Pharmacology in Nursing

Chapter 1 Orientation to Pharmacology;

... Knowledge about drugs can be obtained from textbooks, periodicals, classroom lectures, discussions, and materials available in teaching laboratories. However, actual administration of drugs with careful observation of their effects in individuals and groups of patients will richly supplement and complement a student's knowledge of specific drugs.

Drugs have the power to help or to harm. ... The continued increase in litigations indicates that society tolerates only a minimal margin of error in relation to human life.

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I wonder whose life does society tolerates the loss of?

 

... There is increasing concern about drug-induced disease. ... Drug therapy for most illnesses or for illness prevention is temporary. ...

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That in and of itself is quite a statement! They admit that they are only “practicing”, and that they can not or will not cure you.

 

Chapter 2 History of materia medica;

Medieval Period (a.d. 400 to 1500) Early period - The Dark Ages. The Benedictine monks in their monasteries, became the repositories of all the learning of the period. They collected all available manuscripts, copied and preserved them, including the works on pharmacy and medicine. Since it was part of their religious duty to give aid to the sick and needy, they controlled most of the practice of medicine and distributed much of their knowledge in healing. Their treatments was usually good food, quiet, rest, and the administration of decoctions of medicinal plants from their gardens. Monastery gardens were an important factor in the development of herbals and books of plant lore, 500 years before the invention of printing. The first recorded use of the remedies now in modern practice are from this period.

However you had best not dare use such knowledge, it is illegal!

 

Chapter 3 Drug Standards and legislation in the United States;

In the United States an “official drug” is one that is included in The Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America or The National Formulary. Drugs listed in these publications are “official” because they are so designated by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

 It is so because “I say so!” Ya right

Think about this, how can one “abuse” a drug? Only a pharmaceutical company can make drugs, you just read that, it is a drug when they say it is a drug, everything else isn’t a drug. What if there were no pharmaceutical companies? Then there would be no drugs that could be abused. Then we could “win the war on drugs”! Yea!

How can you tell children to “don’t do drugs” then turn around and fill all the media sources with advertisements saying “ask your doctor” about this pill or that pill? Mixed messages, to what or whom do they listen? After all much of the media is aimed directly at them. Then once year a “drug prevention” lesson appears in their school. Hum. Wonder why “the war on (inanimate) drugs” is being lost?

 

United States Drug Legislation, Food and Drug Administration.

The Food and Drug Administration is charged with the enforcement of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Seizure of offending goods and criminal prosecution of responsible persons or firms in federal courts are among the methods used to enforce the Act.

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“Goods”, are inanimate object(s) how can they cause offense? How insane is that idea? Goods can not cause offense, like the weather and everything else, they just are. If these “offensive” items are created by God … Then man is criminally prosecuting God for the creation of said “goods” which caused the pharmaceutical companies offense? Is this insanity or what? And you wonder why God was tossed out of public schools? Why he is “offensive and criminal”, you just read that did you not?

 

Narcotic and Drug Abuse Laws;

The Harrison Narcotic Act passed in the 1914 was the first federal law aimed at curbing drug addiction or dependence. This was the first narcotic act passed by any nation.

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 Notice the date? What happened between the dates 1914 – 1919? WWI

 

Chapter 4 Names, Sources ... of Drugs; Names of Drugs

Drugs have four names; official name, generic name, chemical name, and its trade name. The official name is the name under which it is listed in one of the official publications. The official name may also have one or more synonyms by which is known. A generic name is never changed and can be used in all countries, it is not protected by law, and the first letter of the generic name is never capitalized. The chemical name is meaningful principally to the chemist, who sees in the name a very precise description of the chemical constitution of the drug and the exact placement of atoms of atomic groupings. Trademark name or brand name frequently appears in the literature with the sign ® to indicate that the names is registered, and the first letter is always capitalized.

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Do you see how “precise” this is about capitalization? Yet your name which because it is a name, used to start with a capital letter, followed by lower case letters. Now your name is all capital letters. What does this “precision” mean? It means “Jane Doe” is a child of God, and “JANE DOE” is property of the state (your US congressman to be precise) and they want you to toe their line, follow their rules, not God’s. And they drug you to make it so. Remember that in 1930’s Hitler ordered his scientists to hunt out a drug that could be administered to the people to make them docile and open to suggestion. Notice the date? Hitler was in power before and during WWII.

Then “JANE DOE” wonders why God is “mistreating” her so badly as to make her sick, and not allow her to be well. Hum. Which master does JANE DOE serve? Does JANE DOE even really exist or is she a fiction of the state? Ah but this is a different subject for a different book, one on politics. Can you see how “All is One”? Everything affecting the other, when you take them apart you can’t see the whole and are left clueless as to what to do about it. Putting it all back together, it all becomes very clear.

 

Chapter 6 Administration of Medicines; Geriatric Drug Therapy;

Economics Many hospitalizations occur in the elderly population as result of adverse drug reactions. These reactions can range from a mild rash to varying stages of comatose. To many, the cost of hospitalization comes as a financial catastrophe, depleting meager funds.

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 But they really don’t care about that, it is after all their gain, and that is what they care about.

 

While some elderly experience only a financial loss Gasp! and the loss of a significant other. Each year a number of deaths attributed to drugs are recorded. It is important to note that knowledge about pharmacodynamics continues to grow although the number of deaths attributed to drugs has not decreased.

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After that what can I say? Their knowledge is increasing but they are still killing you! And it is okay, because you “only” experience the loss of meager funds and significant other, it is not like this is important.

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Honest to God this is the name of the chapter!

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Drug Induced Senility.

Typically, the aging person has been characterized as one whose level of mental function gradually deteriorates. To be depressed, lethargic, irritable, disoriented, and display disordered behaviors is considered not only "normal" but it is to be expected and the label "senility" has been attached.

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Remember the title - Drug induced senility, it is “normal” and “expected” for “you” to become senile after taking their drugs. So why would anyone volunteer to do such a thing? Or go to a doctor and demand quick fix “little pills”?

Here is the real kicker! On Cancer it says;

 

Chapter 24 Antineoplastic Agents;

No antineoplastic drugs have been discovered that effect total cure or are free from severe limitations in their therapeutic applications... Most antineoplastic drugs, when used are likely to be non-selective, highly toxic, and produce many undesirable side effects. A second major factor limiting the effectiveness of the effectiveness of these drugs is the potential for resistance.

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 We sure don’t want the body to fight off the toxins we give it! That is OUTRAGEOUS!

Antineoplastic drugs lack selective toxicity they are not able to destroy malignant cells without damaging normal host cells. [I ask again then why use them? $$$]

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When antineoplastic drugs are used in doses sufficient to interfere with cancer cells they also affect normal cells. The effect on rapidly dividing normal cells accounts for the toxic symptoms …, for example bone marrow depression, alopecia, and ulceration of oral and intestinal mucosa. These drugs, therefore, are used for short periods of time in small doses.

 

Classification of Antineoplastic Agents;

Alkylating agents. This group of antineoplastic drugs was developed from a sulfur mustard vesicant gas used in World War I and II.

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What did I say?]

 

... Toxicity of Mechlorethamine Hydrochloride.

Profound nausea and vomiting, ... this side effect may be minimized by sedating the patient, or by concurrently administering phenothiazines and barbiturates. ... Produces depression of the bone marrow, with leukopenia and thrombocytopenia being the principal effects. ... Great care must be exercised to avoid contact of this drug with the skin of the nurse or patient... When used in high doses, the alkating agents can also produce central nervous system stimulation and convulsions. ...

 

Toxicity of Cyclophosphamide;

... hematologic; ... severe bone marrow depression. Alopecia and hemorrhagic cystitis are common, and hepatotoxicty also occurs. ... Sterility commonly follows the use of this drug.

 

Regional chemotherapy;

Because vascular supply to tumor areas is often poor, adequate drug concentrations are sometimes not achieved. In ... chemotherapy, care must be exercised to avoid escape of the drugs into general circulation.

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Hello! If it is injected into the blood vessels it is gonna “escape” into the general circulation. Get real!

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... Expectations of total cure are unrealistic and should not be reinforced, while expectations of remissions are usually [not always is it so] more achievable as are inevitable side effects and toxic effects of these drugs .

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Ya, a few years later you get leukemia and die from that.]

 

Radioisotopes;

are used in the treatment of cancer because they liberate highly penetrating beta and gamma rays that destroy [all] cells. Tissues vary in sensitivity to ionizing radiation;' cells with a short life and high rate of reproduction are especially vulnerable.

 

Radioactive Isotopes;

Tumor cells may be a guess] more susceptible to radiation than normal cells and, high concentrations can be used in a small space, exerting great toxicity.

 

Great Toxicity? Doctors do take an oath that says “FIRST DO NO HARM”. What part of “do no harm” do they not understand? Get this –  Precautions to protect the nurse, other health care personnel must be exercised. precautionary measures related to

 

1) Time of allowable exposure to patients.

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Do they tell family members this? Wonder why family members also come down with cancer?

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2) Distance between the nurse and patients.

 

No more hugs for patients!

 

3) Appropriate shielding of the nurse. Special precautions are not necessary for the patients

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... After all we are trying to kill them. Truth be known all we really want is what is in their “meager funds”.

 

Nursing Function in Antineoplastic Chemotherapy;

Stomach pain resulting from the use of these drugs can be very uncomfortable and can interfere with the patient's nutrition.

 

 How is anyone going to get well without proper nutrition? Remember what they said “no cure” wonder why? “No nutrition!” It is that simple.

 

Evaluation of drug effects is another important aspect of nursing function, in antineoplastic chemotherapy. The nurse should observe and report both therapeutic and toxic effects of the antineoplastic agents because there is no predetermined dosage. Dosage will change according to the patient's response and the nurse's evaluation and communication of that response. In evaluating for toxic drug effects, the nurse should be vigilant for very early signs of toxicity, since their progression may have severe and irreversible consequences.

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Remember what is said back in chapter 6? It is important to note that, knowledge about pharmacodynamics continues to grow, but the number of deaths attributed has not decreased.