Pharmacotherapy Bundle

This is a series of three presentations designed for pharmacology credit. The series begins with a review of basic pharmacokinetics, then a discussion on antibiotic stewardship as these are the most common drug class exposure in the preterm neonate and it concludes with a discussion of renal structure and functional immaturity which significantly impacts pharmacotherapy in the preterm neonate.

Objectives:

1. Outline three pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles in neonates.

2. Compare and contrast two considerations for medication administration in the preterm infant versus term infants or children.

3. Describe two specific precautions and monitoring recommendations for preterm drug therapy.

4. Identify two physiologic systems in the preterm infant that disrupt pharmacokinetics.

5. Recall two risks of using antibiotics in small babies.

6. State two factors that can improve the accuracy of infection diagnosis in a small baby.

7. List three ways an NICU nurse can participate in their unit-based Antibiotic Stewardship Program.

8. Describe three strategies that have been used to reduce antibiotic exposure in the small baby.

9. State two functions of the kidney.

10. Describe two characteristics of renal development that place the preterm neonate at risk for poor renal function.

11. Define Acute Kidney Injury (AKI).

Total CE: 3.4

NCC Code NNP 2 = 1; NNP 4 = 1.6 or 7

NCC Code NIC 2 =1; NIC 3 = 1.6 or 7

NCC Code LRN 3 = 1; LRN 4 = 1.6 or 7

Rx = 2.6

*These presentations were included in the Small Baby Care Specialist® Program

Last updated: December 2021