564 UNIT-9 (Chapter - 10)

10. Lotion: Suspension of an active drug in a water base applied externally to

protect the skin.

Administration of Medications

11. Solutions: Liquid preparation that may be used orally, Parenterally, or

externally. It contains water with one or more dissolved compounds. For parenteral
use, it should be sterile

12. Liquid Sprays: It has a water and alcohol base. Some dispensed as foams or
aerosol spray.

13. Suspensions: It contains fine, undissolved particles of a drug suspended in a

liquid base. It is important to shake always before use.

14. Suppository: A solid base mixed with gelatin and shaped in the form of a pellet
for easy insertion into the body cavity. It melts at body temperature. eg. Rectal
or Vaginal Suppositories.

15. Transdermal disk or Patch: Consist of a multilayered disk of a drug reservoir,

a porous membrane, and an adhesive layer to it, which allows the medication to be
absorbed through the skin tincture.

16. Tincture: An alcoholic solution is prepared from drugs derived from plants.

17. Pellet / Bead: Drugs can be implanted into the body in the form of a pellet or
bead that slowly releases medicine into tissues.

Purposes of medication

1. To treat or cure the disease. eg. Antihypertensives, Digitalis etc.

2. To prevent the disease. eg. Oral Polio vaccine to prevent Poliomyelitis

3. To diagnose the disease: Drugs such as barium contrast material are used in X-
ray studies.

Pharmacodynamics and Pharmacokinetics

Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics are the main branches of pharmacology, being

itself, a topic of biology interested in the study of the interactions between both
endogenous and exogenous chemical substances with living organisms.

Pharmacodynamics is the study of the biochemical, physiologic, and molecular

effects of drugs on the body.

Pharmacokinetics is the study of how medication enters the body, reaches the site
of action metabolized, and is eliminated from the body. It is the movement of drug

molecules in the body concerning the drug's absorption, distribution, metabolism,

and excretion.

For medications to be therapeutic, they must be taken into a client's body, must be
absorbed and distributed to cells, tissues, and organs.

● Absorption: the passage of medication into the blood from the site of
administration. Factors that depend upon the absorption are the route of
administration, the ability of the medication to dissolve, blood flow to the site
of administration, body surface area, and solubility of a medication.

• Distribution: after the medication is absorbed, it is distributed within the body

to tissues and organs and ultimately to the specific site of action. Medication is
distributed through blood circulation.

● Metabolism: After the medication reaches its site of action, it becomes

metabolized.

● Excretion: After medications are metabolized they exit from the body through
kidneys, liver, bowel, lungs, exocrine glands, and sweat glands.

Factors Influencing Medication Action

A client may not respond in the same way to each successive dose of a medication.
Similarly, the same drug dosage may cause very different responses in different
clients.

1. Developmental factors

During pregnancy, women must be very careful about taking medications. Drugs taken
during pregnancy especially during the first trimester pose a risk throughout
pregnancy, due to the formation of vital organs of the foetus. Most drugs are
contraindicated because of the possible adverse effect on the foetus.

Infants usually require small dosages because of their body size and the immaturity
of their organs, especially the liver and kidneys. Older adults often experience
decreased gastric mobility and decreased gastric acid production and blood flow
which can impair drug absorption.

2. Genetic Differences

Genetic makeup affects the biotransformation of drugs. Genetic factors determine

whether naturally occurring enzymes are present to assist in drug

NURSING FOUNDATIONS - II