Any study tips/advice for Advanced Med/Surg

Make sure to keep up on your reading assignments.

In the clinical setting, seek out additional learning opportunities. This will help you to "connect the dots" on some of the concepts you are learning.

Don't focus just on memorizing; make sure you can apply the concepts to specific situations.

I would also recommend (if you don't already have it) purchasing Saunder's NCLEX review book. It reviews each of the different body systems. You could take practice NCLEX questions before your exams.

I found Advanced M/S to be my most difficult class.. but by far, the one that prepared me most for the "real world"

All the best to you

-Diane

CV tips:

Drugs learn by class and common side effects: a good place for tables on hypertension drugs:

http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec07/ch07...071-ch071a-403

This is the Merck Manual online, a great resource for everyone.

drugs ending in -pril = ACE inhibitors- HTN- common side effect cough

-statins cholesterol meds- side effect to report muscle pain-I can't spell the word rhapydomyolis muscle wasting sign-common GI upset, liver function tests regularly for pt's on these drugs.

Calcium Channel blockers, etc.

For diuretics Lasix, thiazide's, you always should know patient's K+ level before administering

HTN meds know BP and pulse (as some HTN meds effect pulse rate as well)

Digoxin- Apical pulse X 1 full minute before administering- teach patient how to take radial pulse when they are D/C on Digoxin.

Nitro no Cialis or Viagra, for angina dose X 3 no relief patient should call 911

http://www.cvpharmacology.com/index.html - Cardiovascular Pharmacology Concepts. Also see the medication section of http://rnbob.tripod.com/ - Nurse Bob's MICU/ICU Survival Guide (http://rnbob.tripod.com/#Section_3_Cardiology_in_Critical_Care). There are various articles on e-Medicine (http://www.emedicine.com/) about the various diseases will often list the medications and get into some detail about what they will accomplish to treat the disease if the article is listed in the medical specialty and not a surgical one, but you need to bring up the articles under the medical specialty (Ex: cardiology) and then look at the treatment section of an article for the drug information. It may not be extensively presented in every article, but when given will yield lots of info. This pharmacology site also breaks down the medications into categories and discusses their mechanisms of action: http://www.pharmacology2000.com/learning2.htm and there is an entire page on congestive heart failure.