NURS 5122 Advanced Pharmacology
This is the first of two pharmacology courses and will be taught in Fall 1 and delivered concurrently with pathophysiology. This course provides students with the pharmacologic concepts required to practice safely in advanced practice nursing roles while emphasizing health promotion and disease prevention. In addition, students will understand how pharmacologic management may vary across the continuum of care and appreciate how the inter-relatedness of drugs used by different healthcare professionals impacts patient care and outcomes. Heavy emphasis is placed on understanding the pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenomics and biochemical pathways. Side effects, toxicities and contraindications within important classes of drugs and modifications required for age, weight, gender, pregnancy and ethno-cultural differences are also reinforced. Students apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills when they are asked to integrate newly acquired pharmacological principles with legal and ethical guidelines to plan safe and effective care for individuals with acute and or chronic medical conditions across a variety of clinical environments including operational and humanitarian settings. Ultimately, students will be prepared to design individualized pharmacotherapeutic plans to safely administer pharmacologic agents.