Lesson 1: Patient Safety in Critical Care Medication Administration
  • Identifies standards from regulatory bodies
  • Culture of safety
  • Role of the advanced practice registered nurse in medication reconciliation
  • Medications commonly associated with errors
  • System changes to prevent errors with oral and IV medication administration
Lesson 2: Introduction to Pharmacology Principles I: Pharmacokinetics
  • Discusses the four phases of pharmacokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination)
  • Explores factors that affect pharmacokinetics, including disease states
  • Differentiates different types of adverse drug effects
  • Explores impact of aging, gender and genetic composition
  • Implications of enteral feedings
  • Effects of CYP450 enzymes
Lesson 3: Introduction to Pharmacology Principles II: Pharmacodynamics
  • Agonists and antagonists
  • Therapeutic windows (steady state)
  • Titration and discontinuing continuous infusions
Lesson 4: Vasoactive Medications
  • Vasodilator, vasopressor and inotropic drugs
  • Angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors
  • Hyperosmolar therapy: hypertonic saline
Lesson 5: Antidysrhythmic Medications
  • Class I, II and III antidysrhythmic medications
  • Other medications that do not fall into above category, such as adenosine
  • Beta-blocker toxicity
  • Antithrombotic therapy with atrial fibrillation
  • Treatment of supraventricular tachycardia during pregnancy
Lesson 6: Medications for Pain and Sedation
  • Opioid analgesia
  • Medications used for sedation
  • Opioid-induced constipation
  • Reversal agent: naloxone
  • Current controversies in pain assessment and management
  • Sedation and delirium
  • Reversal agent: flumazenil
  • Sedatives-hypnotics, including dexmedetomidine
  • IV acetaminophen
Lesson 7: Paralytic Medications
  • Non-depolarizing and depolarizing agents
  • Appropriate nursing care to safeguard patients
  • Assessment of patients receiving therapeutic paralysis using the train-of-four technique with the peripheral nerve stimulator
  • Management of malignant hypothermia
  • Management of shivering
  • Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis (NOACs)
Lesson 8: Blood and Blood Products
  • Whole blood
  • Packed red blood cells
  • Leukocyte-reduced red blood cells
  • Washed red blood cells
  • Fresh frozen plasma
  • Cryoprecipitate
  • Albumin
  • Transfusion reactions
  • Transfusion administration process
  • Crystalloids and colloids to treat hemorrhagic and hypovolemic shock; compensatory response to blood loss
  • Decision to transfuse
  • FP24
  • Multiple electrolytes solution
  • Non-blood product coagulopathy reversal agents