La farmacología es el estudio de los medicamentos: su mecanismo de acción, su comportamiento en el organismo, sus efectos terapéuticos y sus efectos adversos. Para la enfermera, la farmacología es el núcleo de la seguridad en los cuidados — administrar un medicamento requiere mucho más que leer una etiqueta.
Key concepts
- Farmacocinética (ADME): Absorción → Distribución → Metabolismo → Eliminación
- Farmacodinamia: mecanismo de acción del fármaco (agonista = activa un receptor, antagonista = lo bloquea)
- Regla de los 8 'correctos': paciente correcto, medicamento correcto, dosis correcta, vía correcta, hora correcta, documentación correcta, motivo correcto, respuesta correcta
- Índice terapéutico: relación entre dosis tóxica y dosis eficaz — estrecho = alto riesgo (digoxina, litio, warfarina)
- Interacciones farmacológicas: sinergia (efecto aumentado) vs antagonismo (efecto reducido) vs toxicidad aditiva
Intro Pharmacology
Understand how drugs interact with the body at the receptor level: the foundation for medication safety.
Drug-Receptor Basics
How medications produce their effects
Most drugs work by binding to receptors on cells. The drug-receptor interaction determines whether the drug activates or blocks a cellular response.
Agonist
Binds to receptor and ACTIVATES it. Mimics the natural ligand. Example: Morphine (opioid agonist)
Antagonist
Binds to receptor and BLOCKS it. Prevents the natural ligand from activating. Example: Naloxone (opioid antagonist)
Clinical Connection
Naloxone reverses opioid overdose by competing for the same receptors. It's an antagonist that displaces the agonist (morphine/fentanyl) from opioid receptors.
Drug absorption routes showing how medications enter systemic circulation through different pathways
Pharmacokinetics Overview
What the body does to the drug
Pharmacokinetics: the four-step journey of a drug through absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion
Pharmacology Check
1/10An AGONIST drug at a receptor will:
Pre-nursing comprehensive review
1/20Which organelle contains its own DNA and is inherited exclusively from the mother?