Course Summary
This course is for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, Registered Nurses and other Interdisciplinary Health Team Members who are seeking autonomous practice or advanced certification continuing education credits. Bupropion is an atypical antidepressant that is prescribed in various forms, and it is approved to treat major depressive disorder and seasonal affective disorder. It is also approved and used as an aid for smoking cessation. Major depressive disorder and seasonal affective disorder can result in functional impairment, and long-term smoking can cause serious physical harm. Bupropion offers a treatment option to help patients with major depressive disorder and seasonal affective disorder cope with life, and it aids patients who want to quit smoking. Bupropion also has a number of off-label uses. Bupropion and naltrexone have been studied as a combined-drug treatment for weight loss in obese patients. Bupropion may also have application in treating depression in patients with COVID-19. In cases of bupropion overdose, clinical diagnosis is crucial. The clinician must review the patient’s medication list and look for a differential diagnosis of bupropion overdose or other possible conditions, such as serotonin syndrome or neuroleptic malignant syndrome.
Course Format
Homestudy
Learning Objectives
- Course purpose is to inform health clinicians of current published information relative to the basic pharmacological profile of bupropion, its benefits and risks, and its uses. This course also introduces clinicians to current medical research on possible repurposing of bupropion for other conditions.
Course Syllabus
- Introduction
- Pharmacological Profile
- Mechanism of Action
- Labeled Uses
- Off-Label Uses
- Bupropion Dosage Forms
- Dosing Adjustment: Geriatric Patients
- Dosing Adjustment: Hepatic Impairment
- Dosing Adjustment: Renal Impairment
- Contraindications
- US Boxed Warning
- Adverse Reactions
- Warnings
- Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
- Drug Interactions
- Bupropion and Major Depressive Disorder
- Bupropion and Seasonal Affective Disorder
- Bupropion and Smoking Cessation
- Discontinuing Bupropion Use
- Potential Misuse of Bupropion
- Bupropion Overdose
- Bupropion Overdose and Differential Diagnosis
- Other Treatment Possibilities for Bupropion
- Treatment for Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Treatment for Obesity
- Treatment for Psychiatric Disorders in COVID-19 Patients
- Case Study
Discussion - Summary
Authors
Dana Bartlett, RN, BSN, MSN, MA, CSPI
Dana Bartlett is a professional nurse and author. His clinical experience includes 16 years of ICU and ER experience and over 27 years as a poison control center information specialist. Dana has published numerous CE and journal articles, written NCLEX material, textbook chapters, and more than 100 online CE articles, and done editing and reviewing for publishers such as Elsevier, Lippincott, and Thieme. He has written widely on the subject of toxicology and was a contributing editor, toxicology section, for Critical Care Nurse journal. He is currently employed at the Connecticut Poison Control Center. He lives in Wappingers Falls, NY.
Kellie Wilson, PharmD
Kellie Wilson is a Doctor of Pharmacy practicing in Anaconda, Montana, where she lives with her husband and four children. She attended the University of Montana in Missoula where she graduated in 2009 with a doctorate in pharmacy. She later worked in Boise, Idaho for a large, retail pharmacy for 2 years, and then returned home to Montana to oversee an independently owned retail and long-term care pharmacy in Anaconda. As an independent retail pharmacist she has become very involved in psychiatric pharmacy for two major behavioral health organizations that are located around all of Montana. Kellie’s passion is retail pharmacy because she enjoys the interactions with customers as well as the challenges and rewards of staying current with the continuous changes in the pharmacy field.
