Drug absorption refers to the process by which drugs enter the bloodstream from the site of administration. Several factors can affect a drug's absorption including the route of administration, properties of the drug, food/fluid intake, rate of blood flow, and gastrointestinal characteristics. Understanding these factors is important for nurses to determine the appropriate administration route and dosage for different patient populations such as neonates, pediatrics, and geriatrics to ensure safe and effective drug delivery.

1. DRUG ABSORPTION
Team Kester

2. What is the process by which drugs are
transferred from the site of entry into the
body to the bloodstream?

3. Age Groups
Neonate- birth to 1
year of age
Pediatric- 1 to 17
years of age
Geriatric- 65 years
old and up

4. What Factors Affect Absorption?
• Vehicle administration of drug
• Food and fluid taken with drug
• Properties/formulation of drug
• Rate of blood flow
• Stomach acidity
• GI mobility

5. Vehicle Administration of Drug
• Enteral (oral, buccal, rectal)
• Parenteral (Intravenous- fastest
delivery, intramuscular,
subcutaneous)
• Topical (skin, lungs, vagina, ears,
nose, eyes)

6. Enteral
• In geriatric patients, oral medications are often taken
with food to assist with administration

7. Parenteral
• In pediatric patients, intramuscular injections
are avoided due to tissue damage
• In neonate patients, intramuscular absorption is
erratic due to lack of muscle and fat tissue

8. Topical
• In neonate patients, topical medications are
absorbed faster because their skin is very thing
and they have a large body surface area
• In pediatric patients, skin disruptions such as
burns and eczema increase absorption

9. Frequent feeding of infants impedes drug
absorption.

10. Physicochemical Properties/Dosage
Form of Drug
• Liquid and syrups offer a faster delivery
of drugs than enteric-coated tablets
• Lipid solubility, molecular weight and
polarity

11. Rate of Blood Flow
• In geriatric patients, reduced blood
flow to GI tract
• In neonate patients, decreased
renal blood flow
• In pediatric patients, diminished
muscle mass may reduce blood
flow

12. Stomach Acidity
• In neonate patients, variable
gastric pH leads to diminished
absorption
• In pediatric patients, gastric pH is
less acidic
• In geriatric patients, gastric acid
secretin is decreased

13. Gastrointestinal Mobility
• In neonate patients, prolonged
gastric transit time leads to
diminished absorption
• Gastric emptying rates are faster for
pediatric patients than in neonates
• In geriatric patients, gastric
emptying time is increased

14. Why does a nurse need to know
about absorption?
They do not
To know which route of drug administration to use
Both B and D
To make sure medications are given safely
All of the above

15. What Difference Does Absorption Make in
Patient Care
• Provides higher quality health care
• Deliver the right medication in the right dosage to
the right patient type.
• Improves patients experiences
• They are getting the correct drug in the correct form
in the correct dosage
• Increases efficiency
• The correct drug is going to the correct patient
(hopefully without human error)

16. Credits
• RN, Carol Taylor, CSFN, MSN, PhD Carol Lillis RN, MSN Priscilla
LeMone RN, DSN, FAAN Pamela Lynn RN, . Fundamentals of Nursing,
7th Edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
<vbk:9781451105957#page(1683)>.
• http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/clinical_pharmacology/pharmaco
kinetics/drug_absorption.html
• http://howmed.net/pharmacology/factors-affecting-absorption-of-drugs/
• http://www.clinchem.org/content/35/7/1337.full.pdf