RN program missing pharmacology!!!!!

[sewinnett]

Hello,

I guess this is, in some way, a cry out for help! I joined a nursing program that was spoken SO highly of when I was a pre-nursing student. Since I have been accepted, the program has undergone a transition because they are trying to become accredited. One of the requirements is that the instructors have a master's degree or higher, so we lost a good handful of wonderful teachers whom I was looking forward to working with. One of these teachers had a passion for pharmacology and it seems now that she is gone, no one has picked up the slack. I am finishing my second semester and I have only been exposed to a little pharmacology info that was covered in my med surge book. This is by no means good enough in my opinion, and I am scared for my future career because we do not have any pharmacology scheduled for our remaining 2 semesters. I have spoken with RN's about this and they are concerned for my success with NCLEX because there is so much med information involved. Not to mention my future patients who will be depending on me!!

Does anyone know of good resources online that you could point me towards that may help me do some self studying? I have a set of Mosby pharmacology flashcards and I have the NCLEX study book w/CD. I just feel like I need more than just memorization. If there is some way to apply or practice the information maybe? I might be reaching pretty far here, but there are no stupid questions in nursing, right? Any advice is welcome!!

p.s. Unfortunately, switching programs is not an option as my other option is an expensive private school and I would lose 25% of my credits by transferring. My family has already invested so much in my schooling already!

[LadySalubrious]

Thank you Kaydensmom01! This is what I needed so thank you. It really is hard when you look at the books cause it is pretty intimidating. I can't wait to get into a program and this should help immensely in that first semester. How far into the program are you?

[kaydensmom01]

I'm in the last week of the first semester,lol. I am glad for the break! It is intimidating when you first look at the book, but if you start to memorize and understand the classes then it will help out a lot. You don't have to focus to memorize the specific mechanisms for each drug just try to understand the specifics for each different class. Each drug in the class usually works close to the same way. It would be nearly impossible to memorize all of the drugs. Good luck.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

i'm wondering how a program gets such a great reputation if it's not accredited. you shouldn't have gone to an unaccredited program, and if you lose some of your credits in a transfer to one that is accredited, it's better than not being licensed (by reciprocity if necessary) because you went to an unaccredited school-- and you'll get a better education to boot. to clarify that, some states will let you sit the nclex without attending an accredited school, but others won't, and if you move to one of those others some day, they will not license you even if you passed nclex.

or am i missing something?

not to mention employers look into the nursing program you attended and note if it is accredited or not - most employers won't hire you unless you went to an accredited program.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

I can recommend

Adams, M. P., Holland, L. N. & Urban, C. Q. (2011). Pharmacology for nurses: A pathophysiologic approach (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

ISBN-13 978-0-13-508981-1

ISBN-10 0-12-508981-6

This is the same textbook that my ADN program uses. We're a "ladder" program -- you can sit for your LPN after the first year, then your RN after the second year, and this is incorporated into the first year (LPN) program.

As for what to study, our instructor gave us a list of the drugs we were expected to know. For those drugs, we needed to know what type of drug it was (antihypertensive, corticosteroid, etc.), what it was used for (disease/symptom), what the normal side effects were, what the abnormal side effects were, what the contraindications were, what type of patient education would be involved (don't operate heavy equipment, keep upright for one hour after taking the med, don't eat , etc.), and what types of nursing considerations we would need to know before giving a drug (if the patient is bradycardic are you still going to administer a prescribed beta-blocker?)

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

My program has pharm woven pretty heavily into the lectures, not as a separate course. There is a separate Nursing Pharmacology course that I could take, but that would be a separate course altogether and is not required by the program. However, by the end of the 3rd semester, students have been well exposed to pharmacology.

Drugs are a LOT easier to learn by class... because all drugs in the same class generally work in the same way and are used for similar things, have similar contraindications... That way you know the class very well, then all you have to remember is the specifics for a given drug that isn't normal for that class.

[pc2801]

I can recommend

Adams, M. P., Holland, L. N. & Urban, C. Q. (2011). Pharmacology for nurses: A pathophysiologic approach (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

ISBN-13 978-0-13-508981-1

ISBN-10 0-12-508981-6

My school also used this text. There was a 2 credit option for the ADN's who just wanted to get their pharm requirement, then there was a 3 credit option for ADN's who planned on continuing with the school for their BSN. Both options used this text, I think the only difference is we had more difficult testing and a written assignment that had to show a deeper level of understanding in the 3 credit option.

[Lanesmama]

My question is HOW do they plan on getting accreditated without a pharm class in place? That is ridiculous! Can you take a pharm class elsewhere, perhaps? Even if it is an online course over the summer? I am only in my 1st year of an ADN program that isn't accreditated and we have already had Intro to pharm and PharmII next semester. There are over 100 drugs that you are "required" to know that may be tested on the NCLEX. Honestly, I dont' think I would waste my money taking it until I took a pharm class. Other than that, maybe you can find someone who will give you their pharm power points and class requirements and buy a text book and do it yourself... but that would take REAL motivation... I'm not even sure I could do it.

[WorldTravelingYogi]

My question is HOW do they plan on getting accreditated without a pharm class in place? ...

Many of the accelerated programs do not have pharm but it is a prereq for the program. I had a hard time finding a pharm class in my area when I was doing prereqs. There was only one community college and it was 30 miles away which is like 90 minutes in traffic. That meant I was limited in which schools I could apply to since many of them didn't offer pharm yet it was a prereq. Some of the best universities in the country don't have pharm in their nursing program because it is a required prereq yet they are most definitely accredited.

[rxrunner]

You can find a lot of pharmacology information online. I put up 8 videos for my students, thought the Drug Names Decoded book will be gone this fall, I wrote another one called "A Little Pharmacology Paperback". If you learn the drug names, you are in good shape.