Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

Abstract

Medicines achieve their goal by modulating homeostatic mechanisms in the body. The administration of prescribed medication is a key responsibility of the registered nurse; nevertheless, to ensure patient safety, the process while necessarily formulaic does not directly address the principles of pharmacology. A thorough consideration of these principles assists the nurse to understand how a drug arrives at its site of action (pharmacokinetics) and, once there, how drugs provoke action and effect (pharmacodynamics).