The Nurse's Guide to Medicines

Working with medicines is central to your role as a nurse. It forms the basis of most treatment plans and is fundamental to modern practice. In order for you to provide safe and effective care it is important that you understand what common drugs are for, how they work in the body and what it means for the people using them. As a nurse, you have access to vast amounts of information on all of the drugs licenced for use in the UK, making it vital for you to know the basics.

Chapters follow a two part structure: the initial section takes a traditional textbook approach, providing clear explanations of the drugs while also emphasising the wider nursing context; the second half of the chapter provides a medicines list that details all the key facts and figures relating to the main drugs in use including information on dosages, brand names and possible side effects. This blend makes the content accessible and allows you to refer back to key parts again and again.

Key chapters include:
- Medicines for infections (bacterial, viral and fungal)
- Medicines for pain (such as opioids)
- Considerations for special populations (such as elderly or pregnant)

Written by two experienced teachers in this area, this book is written in an accessible way and designed for you to dip in and out of.

Dr. Sheila Cunningham commenced her career as a nurse after which she undertook a BSc in  Life Sciences (Human Physiology) Westminster University.  Armed with this and a passion for all things physiology, pathology and pharmacology she taught on nursing and allied health profession programmes for  many years and exploring pedagogical approaches aimed at improving and enhancing nurses knowledge and confidence with science for clinical practice.  Through her doctoral work on inclusive learning she linked her teaching and subject knowledge especially around nurse and health professions education.  She was programme lead for nursing exchange and BSc European Nursing until 2020 hence her interest in nursing international experiences. She holds a National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) and is a member of the Biosciences in Nursing Network (BINE). She is currently Deputy Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange in the Faculty of Health Social Care and Education at Middlesex university.

Dr Rachael Major completed a BSc (Hons) in Physiology at University College London before starting nursing. Over many years of teaching, she has used that degree to pass on her knowledge and passion for all biological sciences to many nursing and healthcare students, leading on modules across all 3 years of the nursing degree programme and at post-graduate level. During her Masters in Higher Education she researched the teaching of biological sciences to nursing students and her doctoral and post-doctoral work on dyslexia and neurodiversity in nursing has influence how she supports students’ learning. She is a member of the Biosciences in Nursing Network (BiNE) and is a Senior Fellow of AdvanceHE. She is currently the Postgraduate Programmes and Academic CPD Lead and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead at the Institute of Health and Social Care Studies in Guernsey.