Medicines management in children and young people: pharmacokinetics, drug calculations and off-label drug use
Intended for healthcare professionals

Nursing Children and Young People

CPD    

Medicines management in children and young people: pharmacokinetics, drug calculations and off-label drug use

Kate Davies Associate professor of paediatric prescribing and endocrinology, London South Bank University, and honorary research fellow in paediatric endocrinology, Queen Mary University of London, London, England
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Why you should read this article:

  • • To enhance your knowledge of pharmacokinetics, drug calculations and off-label drug use in children and young people

  • • To remember that pharmacokinetics vary according to the patient’s age and stage of development

  • • To contribute towards revalidation as part of your 35 hours of CPD (UK readers)

  • • To contribute towards your professional development and local registration renewal requirements (non-UK readers)

Medicines management in children and young people presents specific challenges because children differ from adults in their response to medicines. The way in which medicines work inside the human body, or pharmacokinetics, varies according to age and stage of development. Accurate drug calculations for a child rely on the careful consideration of a series of factors, such as weight and height, pharmacokinetics and drug characteristics. This article focuses on three fundamental aspects: pharmacokinetics, drug calculations, and unlicensed and off-label drug use.

Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2024.e1506

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@sausmash

Correspondence

kate.davies@lsbu.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Davies K (2024) Medicines management in children and young people: pharmacokinetics, drug calculations and off-label drug use. Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2024.e1506

Published online: 22 April 2024

Keywords :

British National Formulary - child development - child health - clinical - drug calculations - infants - medicines - medicines management - neonatal - nurse prescribing - pharmacology - prescribing

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07 November 2024 / Vol 36 issue 6

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