Term | Definition |
Pharmacy Aide | Helps licensed pharmacists with clerical duties. |
Retail Pharmacy | Independently owned, a chain, or a franchise. |
Hospital Pharmacy | prepares IV medications, stocks nursing stations, and may deliver medications to clients' rooms. |
Pharmaceutical Representatives | distribute information to health care workers, traveling to pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals to meet with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. |
Route of administration | the way medication is to be taken - by mouth, ear drops, eye drops, IV, etc. |
a.c. | before meals |
ad lib. | as desired |
BID | twice a day |
h.s. | bedtime; hour of sleep |
q.d. | every day |
q.h. | every hour |
q.i.d. | every 4 hours |
stat | immediately |
npo | nothing by mouth |
Pharmacognosy | study of drugs that are naturally derived from plants or animals |
MOA | specific biochemical interaction through which a drug substance produces its pharmacological effect |
binding | when a drug combines with a chemical in the body |
antihistamines | used to treat allergies |
receptors | proteins found in cells |
enzymes | proteins in the body that speed up chemical reactions |
local side effects | occur before a drug is absorbed into the bloodstream such as irritated stomach, dry throat, diarrhea. |
systemic side effects | occur after a drug is absorbed into the blood stream such as allergic reaction |
antibiotics | used to kill bacteria that are growing in the body. |
chemotherapy | uses drugs to kill cells by disrupting an essential process within the cell. |
vasoconstriction | narrowing of blood vessels |
ACE inhibitors | class of drugs that regulate blood pressure |
Beta-1 Blockers | decreases the heart rate |
Beta-2 Agonists | dilate the small airways of the bronchioles |
H2Antagonists | decrease the amount of acid secreted into the stomach following a meal |
Proton Pump Inhibitors | reduce stomach acid |
Narcotic analgesics | reduce pain |
Onset of action | the time needed before a drug takes effect |
parenteral routes | metered-dose inhaler, transdermal patch, injections, intravenous medicines |
oral routes of administration | tablet, capsule, or liquid |
injections | used when a local effect is needed |
transdermal patch | designed to deliver a constant amount of drug over an extended period of time (24 hours) |
subcutaneous | injection into the fatty layer just beneath the skin |
intramuscular | injection into a muscle |
metered dose | medications are given through the inhalation route of administration for rapid action |
gauge | a measurement of the needles thickness |
therapeutic range | the goal of drug treatment is to get the correct plasma concentration |
absorption | process by which a drug enters the plasma |
diffusion | random movement of molecules from an area where they are concentrated toward areas where they are less concentrated. |
distribution | where the drug goes after entering the plasma |
transformation | chemical change that takes place in a drug after it has been absorbed by the body |
elimination | process that removes a drug from the body |
loading dose | a large initial dose of a drug in the plasma that helps to reach the therapeutic range more quickly |
maintenance dose | smaller dose given at regular intervals to keep the plasma concentration in the therapeutic range. |
1 mL | 1 cc |
1 tsp | 5 mL |
kilo | 1000 |
deci | .10 |
centi | .01 |