UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
COLLEGE OF NURSING
Course Syllabus
Fall 2012
COURSE NUMBER
NGR 6172 (sect 1165)
COURSE TITLE
Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Practice Nursing
CREDITS
4
PLACEMENT
Variable
PREREQUISITES
NGR 6002C Advanced Health Assessment and
Diagnostic Reasoning
NGR 6140 Physiology and Pathophysiology for
Advanced Nursing Practice
FACULTY
Denise Schentrup, DNP, ARNP, BC
Clinical Assistant Professor
dschen@ufl.edu
DEPARTMENT CHAIR
Susan Schaffer
PhD, ARNP, FNP-BC HPNP
Clinical Associate Professor
sdschaf@ufl.edu
OFFICE
HPNP 2205
PHONE
273-6345
C 278-0132
OFFICE HOURS
Fri 11-1pm
HPNP2229
273-6366
by appt.
JACKSONVILLE CAMPUS DIRECTOR
Andrea Gregg, DSN, RN
Jax LRC
Associate Professor
3rd floor
greggac@ufl.edu
904-244-5172
by appt
COURSE DESCRIPTION This course provides the knowledge and skills to assess,
diagnose, and pharmacologically manage a client's common health problems in a safe,
high quality, cost-effective manner. Emphasis is on the development of therapeutic
decision-making in drug selection for the client based on health problems, individual
variations, and economic considerations. Focus is on prescriptive practice, client
education and monitoring therapeutic response to pharmacological agents in diverse
clients across the lifespan.
COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Apply the principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in selecting
drugs.
2. Analyze the relationship between pharmacologic agents and physiologic/pathologic
responses.
3. Compare and contrast pharmacological agents with respect to treatment of
individuals with specific acute and chronic health problems across the lifespan.
4. Select pharmacologic agents for the management of client health problems based on
client variations, the problem being managed and cost effectiveness.
5. Identify actual and potential adverse drug reactions and significant drug
interactions.
6. Develop relevant client education strategies to facilitate client collaboration in
treatment and to maximize therapeutic response.
7. Evaluate the effects of single and multiple drug regimens on client health status and
functioning.
8. Evaluate the interactions of nonprescription therapies with prescription therapies.
COURSE SCHEDULE
E-Learning Sakai is the course management system that you will use for this course. ELearning is accessed by using your Gatorlink account name and password at
http://lss.at.ufl.edu. There are several tutorials and student help links on the E-Learning
login site. If you have technical questions call the UF Computer Help Desk at 352-392HELP or send email to helpdesk@ufl.edu.
It is important that you regularly check your Gatorlink account email for College and
University wide information and the course E-Learning site for announcements and
notifications.
Weekly lectures and exams will be accessed via E-learning Sakai.
Optional interactive pre exam review sessions will be presented live via web-if you
cannot attend, they will be recorded and put on the course website - more
information regarding this will be posted on the website.
This course will use one of UF’s web hosted collaborative software applications (Adobe
Connect and or Voice Thread) for lecture presentation and or assignments. These
collaborative applications have the functionality of recording your text, audio and or
video comments. If you do not want to be recorded please notify assigned faculty
member prior to the first class. You do not need to provide a photo or use the video
comment option, this is your choice. The recordings are accessed through web links
provided by your faculty member and should not be share with anyone not enrolled in the
course. The recordings are available to the class during the semester. The recordings will
not be used in another course.
ATTENDANCE
There is no attendance for this course. Students are expected to listen to lectures and
complete required assignments as listed in the course syllabus and on the course web-site.
Timeframes for the posting and receiving of materials are listed in the course materials on
the course web-site.
ACCOMMODATIONS DUE TO DISABILITY
Each semester, students are responsible for requesting a memorandum from the Disability
Resource Center to notify faculty of their requested individual accommodations. This
should be done at the start of the semester.
COUNSELING AND STUDENT HEALTH
Students may occasionally have personal issues that arise on the course of pursuing
higher education or that may interfere with their academic performance. If you find
yourself facing problems affecting your coursework, you are encouraged to talk with an
instructor and to seek confidential assistance at the University of Florida Counseling
Center, 352-392-1575, or Student Mental Health Services, 352-392-1171. Visit their web
sites for more information: http://www.counsel.ufl.edu/ or
http://www.health.ufl.edu/shcc/smhs/index.htm#urgent
STUDENT HANDBOOK
Students are to refer to the College of Nursing Student Handbook for information about
College of Nursing policies, honor code, and professional behavior.
TOPICAL OUTLINE
1. Clinical pharmacokinetics and individualization of drug therapy including
absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion for various client populations
2. Principles of half-life, effective concentration, peak plasma levels, therapeutic
blood levels, and minimal and maximum effective levels
3. Pharmacodynamics including alterations of cell environment and functions and
drug receptor activity
4. Pharmacotherapeutic decision-making for common acute and chronic health
problems across the lifespan including drug selection, intervention, and monitoring
for
a. Immunological Alterations
b. Tissue Defense Alterations
c. Endocrine Alterations
d. Neurological Alterations
e. Hematological Alterations
f. Dermatological Alterations
g. Cardiovascular Alterations
h. Respiratory Alterations
i. Gastrointestinal Alterations
j. Musculoskeletal Alterations
k. Genitourinary Alterations
l. Affective and Cognitive Alterations
5. Therapeutic response to pharmacological agents
6. Adverse drug reactions and appropriate interventions
7. Drug interactions based on selected drug categories including drug-drug
interactions, drug-food interactions, drug-ethanol/tobacco interactions and drugenvironmental interactions
8. Prescriptive practice and dispensing limitations for advanced practice nurses
including writing prescriptions, legal authority and restrictions, ethics, and clinical
standards
9. Alternative therapies
10. Client education and adherence
11. Economic implications of drug selection and management on client’s lifestyle
12. Implications of client's cultural health beliefs and practices on drug selection and
monitoring
13. Resource utilization
TEACHING METHODS:
The course will be strictly online. Lectures will be posted each week throughout
the semester. Students are required to listen to the lectures weekly. Students are
required to complete online assignments as per the course outline.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

Assignment Students will be required to complete one assignment during the
first week of class. This assignment is an exercise in prescription writing and
pharmacokinetics. The assignment will be posted on Sakai, E-learning. Students
will need to review the first week’s lectures before attempting this assignment.
Remember to include all of the requirements for the prescriptions as discussed in
the Introduction lectures.

Case studies Students will do 5 case study assignments throughout the semester.
The cases will be posted at least 1 week prior to the due date. Please review the
outline regarding the schedule of due dates for the case studies. Criteria for the
case studies is posted on the website. You are encouraged to work in groups for
the case studies. If you have trouble with participation in your groups, please
address this as soon as possible. It is very important for EVERYONE to
participate in the case studies to enhance the understanding of the application of
the information. Case studies will be sent to me at dschen@ufl.edu by e-mail
attachment using Word or WordPerfect OR can be handed in via E-learning.
The case studies are due by 5pm on the due dates listed in the syllabus. Two
points will be deducted from the case study each 24 hours that it is late.
Please scan all work for viruses prior to submission.
Assignment and cases will be graded and returned no later than 2 weeks
after the due date unless there are extenuating circumstances. In that case,
the students will be notified of the delay in returning grades.

EVALUATION METHODS:
Examinations/breakdown There will be 4 exams. They are not cumulative exams;
however, students will be responsible for knowing possible drug interactions with
medications despite where they are discussed throughout the semester. The exams
will be given online via E-learning. You will be proctored by the website Proctor U.
ProctorU Information:
o Major course examinations will be administered via ProctorU, a live
proctoring service, to ensure a secure testing environment.
o Each student computer must be in compliance with Policy S1.04, Student
Computer Policy and must contain a web cam, microphone, and speakers.
o Each examination will cost $22.50 per exam.
o Students go to the website http://www.proctoru.com/ and click on “How To
Get Started”. This will permit students to create an account and test out their
system.
o Once the exam is available, students go online to ProctorU to schedule and
pay for the exam session. Students must provide a valid email address and
phone number where they can be reached during an exam.

There will be no makeup exams. If you have extenuating circumstances please
inform faculty as soon as possible. Students will be evaluated by examinations
and scheduled case studies/assignments.
EVAUATION BREAKDOWN
Exams
Case studies
Assignment
60%
30%
10%
GRADING SCALE
Letter Grade
Grading Scale
A
95-100
A93-94
B+
91-92
B
84-90
B82-83
C+
80-81
C
74-79
* 74 is the minimal passing grade
C72-73
D+
70-71
D
64-69
D62-63
E
61 or below
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK/WEBSITE
Quality Points
4.0
3.67
3.33
3.0
2.67
2.33
2.0
1.67
1.33
1.0
.67
0.0
Woo, T.M. and Wynne, A.L. (2011). Pharmacotherapeutics for Nurse Practitioner
Prescribers(3nd ed.). Philadelphia: F.A.Davis
Required electronic source: Clinical Pharmacology online, accessed via the Health
Science Center Website.
WEEKLY CLASS SCHEDULE
Reading assignments will also consist of Internet sites. Please review the links in each
lecture for pertinent information related to the weekly topics.
Date
Topic
Readings
Week 1 Wednesday
Aug 22nd
Assignment #1 due
Wednesday Aug 29th
by 5pm
Introduction to pharmacology
& Prescription writing
Unit 1
Chapters 1-8
Unit IV
Chapters 50-51
Pharmacokinetics &
Pharmacodynamics
Pharmacogenetics and Special
Populations
Week 2 August 29th
Case #1 Due
Wednesday Sept 5th by
5pm
Respiratory Agents
Unit I
Chapter 13 p 153-154
Unit II
Chapter 17
Ch 25 p. 886876Unit III
Chapter 30
Week 3 September 5th
Case #2 ABX due
Wednesday Sept 12th
by 5pm
Antibiotics
Unit II Ch 24
Unit III Ch 42, 44, 46, 47
Week 4 September 12th
GI
Unit I Ch 13 p 156-159
Unit II Ch 20
Unit III Ch 34
Week 5 September 19th
Exam #1 Week 2-4
Available Wed Sept 19th from
9am-5pm
Week 6 September 26th
Lipid medications
Unit II Ch 16 p. 359-368
Ch 18
Unit III Ch 27, 39
Anticoagulants/Anemia
Week 7 October 3rd
Case#3 Due
Wednesday October
10th by 5pm
Cardiovascular/Diuretics/CHF
Unit II Ch 14 168-199
Ch 16 303-359, 369-378
Unit III Ch 28, 36, 40
Week 8 October 10th
Endocrine
Unit II Ch 587-642
Unit III Ch 33, 41
Week 9 October 17th
Exam #2 Weeks 6-8
Available Wednesday October
17th 9am-5pm.
Week 10 October 24th
Dermatology/topical agents
Unit 1 Ch 13 p 160
Unit II Ch 23
Unit III Ch 32
Week 11 October 31st
Case #4 Due
Wednesday November
7th by 5pm.
HRT/Contraception/androgens
Unit 1 Ch 13 161
Unit II Ch 21 572-578
Ch 22
Unit III Ch 31, 38
Week 12 November 7th
Mental Health/
Osteoporosis
ADD/Insomnia
Unit II Ch 15 254-274, 277-292,
297-302.
Unit III Ch 29
Week 13 November 14th
Exam #3 Week 10-12
Available Wednesday
November 14th from 9am-5pm.
Week 14 November 21st
Case #5 Due
Wednesday November
28th by 5pm.
Musculoskeletal/gout
Unit 1 Ch 13 p 152
Unit II Ch 15 p. 292-297
Ch 25 p869-877, 886-907
Unit III Ch 35
Week 15 November 28th
Anticonvulsants/Antiparkinson
agents/Alzheimer’s-
Unit II Ch 14 p.202-214, 219-230
Ch 15 p236-253, 274-277
Genitourinary/Vaccines
Unit II Ch 14 219-230
Ch 19
Final Exam #4 Weeks 14-16
Available Wednesday
December 12th from 9am-5pm.
Week 16 December 5th
Week 17 December 12th
Pain management
Case study Format: Case study Information:
For each case study students will be given the patient situation which includes a complete
SOAP note including diagnosis and any pertinent diagnostic tests. For each situation,
you will provide the necessary information including a prescription using the case study
template found on the course website. If in doubt about how to do any of these case
studies, please e-mail me. If there seems to be a common theme in the e-mails I will post
to the Main Bulletin Board.
Please review your Advanced Health Assessment text if necessary. You must list
all references used, they do not need to be in APA format. You will need to review
current literature and use sources other than your text and Clinical Pharmacology online
when doing the case studies. Throughout the lectures national treatment guidelines will
be provided when available for that particular disease. You are required to use these
national guidelines and other research references in your case study. If you do not,
points will be deducted.
Be concise but thorough in your responses to the questions. The length of the case study
should be no more than 2 pages plus the prescription. Do not include a discussion of the
pathophysiological processes involved in the patient's disease process. Focus on the
pharmacological intervention that you have chosen.
It is strongly encouraged that students work in groups of 2-3 for the case studies.
E-mail one copy of the case study with each student’s name on it. If you are having
problems with group members not participating please address this early on in the
semester and contact me immediately. The case studies are meant for FULL
participation from ALL group members. Case studies are to be e-mailed to me at my UF
e-mail address or handed in via E-learning Sakai. These case studies are designed to
assist you in understanding all the complex nature of prescribing medications. Explain to
me the thought processes involved in your choice of one drug or another. Moreover,
remember, this is a pharmacology course. Therefore, opting not to prescribe a medication
is NOT an option. Each case study will usually have more than one therapeutic option.
However, you must choose the correct drug/class of drugs. Above all (as in real life), do
not, by action or omission of action, cause harm to your patient. Be careful of your drug
choices and consider rationale for using that specific medication.