Pharmacology, part 2: Drug Names & Medication Regulation

Hi, I'm Cathy with Level Up RN. In this video, I will begin my coverage of the pharmacology basics section of our flashcard deck. This will help you build a strong foundation before learning specific medications. I will be discussing both drug names as well as medication regulation in this video, and then at the end of the video, I'm going to give you guys a little quiz to test your knowledge of some of the key points I'll be covering in the video, so definitely stay tuned for that.

All right, so let's first talk about drug names. With drugs, we have a chemical name, a generic name, and a brand name. So the chemical name conveys the exact chemical constitution of a medication, including the placement of atoms. So if you had to take an organic chemistry class as a prerequisite for nursing school, then you may be familiar with these type of-- with these types of names. I'm happy to report that as a nursing student and a practicing nurse, you do not have to know chemical names.

Then we have our generic names. So the generic name can be used by any country or manufacturer, and the first letter of that drug name is not capitalized. So an example of a generic drug name would be acetaminophen. And acetaminophen is the generic name for Tylenol, and Tylenol is that brand name. So the use of the word Tylenol is restricted to only that manufacturer, and the first letter of the brand name is capitalized. Now, as a nursing student and a nurse, I highly, highly encourage you to really focus on the generic names of medications because when you're taking a test, the generic name of a medication will always be given. However, you will often not be given the brand name. So if you learn a brand name and not the generic name, and then that generic name shows up on a test, you're going to be out of luck. So definitely learn the generic names of medications.

All right, next, let's talk about medication regulation, starting with the US drug schedule. So medications that have the potential for abuse are categorized. So we have category 1, category 2, 3, 4, and 5. Category 1 medications have the highest potential for abuse and would include things like heroin or LSD. Category 5 medications have a lower risk of abuse, but still a potential for abuse, and a category 5 medication may include cough medicines with codeine. So in terms of regulations around these scheduled drugs, these regulations may vary across states, but in general, telephone orders are not acceptable. So the provider must write and sign the order for these medications. Also, no refills are allowed, and if the patient needs more of one of these medications, they will need to go visit the provider first, who will write a new prescription for that patient.

All right, let's now talk about drug risk classification for pregnancy. So we have different kind of categorization here. We have A, B, C, D, and X. So category A is the safest during pregnancy, and category X is the most dangerous during pregnancy. My advice to you is when in doubt assume all medications are not safe during pregnancy unless otherwise noted by the provider.

All right, it's time for a quiz. I've got three questions for you. First question, which drug name is restricted to the manufacturer of the drug? The answer is the brand name. Question number two, within the US drug schedule, which category has the highest risk for abuse? The answer is category 1. Then question number three, which pregnancy drug risk category is the most dangerous for fetuses? The answer is category X.

All right. I hope this video has been helpful. If so, be sure to hit that like button, take care, and thanks so much for watching.