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  • © 2020

Understanding Pharmacology in Nursing Practice

  • Educates the qualified nurse responsible for monitoring drug safety and or prescribing medications
  • Provides the reader with concepts of processes linked to medication safety and applied to nursing practice
  • Addresses the issues of drug interactions from both a pharmacodynamics as well as pharmacokinetic perspective

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
  2. Legal and Ethical Issues

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
  3. Principles of Pharmacology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-25
    2. Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

      • Ehsan Khan
      Pages 27-56
    3. Drug Formulations

      • Ali A. Dahab
      Pages 57-88
  4. Systemic Pharmacology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 115-115
    2. Pharmacology of Pain

      • Sheila Turner
      Pages 117-145
    3. Antimicrobials

      • Edward Purssell
      Pages 147-165
    4. Medications Used for the Cardiovascular System

      • Joan Adams, Ehsan Khan
      Pages 167-217
    5. Medications Used for the Renal System

      • Roseline Elsie Agyekum
      Pages 219-253
    6. Medications Used for Diabetes Mellitus

      • Haya Abu Ghazaleh, Ehsan Khan
      Pages 255-281
    7. Medications Used for the Respiratory System

      • Shelley Peacock
      Pages 283-317
    8. Medications Used for Cancer

      • Mary Anne Lagmay Tanay
      Pages 393-411

About this book

This textbook provides a structured, informed approach to the understanding and appreciation of drug action and effect providing a detailed description and discussion of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics for nurses.
The text focuses and emphasizes safe prescribing and administration of medication highlighting the possible harm to patient in terms of adverse reactions.


This book also includes the seldom addressed facet of pharmacotherapeutics; drug formulation as applied to practice, and adverse reactions. It informs on the medication used to manage diabetes mellitus, respiratory disease, gastrointestinal tract, the central nervous system and many other affections.

Uniting these essential pharmacological processes and applying them to physiological system based medications, this work highlights issues relevant to drug interaction and important nursing responsibilities associated with administration/prescribing. 
The overall aim of the text is to equip the nurse with an understanding of issues related to pharmacotherapeutics that is aligned to current nursing roles and statutory requirements. 

Editors and Affiliations

  • (Retired) Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, King’s College London, London, UK

    Pauline Hood

  • Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, King’s College London, London, UK

    Ehsan Khan

About the editors

Mrs Hood has had many years of clinical and academic experience. Her focus of clinical practice was perioperative nursing.Mrs Hood was a lecturer at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative care, King's College London from 1995 and undertook a range of teaching, managerial and academic roles until her retirement. Mrs Hood pioneered pharmacology education at the Faculty and from 1999 she and Dr Khan  developed  and promoted pharmacology education for nurses  and midwives. Mrs Hood has published a range of papers and texts and was the editor of the Journal of Advanced Perioperative  Care.


Dr Khan, is a senior lecturer in nurse education at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative care, King's College London.  His focus of clinical practice is cardiac nursing and he has a PhD in physiology. Dr Khan and Mrs Hood developed  pre-registration and post-qualification pharmacology modules at the Faculty.  Currently Dr Khan leads pharmacology education for nursing at the Faculty. Dr Khan has received a number of Teaching Excellence awards from King’s College London and currently his research is  centred  upon pharmacology education in nursing curricula together with the use of technology enhanced learning in education. Dr Khan has published extensively in nursing and other healthcare journals.



Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Understanding Pharmacology in Nursing Practice

  • Editors: Pauline Hood, Ehsan Khan

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32004-1

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Medicine, Medicine (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-32003-4Published: 07 February 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-32004-1Published: 06 February 2020

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VIII, 411

  • Number of Illustrations: 109 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Nursing Education, Pharmacotherapy

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access