NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY

Module 1: Drug Definitions & Classifications

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 – 2021

Janeirah Q. Manalundong
Faculty, College of Health Sciences

September 2020
UNIT I: FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF PHARMACOLOGY

Nurses have a vital role in drug therapy because their responsibility is not just safe administration
of medications but also adequately performing the nursing process all throughout the drug therapy—
thorough assessment, proper planning, giving the appropriate and necessary nursing interventions, and
evaluation of the expected outcomes of care. For a nurse to be able to adequately perform these vital
roles, one must have a deeper understanding on the fundamental concepts of pharmacology. Topics
included in this unit are the following:

Module 1: Drug Definitions and Classifications

þ Definition of Pharmacology
þ Definition of Key Terms
þ Classes of Drugs
þ Drug Names

Module 2: Drug Standard and Drug Information

þ Drug Information
þ Phases of Drug Evaluation
þ Drug Legislations and Standards
þ Cultural and Ethical Considerations in Pharmacology

Module 3: Drug Action

þ Pharmaceutics
þ Pharmacokinetics
þ Pharmacodynamics
þ Pharmacotherapeutics
þ Factors Influencing Responses to Drugs
þ Toxicology

NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY COURSE GUIDE

Janeirah Q. Manalundong DRUG DEFINITIONS & CLASSIFICATIONS 2
Faculty, College of Health Sciences
UNIT I: Fundamental Concepts in Pharmacology
Module I: Drug Definitions and Classifications

Introduction

Greetings dear learners!

In this learning module, we will be focusing on drug definitions and classifications which is divided
into different topics—definition of pharmacology, definition of key terms in pharmacology, classes of
drugs, and drug names. Knowing and understanding the drug definitions and classifications will equip you
with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitude as we go along with our Pharmacology course.

Learning Outcomes

þ Define pharmacology and describe its importance to nursing practice.

þ Define important key terms in pharmacology.
þ Identify the two classes of drugs and describe their differences.
þ Identify the 3 names of drugs in a drug label and discuss their differences.

Definition of Pharmacology

The word pharmacology is derived from Greek words:

Pharmakon – “drug/medicine” in modern Greek, “poison” in classic Greek, and

logos – “study”, or “the knowledge gained through study.”

It is defined as the study of the biological effects of chemicals. The chemicals that are introduced
into the body to cause some sort of change are called drugs.

Nurses deal with pharmacotherapeutics, or clinical pharmacology, the branch of pharmacology

that uses drugs to treat, prevent, and diagnose disease. Clinical pharmacology addresses two key
concerns:

ü The drug’s effects on the body

ü The body’s response to the drug.

Understanding how drugs act on the body to cause changes and applying that knowledge and
incorporating it in the nursing process in the clinical or in community settings are important aspects of
nursing practice.

NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY COURSE GUIDE

Janeirah Q. Manalundong DRUG DEFINITIONS & CLASSIFICATIONS 3
Faculty, College of Health Sciences
Supplementary Resources

& What is a Drug? Chapter 2, pp. 18 – 19. Smith, B.T. and Pacitti, D.F. (2020). Pharmacology
for Nurses. 2nd Ed. Jones & Barlett Learning, LLC.

: Watch About Pharmacology at https://www.aspet.org/aspet/education-careers/about-

pharmacology.

Learning Checkpoint

Answer the following in our discussion forum in Google

Classroom:

þ What is pharmacology?
þ What is its importance in nursing practice?

Key Terms

Listed in the table below are common key terms in pharmacology that will be used as we go along
with our pharmacology course. Note that not all key terms in pharmacology are included in the table.

Additive Effects
Adverse Drug
Events
Adverse effects
Agonist
Allergic reaction
Antagonist
Antagonistic effects
Bioavailability
Blood-brain barrier
Drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs with
similar actions is equivalent to the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs
given alone. For example: 1 + 1 = 2
Any undesirable occurrence related to administering or failing to administer a
prescribed medication.
A general term for any undesirable effects that are a direct response to one or more
drugs.
A drug that binds to and stimulates the activity of one or more receptors in the body.
An immunologic hypersensitivity reaction resulting from the unusual sensitivity of a
patient to a particular medication; a type of adverse drug event.
A drug that binds to and inhibits the activity of one or more receptors in the body.
Also called inhibitors.
Drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs is less
than the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs given alone (1 + 1 = <2);
usually caused by an antagonizing (blocking or reducing) effect of one drug or
another.
A measure of extent of drug absorption for a given drug and route (from 0% to 100%).
The barrier system that restricts the passage of various chemicals and microscopic
entities (e.g. bacteria, viruses) between the bloodstream and the central nervous
system; still allows for the passage of essential substances such as oxygen.

NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY COURSE GUIDE

Janeirah Q. Manalundong DRUG DEFINITIONS & CLASSIFICATIONS 4
Faculty, College of Health Sciences
Contraindication Any condition, especially one related to a disease state or patient characteristic,
including current or recent drug therapy, which renders a particular form of
treatment improper or undesirable.
Cytochrome P-450 The general name for a large class of enzymes that play a significant role in drug
metabolism and drug interactions.
Dependence A state in which there is a compulsive or chronic need, as for a drug.
Drug actions The processes involved in the interaction between a drug and body cells (e.g. the
action of drug on a receptor protein); also called mechanism of action.
Drug classification A method of grouping drugs; may be based on structure or therapeutic use.
Drug effects The physiologic reactions of the body to a drug—can be therapeutic or toxic and
describe how the body is affected as a whole by the drug.
Drug-induced The development of congenital anomalies or defects in the developing fetus caused
teratogenesis by the toxic effects of drugs.
Drug interaction Alteration in the pharmacologic or pharmacokinetic activity of a given drug caused
by the presence of one or more additional drugs; usually related to effects on the
enzymes required for metabolism of the involved drugs.
Duration of action The length of time the concentration of a drug in the blood or tissues is sufficient to
elicit a response.
First-pass effect The initial metabolism in the liver of a drug absorbed from the GI tract before the
drug reaches systemic circulation through the bloodstream.
Half-life In pharmacokinetics, the time required for half of an administered dose of drug to
be eliminated by the body, or the time it takes for the blood level of a drug to be
reduced by 50%; also called elimination half-life.
Idiosyncratic An abnormal and unexpected response to a medication, other than an allergic
reaction reaction, that is peculiar to an individual patient.
Intraarterial Within an artery (e.g. intraarterial injection)
Intraarticular Within a joint (e.g. intraarticular injection)
Intrathecal Within a sheath (e.g. the theca of the spinal cord, as in an intrathecal injection into
the subarachnoid space)
Medication error Any preventable adverse drug event involving inappropriate medication use by a
patient or health care professional; it may or may not cause patient harm.
Medication use The prescribing, dispensing, and administering of medicaitons, and the monitoring
process of their effects.
Metabolite A chemical form of drug that is the product of one or more biochemical (metabolic)
reactions involving a parent drug.
Active metabolites: those that have pharmacologic activity of their own, even if the
parent drug is inactive (see prodrug).
Inactive metabolites: lack pharmacologic activity and are simply drug waste products
awaiting excretion from the body (e.g. via the urinary, GI, or respiratory tract).
Onset of action The time required for a drug to elicit a therapeutic response after dosing.
Parent drug The chemical form of a drug that is administered before it is metabolized by the body
into its active or inactive metabolites.
Prodrug: a parent drug that is not pharmacologically active itself and is then
metabolized to pharmacologically active metabolite.
Peak effect The time required for a drug to reach its maximum therapeutic response in the body.
Peak level The maximum concentration of a drug in the body after administration, usually
measured in a blood sample for therapeutic drug monitoring.
Prodrug An inactive drug dosage form that is converted to an active metabolite by various
biochemical reactions once it is inside the body.

NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY COURSE GUIDE

Janeirah Q. Manalundong DRUG DEFINITIONS & CLASSIFICATIONS 5
Faculty, College of Health Sciences
 Receptor A molecular structure within or on the outer surface of a cell. receptors bind specific
substances (e.g. drug molecules), and one or more corresponding cellular effects
(drug actions) occur as a result of this drug-receptor interaction.
Steady state The physiologic state in which the amount of drug removed via elimination is equal
to the amount of drug absorbed with each dose.
Synergistic effects Drug interactions in which the effect of a combination of two or more drugs with
similar actions is greater than the sum of the individual effects of the same drugs
given alone. For example, 1 + 1 = >2. (compare with additive effects).
Therapeutic drug The process of measuring drug levels to identify a patient’s drug response and to
monitoring allow adjustment of dosages with the goals of maximizing therapeutic effects and
minimizing toxicity.
Therapeutic effect The desired or intended effect of a particular medication.
Therapeutic index The ratio between the toxic and therapeutic concentrations of a drug.
Tolerance Reduced response to a drug after prolonged use.
Toxic The quality of being poisonous (i.e., injurious to health or dangerous to life).
Toxicity The condition of producing adverse bodily effects due to poisonous qualities.
Toxicology The study of poisons, including toxic drug effects, and applicable treatment.
Trough level The lowest concentration of drug reached in the body after it falls from the body
from its peak level, usually measured in a blood sample for therapeutic drug
monitoring.

Classes of Drugs

It is a daunting task to nursing students to memorize different drugs according to their

classifications. However, it is vital to know that drugs are classified by:

! How they affect body systems

§ Such as bronchodilators for respiratory conditions
! Therapeutic use
§ Therapeutic Classification
! Chemical characteristics

Therapeutic Classification Pharmacologic Classification

! Drugs are organized based on their therapeutic ! Refers to the way drug works in a the molecular,
usefulness in treating particular diseases. tissue, and body system levels.

! The key is to clearly state what a particular drug ! Addresses a drug’s mechanism of action, or how a
does clinically. drug produces its physiological effect in the body.

Many drugs may fit into more than one drug classification due to the various effects that they
exert in the body. Furthermore, within the broad classification, each class may have subclasses; for
example, penicillins are a subclass with the group of antibiotics and beta-adrenergic blockers are a
subclass within the group of antihypertensives.

NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY COURSE GUIDE

Janeirah Q. Manalundong DRUG DEFINITIONS & CLASSIFICATIONS 6
Faculty, College of Health Sciences
 Learning Checkpoint

Answer the following in our discussion forum in Google

Classroom:

þ List three characteristics of a medicine used as a basis for

drug classification.
þ List the major differences of the two drug classifications.
þ Identify the following classifications as therapeutic or
pharmacologic:
o Beta-adrenergic blocker
o Oral contraceptive
o Laxative
o Folic acid antagonist
o Antianginal agent

NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY COURSE GUIDE

Janeirah Q. Manalundong DRUG DEFINITIONS & CLASSIFICATIONS 7
Faculty, College of Health Sciences
Drug Names

As nursing students, it is overwhelming to be studying drugs with different names but there are
only three basic names of drugs—chemical, generic and trade names.

CHEMICAL NAME GENERIC NAME TRADE NAME

• Assigned using standard • Less complicated and easier to ! Assigned by a company
nomenclature remember marketing drug.

• Only one chemical name
• Helping in predicting
substance’s physical and
chemical properties
• Often complicated and
difficult to remember and
pronounce.
• Only one generic name
• Many organizations routinely
describe a medication by its
generic name such as:
o World Health Organization
o Food and Drug Administration
! Usually selected to be short
and easy to remember.
! Sometimes called: propriety or
product or brand name
! Propriety suggests ownership.

• Drugs are sometimes

classified by a portion of
their chemical structure.
! Antibiotics:
fluoroquinolones and
cephalosphorins
! Thiazides

• Other useful chemical

names include:
o Lithium carbonate
o Calcium gluconate
o Sodium chloride

A combination drug contains more than one active generic ingredient. This poses a problem in
trying to match one generic name with one product name.
The rule of thumb is that the active ingredients in a drug are described by their generic name.
the generic of a drug is usually lowercased, whereas the trade name is capitalized.

Fig. 1. Chemical structure of the common analgesic Ibuprofen and the chemical, generic, and trade names of the
drug.

NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY COURSE GUIDE

Janeirah Q. Manalundong DRUG DEFINITIONS & CLASSIFICATIONS 8
Faculty, College of Health Sciences
Table 6. Examples of Brand-Name Products Containing
Popular Generic Substances

Supplementary Resources

& Drug Nomenclature Chapter 2, pp. 19 – 21. Smith, B.T. and Pacitti, D.F. (2020).
Pharmacology for Nurses. 2nd Ed. Jones & Barlett Learning, LLC.

: Watch Brand vs. Generic [Is there a difference?] at https://youtu.be/1-gks9pLDCQ.

Learning Checkpoint:

Discuss the rationale for nurses knowing both generic and trade
names of a drug.

Post your answer in the discussion forum in our Google Classroom.

NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY COURSE GUIDE

Janeirah Q. Manalundong DRUG DEFINITIONS & CLASSIFICATIONS 9
Faculty, College of Health Sciences
References

About Pharmacology at https://www.aspet.org/aspet/education-careers/about-pharmacology.

Berman, A., Snyder, S., & Fraudsen, G. (2016). Kozier and Erb’s Fundamentals of Nursing:
Concepts, Process, and Practice. 10th Ed. Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 35, pp. 751.

Karch, A (2013). Focus on Nursing Pharmacology, 6th ed. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, USA.
Chapter 1, pp. 3 – 4.

Lilley, L.L., Collins, S.R., & Snyder, J.S. Pharmacology and the Nursing Process, 8th Ed. Part 1,
Chapter 2.

Smith, B.T. and Pacitti, D.F. (2020). Pharmacology for Nurses. 2nd Ed. Jones & Barlett Learning, LLC.
Chapter 2, pp. 18 – 19.

Brand vs. Generic [Is there a difference?] at https://youtu.be/1-gks9pLDCQ.

NSG 105 PHARMACOLOGY COURSE GUIDE

Janeirah Q. Manalundong DRUG DEFINITIONS & CLASSIFICATIONS 10
Faculty, College of Health Sciences