Pharmacology

Course Description
This is a complete Pharmacology course that in-class instruction by our Nursing Educators going through the whole course. This course is given at different locations in CA and in other states via partnerships with other institutions. This course introduces learners with little or no prior biology knowledge to Pharmacology.

Course Outcomes
This course introduces information concerning sources, effects, legalities, and the safe use of medications as therapeutic agents. Emphasis is placed on nursing responsibility, accountability, pharmacokinetics, routes of medication administration, contraindications and side effects regarding drug therapy. 

Class Hours: 54-Hours
Equivalent Credit Hours: 3 Semester Hours

1. Define/recognize common terms and abbreviations used in pharmacology.
2. Identify the basic pharmacokinetic properties and pharmacodynamics of medications.
3. Discuss how aging across the lifespan impacts the effects and administration of medication.
4. Discuss the nurse’s responsibility when implementing drug therapy.
5. Demonstrate competence in the knowledge of commonly used drugs and their action.
6. Demonstrate competence in calculation of medications.
7. Recognize/understand the pharmacotherapeutics of and nursing implications for drugs used in the treatment of individuals with alterations affecting:
   (a) skin and cell integrity;
   (b) perception, coordination, and movement;
   (c) ingestion, digestion, absorption, and elimination;
   (d) cardiovascular status;
   (e) oxygen / carbon dioxide exchange;
   (f) fluid and electrolyte balance; and
   (g) regulatory function