NCLEX: how much pharmacology?

Di0202 · Jun 13, 2004

How many drug questions were on your NCLEX? I am FREAKING out because this is my weakest area!
Good Luck to all of those who have upcoming boards! :)

I only had a few--must have gotten them right the first time--good luck!

zambezi, BSN, RN · Jun 13, 2004

When I took it about two years ago, I had one, mabye two questions...and I don't even remember what drugs!

lady_jezebel · Jun 13, 2004

I took it last year and had only ONE Rx question. It was about some bizarre IM antipsychotic that I had never heard of before, nor since. Honestly, it's a waste of time to study Rx's for the NCLEX. I've never heard of anyone having more than 1-2 questions, tops. Just recognize the main drugs and you'll do fine (aspirin/'NSAIDS cause GI bleeding; do not give digoxin if hr 60 or less; no more than 4g tylenol/24 hrs; watch for bleeding with coumadin/lovenox/heparin; check PTT with heparin, INR with coumadin; 2 nurses double-check chemo before administration; narcotics, like morphine, decrease respirations and cause sedation; heparin is given SQ, 90 degrees, in the abdomen; draw up "clear before cloudy" insulin in a syringe; withhold insulin and give OJ or dextrose paste to diabetic whose blood glucose level is below 60 or so (normal blood glucose is 80-120); for chest pain, give one nitro tab under tounge -sublingually- every 5 minutes X3, if pain goes away was most likely cardiac in nature (angina); oxygen is a drug that requires an MD order, 2L is most common amt given; normal saline can mix with almost any other IV drug; know signs of digitalis toxicity; know signs of hypo- and hyper-glycemia in a diabetic; know tylenol is not an NSAID & how it differs from aspirin, ibuprofen/motrin, naproxen (not an anti-platelet)...)

These kinds of things may appear in general "what would you do?" questions rather than medication questions.

But remember, unless you have extra time, don't bother learning obscure drugs, categories, etc...

J_W, DNP, APRN, CNS · Jun 13, 2004

There will be more pharmacology on the NCLEX from now on...this started in April rougly 20% more than before.....With drug calculations and fill in the blanks....pretty much all I can say about it.....I was on the NCLEX panel last year....Hope this helps....

BSNgrad2004 · Jun 14, 2004

thanks lady_jezebel for your input about what we should focus on. im freaking out- i have a lil more than 2 wks left to study. im taking the kaplan classroom course and recently started doing practice questions. before my kaplan class started, i was getting a lil obsessive-compulsive,using 4 nclex books to review (i.e. reading a disease about 3-4 times.) i found out that this study plan wasnt taking me very far, moreover somewhat taking time away from practicing questions on cd-roms-which seem to be of utmost importance. i need more reassurance tho. i'm losing it. i feel like i'm not studying as much as i should be. i would also like to know how i can make the best out of my kaplan review. should i purchase the kaplan question bank(1000 questions for $69), since it is a general opinion that the kaplan questions resemble nclex style questions??

GrkGrl · Jun 14, 2004

I just took NCLEX on Friday the 11th and had quite a bit of pharm questions, specific drugs were Coumadin, Dilantin, dig, and lasix, can't remember the others, also had questions about how to start IV's, which vein to start it in etc. and a couple on blood transfusions. Hope that helps. Good luck to everybody!

suzanne4, RN · Jun 14, 2004

thanks lady_jezebel for your input about what we should focus on. im freaking out- i have a lil more than 2 wks left to study. im taking the kaplan classroom course and recently started doing practice questions. before my kaplan class started, i was getting a lil obsessive-compulsive,using 4 nclex books to review (i.e. reading a disease about 3-4 times.) i found out that this study plan wasnt taking me very far, moreover somewhat taking time away from practicing questions on cd-roms-which seem to be of utmost importance. i need more reassurance tho. i'm losing it. i feel like i'm not studying as much as i should be. i would also like to know how i can make the best out of my kaplan review. should i purchase the kaplan question bank(1000 questions for $69), since it is a general opinion that the kaplan questions resemble nclex style questions??

Hopefully you have been doing 100 questions per night from A CD-ROM. And if pharmacology is your weak point, then start reviewing, this is something that yo u are going to be using on a daily basis in your nursing career. No matter how many questions that someone has had on their exam, your exam is going to be different. And if that is your weak point, then you are going to get more questions in that area. Plus they have increased the percentage of Pharm questions that are on the exam.....................