NURS 6521 Week 1 Discussion: Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics (Nov Term)
(NURS 6521 Week 1 Discussion Version 2)
Post a description of the patient case from your experiences, observations, and/or clinical practice from the last 5 years. Then, describe factors that might have influenced pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes of the patient you identified. Finally, explain details of the personalized plan of care that you would develop based on influencing factors and patient history in your case. Be specific and provide examples.
Pharmacokinetics describes what the body does to the drug through absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, whereas pharmacodynamics describes what the drug does to the body.
On the behavioral health unit where I work, we have a female patient that has been with us for 13 months now, awaiting placement at a state run facility. She has an extensive history of schizophrenia and self-harming behavior. She has been a patient at our facility numerous times since she was an adolescent. For the last four months, she has been on various dosages of Clozapine to find the one that would work for her since it was a medication that has worked for her in the past. During the last few weeks, she has been complaining of chest discomfort. Each time she reports of the discomfort, the staff does an EKG on her. For the last few days, she states that the pain is becoming worse.