My Unique Pharm Study Method

So many drugs! So many flash cards! Not enough time!

My Unique Pharm Study Method

This was initially written to someone who reached out to me via PM on how to develop an effective way to learn pharmacology.

I have a study technique that helped me a lot!

Disclosure.....Always utilize mnemonics. Make up your own and finds ways to make things stick best for you, because some mnemonics aren't as good because your brain makes unique connections.

My own personal pharm study method was categorizing in a brain mapping format.

Example: Opioids

Draw a circle in the middle of a piece of paper, not too big, not too small. Label it the class Opioids.

You will want to include inside this circle the general information common for all opioids:

  • Class of the Drug, What it can treat, MOA (mechanism of action) how it achieves it's therapeutic effects, Common Side effects, Adverse Reactions, ADPIE (assessments [labs], diagnoses, planning, interventions, and evaluation) for the drug, and patient teaching points.
  • Are there any assessment findings that would make you hold the drug and not give it to the patient? Is there an intervention for side effects/adverse reactions or overdosing of this drug?
  • If you put the information in this order, your brain will make the connection in that order to rationalize each thing (example, if you were to have a patient who is prescribed a new drug, in this case, an opioid like morphine, you would teach in this same order about the drug to the patient..."you are scheduled to receive morphine now. it is an opioid for managing moderate to severe pain. how it does so is by....however, there are some common side effects such as....we will have to look out for. if you experience xyz symptoms, please notify your PCP immediately. I have to assess your respiratory rate, alertness, BP and HR, as well as bowel sounds since all of these can be diminished as a common side effect of opioids. Can I ask you what your pain level is right now on a 0-10 scale, 10 being the worst pain you've experienced? I will come back in about 30 minutes or so to reassess your pain levels to ensure the medication is working."
  • Another tip is if the function of the drug is X, then clearly some issues with it could be that is works "too" well, and therefore, causes problems. Example, if a patient is taking a medication to induce diuresis (voiding) because they are being treated for edema or HTN (hypertension), they could eventually become dehydrated and hypOtensive, hematocrit % altered, etc. So drugs are also a balancing act. You want things within homeostatis (normal limits). As a nurse, you want to understand what could be foreseen as an issue and address it timely and appropriately..
  • Example, "you are scheduled to receive your furosemide now. It is your diuretic to help you void to lower your blood volume and therefore, your blood pressure. We will want to be cautious however, because this drug can make your BP drop enough to cause fainting, especially when changing from laying to sitting or sitting to standing too quickly. As you change positions, you should do so very slowly and take pause for a moment. I highly urge that if you need to get up for any reason to call for assistance so in case you do become faint, someone will help prevent you from falling and causing injury...." You would also want to monitor electrolyte labs [often lost in the urine and can become harmful], Vital Signs such as BP and HR since changes in fluid volume alter each, lung sounds (for signs of fluid buildup or to evaluate if pulmonary edema is being alleviated). This method helps you understand the "why" which is the rationale and the most important part of nursing action.

Okay, I know that seemed like overkill, but my method has helped me learned the drugs in the way I would need to recall the knowledge on the floor, which is what matters in the long haul.

Moving on...

Draw lines outward for each major drug in that class your instructor says you must know. Then make a smaller circle. In each circle will be information with the specific opioids traits that make them different from what is inside the main class circle of step 2. For example, though opioids are contraindicated in pregnancy for the most part due to their effects on fetal respiration suppression, there is a drug of choice that alleviates pain and is an opioid, Meperidine. I called this one my mommy narc[otic]. This way of learning is especially helpful if you can recall pictures. You can draw a pregnant stick figure next to the name or something to help you remember it best. You will also notice some drugs have similar roots, prefixes and/or suffixes, such as most beta blockers...olol or lol is usually the suffix, and our teacher taught us to differentiate selective vs non-selective beta blockers as such...Selective are the SAME (S[elective], atenelol, metoprolol, and esmolol) and non-selectives are LPNs (labetelol, propranolol, nebutolol).

Last thing, practice, practice, practice as many NCLEX questions related to those drugs discussed in class. This will force you to recall information once you've gone through the class and believe you could explain it to a patient.

Hope This Helps!!!

NNM

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NeoNatMom

About NeoNatMom

Hello everyone. I am NeoNatMom. I have a beautiful 3 year old boy and have been married to my wonderful husband for 5 years. We are both studying, working and trying to build a better future for ourselves and I hope you enjoy my posts. Feel free to ask any questions! I love helping any way I can :)

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I'm a fan of mnemonic devices. The sillier and more outrageous, the better I remember. Helped me memorize the whole periodic table in a couple days!

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One trick that worked for me was to look at the info as often as possible. The more familiar you make yourself with a topic, the more it stays in your long term memory. I followed our syllabus and read pharm every night - even if I didn't have homework in it, just to keep it in my mind. Even if you only do 15 minutes a day, it's helpful. Also in terms of side effects, think of the one most harmful to the patient (bc that is one you will likely need to know for an exam).

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