Course Description
Each patient that a rehabilitation professional treats is on at least one medication, and more often than not the list of medications is rather extensive. While medications are prescribed and managed by physicians and pharmacists, medications have significant implications that impact the rehabilitative process, therefore, pharmacology knowledge is essential for rehabilitation professionals. Each rehab professional should have a baseline understanding of the classes of drugs that are most commonly prescribed to adult patients, as well as their side effects and what impact they have on the rehabilitative process.
This course will review the classes of drugs that are used to manage central nervous system diagnoses. The drugs discussed in this course include antianxiety drugs, antidepressants, antipsychotics, antiepileptics, Parkinson Disease drugs, anesthetics, and muscle relaxants. The emphasis is not on learning or memorizing drug names, rather the emphasis of this course will be to gain an understanding of each of the classes of drugs mentioned above. This includes a basic understanding of how the drug class works, and a more detailed understanding of the side effects and rehab implications of each drug class. In addition to lecture, case studies will be utilized to enhance the learning of the rehab professional.
This seminar-on-demand is 4 contact hours in length (check your state’s approval status in the state specific course catalog for your profession).
Contact Hours: 4 
Target Audience: 
Instructional Level: Intermediate Accreditation Information:
| State | Discipline | Approval Status | Provider Code | Expiration Date |
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Course Outline:
Hour 1
- Overview of sedative-hypnoticdrugs commonly prescribed.
- Overview of anti-anxiety drugs commonly prescribed.
Hour 2
- Overview of antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs, including their indications, side effects and impact on the rehabilitation process
Hour 3
- Overview of epilepsy and Parkinson Disease drugs, including their indications, side effects and impact on the rehabilitation process
Hour 4
- Overview of general and local anesthetics and muscle relaxants including their indications, side effects and impact on the rehabilitation process
Course Goals & Objectives:
Course Goals:
This course is intended to instruct the professional on the classes of drugs that are used to manage central nervous system diagnoses.
Professional Objectives:
- Identify 2 common classes of drugs used for sedation or as a sleep aide.
- Recognize the side effects that can occur with sedative hypnotics and understand how these will impact rehabilitation.
- Identify common side effects of anti-anxiety drugs and how these will impact rehab interventions.
- Identify which drug is the gold standard for treating bipolar disorder and how toxicity of this drug would present in a patient.
- Recall a minimum of 3 side effects commonly associated with antidepressants.
- Identify why exercise is recommended in those that have depression.
- Recognize what the most common type of side effects is for those taking antipsychotic medications.
- Recall how antiseizure medications are effective and their common side effects.
- Identify what is the most common drug used in the management of Parkinson Disease and why the drug of choice is not dopamine.
- Recall a minimum of 3 side effects of Levodopa that can impact the rehabilitation process.
- Recall why adjuvant medications, such as neuromuscular blockers, are often used in combination with general anesthetics.
- Recognize the common side effects of general anesthesia and how these can challenge the rehab process for a patient.
- Recall general and local anesthetics and their differences.
- Identify the role of therapy in a patient who is taking a muscle relaxant.
Criteria for Completion:
A score of 70% or more is considered passing. Scores of less than 70% indicate a failure to understand the material and the test will need to be taken again until a passing score has been achieved.
Disclosures:
Contact Hours: 4
Target Audience: Physical Therapist, Physical Therapist Assistant, Occupational Therapist, Occupational Therapist Assistant, Nurses, Respiratory Therapist
Instructional Level: Beginner
Course Type: Seminar-on-demand
The course materials for this webinar are available in our online format available instantly or by mail.
Personnel Disclosure:
Financial: Suzanne Greenwalt is employed by Belmont University and receives a salary. She receives royalty payments from HomeCEUConnection.com for the presentation of this course.
Nonfinancial: Suzanne Greenwalt is the Belmont University Faculty contact to the Student Assembly of the APTA.
No relevant conflicts of interest exist for any member of the activity planning committee.
Content Disclosure: This course does not focus solely on any specific product or service.
Authors:
Suzanne J. Greenwalt, PT, DPT, CCS, GCS
Suzanne Greenwalt, PT, DPT, CCS, GCS has been a physical therapist since 2002. She is an Instructor in the School of Physical Therapy at Belmont University. She is also a physical therapist with a long term care company. In addition, she is a mentor and educator in one of the APTA’s credentialed Geriatric Residency Programs. She received her GCS in 2011 and is an APTA Certified Clinical Instructor.
Suzanne has been working in geriatrics for most of her career in a variety of settings including skilled nursing facilities, acute care hospitals, and out-patient rehabilitation. She received her Masters degree in Physical Therapy and her Bachelors degree in Exercise Science, both from Saint Louis University. Her interest areas in both patient care and research are geriatrics and cardiopulmonary comorbidities in the geriatric population.
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