Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) Medications: In a Nutshell (Nursing)

00:00 Wrapping it up, let's talk about our big concepts from this series.

00:05 The nervous system has two major divisions, you've got the central nervous system, right down the middle, that's the brain and spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system.

00:15 The peripheral nervous system breaks into two major divisions, the autonomic nervous system and the somatic nervous system.

00:22 So make sure you can still re-draw those in your notes.

00:26 The ANS has two other major divisions - the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system.

00:32 Cholinergic receptors which are muscarinic and nicotinic are mediated by the acetylcholine.

00:38 Adrenergic receptors, beta-1 and alpha, are mediated by epinephrine, norepinephrine or dopamine.

00:45 Drugs can be created that can bind to the receptor subtypes and act as an agonist - winner key, or an antagonist, a blocker.

00:53 Remember, an agonist will make that receptor do what it's intended to do.

00:57 An antagonist will bind to the receptor but stop the action of the that receptor.

01:03 Agonist compounds activate the receptor, antagonist compounds block or inactivate the receptor.

01:10 So by knowing the location and receptor response to the cholinergic and adrenergic receptors is critical to your understanding of the peripheral nervous system drugs.

01:20 Thank you for watching our video today.