You can breathe a little easier knowing there’s a proven way to master respiratory pharmacology! For more than 30 years, Rau’s Respiratory Care Pharmacology has been the preeminent text on the subject. With easy-to-grasp terminology, relatable explanations, and reader-friendly writing, it simplifies the process of learning pharmacology material like never before. Rau’s is organized into three logical sections, covering the basics of respiratory care, frequently used drugs, and critical care medications. New to the 11th edition are recently approved FDA drugs, information on drug approvals, COVID-19 coverage, and new and updated Clinical Connection boxes that focus on important clinical questions, assisting you in connecting the information in the text to the clinical setting and addressing how Respiratory Therapists can help educate patients.


New to this edition
NEW and UPDATED! Clinical Connection boxes assist you in connecting information in the text to the clinical setting, including providing patients a better understanding of their clinical conditions as related to their drug treatments.
UPDATED! Chapter 1 reflects changes to drug approval.
UPDATED! Chapter 3 reflects changes in aerosol medication devices and addresses aerosol-generating device issues and COVID-19.
UPDATED! The latest FDA-approved medications are referenced in all chapters.
UPDATED! Current asthma (GINA) and COPD (GOLD) guidelines include COVID-19 treatment protocols.
Enhanced readability helps you more easily understand difficult material.

Key Features
Clinical scenarios with follow-up SOAP assessment help you assess your comprehension of the material.
Self-assessment questions offer you thought-provoking opportunities to test your comprehension of key concepts.
Learning objectives parallel the levels tested by the NBRC® exams to help you identify important information that goes beyond memorization and recall.
Key terms with definitions provide easy access to the pharmacologic vocabulary you should embrace.
Key points boxes in each chapter highlight important concepts in the lesson.
Glossary of all key terms in the text aids you in understanding the terminology associated with respiratory care pharmacology.
Appendices on common Units and Systems of Measurement and Acceptable Mixtures provide references to need-to-know information such as abbreviations, conversion charts for temperatures, liquid metric and solids, and a simple drug compatibility chart for drug mixtures.
Alphabetical drug index provides a direct index to look up information based on drug name.

Unit A: Basic Concepts and Principles in Pharmacology
1 Introduction to Respiratory Care Pharmacology
2 Principles of Drug Action
3 Administration of Aerosolized Agents
4 Calculating Drug Doses
5 Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems
Unit B: Drugs Used to Treat the Respiratory System
6 Adrenergic (Sympathomimetic) Bronchodilators
7 Anticholinergic (Parasympatholytic) Bronchodilators
8 Xanthines
9 Mucus-Controlling Drug Therapy
10 Surfactant Agents
11 Corticosteroids in Respiratory Care
12 Nonsteroidal Antiasthma Agents
13 Aerosolized Antiinfective Agents
14 Antimicrobial Agents
15 Cold and Cough Agents
16 Selected Agents of Pulmonary Value
17 Neonatal and Pediatric Aerosolized Drug Therapy
Unit C: Critical Care, Cardiovascular, and Polysomnography Agents
18 Skeletal Muscle Relaxants (Neuromuscular Blocking Agents)
19 Diuretic Agents
20 Drugs Affecting the Central Nervous System
21 Vasopressors, Inotropes, and Antiarrhythmic Agents
22 Drugs Affecting Circulation: Antihypertensives, Antianginals, Antithrombotics
23 Sleep and Sleep Pharmacology
Appendixes
A Answers to Self-Assessment Questions and Clinical Scenarios
B Units and Systems of Measurement
C Acceptable Mixtures of Most Commonly Prescribed Respiratory Care Drugs
Glossary of Selected Terms
Index
Abbreviations, Inside back cover