Pharmacological Treatments
Create a 10–12-slide PowerPoint presentation to identify medications associated with a chosen disease or health condition, explain the actions and side effects of the medications, and discuss any controversies related to the medications. Explain a treatment regime, including pharmacology, for the disease or health condition you selected, along with how the treatment regime may affect a client’s lifestyle.
By having a thorough understanding of pharmacology, nurses can eliminate possible medication errors in their nursing practices. The basic principles of pharmacology include pharmacokinetics (what the body does to a drug) and pharmacodynamics (what a drug does to the body). Pharmacology plays a significant role in the nursing profession, so it is extremely important for nurses to understand the actions of the pharmacological agents they will administer to patients in order to intervene appropriately if necessary.
Another critical skill for a nurse is the ability to apply and evaluate evidence-based practices, principles, models, and pharmacological guidelines and protocols commonly used in nursing practice. Understanding how specific protocols and guidelines are developed will aid nurses in treating patients with a multitude of physiological and psychological conditions.
Nurses must be able to measure outcomes of pharmacological interventions when caring for patients. The effective use of evidence-based practice guidelines, models, and principles is one way that nurses can analyze quality outcomes for the pharmacological treatments used for patients.
Pharmacology includes different categories of major drugs used in the treatment of primary diseases. The same drug may be used to treat more than one disease or condition, while two patients with the same disease may require different drug treatments. In addition, the professional nurse must be aware of what types of things can influence a patient’s response to a drug. Some things are obvious—other medications, for example—while some are less so. Things like age, weight, herbs—even foods people eat every day—can influence how a person responds to a particular drug. At times, even a strong cultural belief can influence how a drug will react. Nurses who administer drugs have a responsibility to assess patients for both the desired response, as well as for any unwanted and potentially harmful reactions that may occur.
Imagine your supervisor has asked you to conduct a lunch and learn session to educate your fellow nursing staff on pharmacological interventions.
Preparation
Select a disease or health condition that requires pharmacological intervention. You may choose any disease or health condition you wish, but the disease or health condition must be relevant to nurses from a variety of settings (for example: ER, pediatrics, public health, et cetera).
Requirements
Once you have selected a disease or health condition, create a PowerPoint presentation you could use in your lunch and learn session, including the following:
- Identify the disease or health condition you have chosen, along with the areas where nurses are likely to see it. (Do this in the agenda slide or next slide after the agenda.)
- Identify the three drugs used most often in the treatment of the disease or health condition.
- Explain the types of actions, side effects, indications, and contraindications that could be expected from the pharmacological treatment.
- Describe the treatment regime most often prescribed for the disease or health condition. This should include pharmacology but not be limited to pharmacology.
- Explain how the treatment regime (including pharmacology) may impact a client’s lifestyle. Consider things such as finances, ease or complexity of administration, instructions (frequency, duration), et cetera.
- Describe how a nurse should monitor a client being treated for the disease or health condition in order to obtain a quality patient outcome.
- Explain any controversies associated with the drugs used in the treatment. For example, is there a black box warning with any of the drugs?
Use the notes section of each slide to expand your points or draft your mock oral presentation (or both) and reference your resources. Use at least 3 peer-reviewed or professional resources to support your work in this assessment. Be sure your PowerPoint includes a title slide, a slide with your agenda or list of topics to be covered, and a reference slide. Follow current APA style and formatting guidelines for your citations and references.