MN553U9JournalJAldridge

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Purdue Global University *

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Course

553

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Health Science

Date

Feb 20, 2024

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docx

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Uploaded by JudgeTank3137

1 Unit 9 Journal Topic: The use of pharmacology in advanced practice How has your knowledge of pharmacology changed? At the beginning of this course, I felt confident that I would do well and would learn the topics fairly quickly. I utilize pharmacology on an everyday basis, and since I am more of a hands-on learner, I figured that I would learn easier because of that. It was definitely not the way I envisioned. I did not truly realize at the time, how much more in depth the knowledge of pharmacology is when taking on the role of an advanced practice nurse. I have been so used to the typical nursing role, where my role was to educate patients and families on the medications prescribed, determine if interactions could or are occurring, how the patient is tolerating the medications, etc. The decision-making process for what medication should be initiated for the patient and why was always done by the primary care physician. Taking on that role was much more difficult for me than I initially thought. After taking this course, I now have a much better knowledge of how and why medications should be initiated for patients. I still have a lot more to learn and much of which will be done in the clinical settings, but I am able to better tie in the pathological and pharmaceutical world together. I also learned how to approach patients utilizing effective communication. Prescribing medications and all that it entails is also something that I know more of. There is a lot more aspects that go into prescribing medications than just the dose, route, and frequency. The patient’s insurance coverage, lifestyle, and knowledge are just some of the other things that need to be considered.

2 Do you find yourself thinking about medication use in your current employment differently? Why or why not? The way I view and think about medication in my current employment has definitely changed. I now find myself looking at why this medication was prescribed. Not just in the sense of what disease it was trying to treat, but how it is treating the problem. I also look at what medications could influence another and how. As a home care nurse, I have increased the education on importance of over the counter medications. Explain how your appreciation of the advanced practice role changed or did not change? My appreciation of the advanced practice role has greatly grown throughout taking this course. I knew that the role that advanced nurses have in prescribing medications was more involved, but I did not realize all of the considerations that have to be taken into consideration. I commend them for taking on such a potentially risky and important role. Medications are coming on to the market all the time and it can be hard to continue to be knowledgeable and learn as they evolve in order to give our patients the best quality of care. Unfortunately, medicine can tend to be a lot of trial and error because we do not know how a patient will tolerate a treatment. It can be frustrating as a patient and as a provider because it can sometimes take a long time to find the best course of action. Careful monitoring, communication, education, and establishing a trusting relationship are all important to find a resolution to the patient’s problem or problems. How do you envision using the knowledge from this course in your future advanced practice role? The knowledge from this course has enabled me to be a better nurse and has set me up to become a valuable advanced practicing nurse. I plan to take what I learned and build upon it by using real

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