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Effective use of pharmacotherapy is vital for preventing and treating acute and chronic medical conditions. Although biomedical research continues to develop and provide medications with enormous potential to improve health, these same medications are often overused, underused, or misused, leading to suboptimal or unsafe results. It is our responsibility as health care practitioners to optimize positive health outcomes and limit adverse pharmacotherapeutic effects.
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Provision of high quality, cost-effective pharmacotherapy requires an integration of scientific knowledge and clinical practice skills combined with a fiduciary responsibility to put the patient’s needs first. The development of mature pharmacotherapists occurs through structured learning processes that include formal coursework, independent study, mentorship, interprofessional experiences, and direct involvement in the care of actual patients.
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The fifth edition of Pharmacotherapy Principles & Practice is designed to provide student learners and health care practitioners with essential knowledge of the pathophysiology and pharmacotherapeutics of disease states likely to be encountered in routine practice. Chapters are written by content experts and peer reviewed by pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians who are authorities in their professional disciplines.
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Pharmacotherapy Principles & Practice, fifth edition, opens with an introductory chapter followed by chapters on pediatrics, geriatrics, and palliative care. Most of the remainder of the book consists of disease-based chapters that review disease epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation and diagnosis, and nonpharmacologic therapy, followed by an emphasis on clear therapeutic recommendations for medication selection, desired outcomes expected, dosing, and patient monitoring. The following features were designed in collaboration with educational design specialists to enhance learning and retention:
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Structured learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter, with information in the text that corresponds to each learning objective identified by a vertical rule in the margin, allowing the reader to quickly find content related to each objective.
Key concepts related to the disease, patient assessment, and treatment highlighted with an easily identifiable icon throughout the chapter.
Patient encounters that facilitate development of critical thinking skills and lend clinical relevance to the scientific foundation provided.
A newly designed patient care process section modeling the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process that provides specific recommendations about the process of care for an individual patient involving five steps: collecting information, assessing information, developing a care plan, implementing the care plan, and following-up: monitor and evaluate.
Up-to-date literature citations for each chapter to support treatment recommendations.
Tables, figures, and algorithms that enhance understanding of pathophysiology, clinical presentation, medication selection, pharmacokinetics, and patient monitoring.
Medical abbreviations and their meanings at the end of each chapter to facilitate learning the accepted shorthand used in real-world health care settings.
Self-assessment questions and answers for each chapter in the Online Learning Center to facilitate self-evaluation of learning.
Laboratory values expressed as both conventional units and Système International (SI) units.
Appendices that contain: (1) conversion factors and anthropometrics; (2) common medical abbreviations; (3) glossary of medical terms (the first use of each term in a chapter appears in bold, colored font); and (4) prescription writing principles.
A table of common laboratory tests and reference ranges appears on the inside covers of the book.
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A companion textbook, Pharmacotherapy Principles and Practice Study Guide: A Case-Based Care Plan Approach, is available to further enhance learning by guiding students through the process of applying knowledge of pharmacotherapy to specific patient cases. This study guide contains approximately 100 patient cases that correspond to chapters published in the textbook.
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For Self-Assessment Questions, Answers to Clinical Encounters and Power Points, please click on the following link:
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(https://www.mhprofessional.com/medical/pharmacy)
– select the Pharmacotherapy Principles and Practice book
– click on Downloads And Resources
– Enter information into the registration form.
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We are extremely grateful for the commitment and dedication of more than 190 contributing authors and more than 100 peer reviewers of the chapters in this new edition. We also thank the many educators, schools/colleges, and health care institutions that have adopted this textbook in courses or use it as a reference in practice settings. In closing, we extend our sincere thanks to the McGraw-Hill Education editorial team for their hard work and commitment to bringing this new edition to our readership.
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