Terminology for Monitoring Medications

Some common terms in medication dosing and monitoring that the professional social worker should be aware of include medication half-life, drug potency, the therapeutic index, and drug tolerance. 

A computation of medication half-life can assist the health care team in determining how much medication is actually left in the client s system and how this residual amount can effect present and subsequent treatments. A distinction is made between a short-acting medication that is eliminated more quickly from the system and a long-acting one where the drug can stay in the system for a much longer period of time. 

Knowledge of the therapeutic index is also essential for professional social workers, because this is the relative measure of a drug s toxicity or safety level for the client Clients may also develop drug tolerance or lower levels of responsiveness to a medication over a period of time. The development of tolerance is associated most often with the client s physical dependence on the medicatimi. In these cases clients must take the drug 

Dosing problems that may not seem obvious to most professionals are the problems that occur with liquid medications. Most clients will simply use a kitchen spoon, but all spoons are not the same size. Conunon tableware teaspoons come in various sizes, from 2.S milliliters (ml) to 

A simple explanation or demonstration of how to measure liquid medicines would prevent dosing problems. When using instruments such as oral syringes, remind the client and family members to remove the cap in order to prevent injury from swallowing it (Kurtzweil, 1994). 

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