 

Pharmacology Made Easy

Finally! A lecture on Pharmacology that is not only informative but fun! Join Barb Bancroft for a fun-filled day of Pharmacology Made Easy—the Do's, the Don't's and the Doses! Barb approaches the topic in such a way that learning the myriad of drugs on the market today seems "doable."  Learn about the "statins", the "prils", the "triptans", the "sartans", the "prazoles", the "conazoles" and more. Understand the mechanisms of action and interactions with other drugs. Why should grapefruit juice be avoided with certain drugs? What is the 1% rule in the world of geriatrics and how does that affect drug dosages? Know what lab tests are used to follow drugs—liver function tests, INR—and understand how to interpret those lab tests. Barb will also 'put it all together' and discuss the treatment of selected clinical conditions such as CHF, hypertension, diabetes, and depression.