What do you do in Pharmacology?

Student at UMass · Dec 24, 2006

Well, motivation like this must not be wasted... In my program, we take 3 credits of Pharm over 2 semesters. I have completed the first installment successfully. While I know of no nifty websites, I can confidently recommend reading about the autonomic nervous system and getting a general overview of pain management/pain receptors. There's a lot of vocabulary and A & P here that drove many students MAD, not to mention the seemingly endless nursing considerations for actual drugs. If you know what textbook your program will be using, get it and read these sections. These topics are really hard if you don't get a good understanding of the basic concepts, and you can get ahead on these before you ever walk into the first day of class! I'll be watching this thread for more comments about websites and things! Hopefully someone has some good ones. Does anyone else out there agree that the autonomic drugs were THE most difficult to keep straight at first?

Scrubz · Dec 24, 2006

Thanks for the advice. I don't know which textbook we'll be using so that's why it's hard for me to start studying. All I have right now are a few website links to some meds websites and my Mosby's medical dictionary.

Do you memorize drugs, their drug class, actions, side effects, nursing considerations, ect..? Because if so then I can just start doing that right now because I have a bunch of resoruces for doing just that. But I assume that there has to be much more than this, right?

Student at UMass · Dec 26, 2006

Yeah, it's harder if you don't know what text you'll be using... Perhaps your library, or your municipal library system , has a copy of a pharmacology textbook you could look over. I would think they are all covering the same kind of material, and I have had good results using this technique with OB and Peds. There's also some "Pharmacology Made Incredibly Easy" and "Pharm for Dummies" books out there, though I cannot vouch for their effectiveness personally. So, while looking over those drug cards/drug consult materials will help you get familiar with the drug names, common side effects, etc. They aren't as good at giving you that pithy "Why" information that you'll be expected to know in pharm. My prof (my venerable, kind, wise, etc. Prof!) put it to us this way. "DON'T MEMORIZE DRUG CARDS". Now, this statement has not been binding :) We certainly DO need to do a good bit of memorizing, but I think what he meant was that he wants us to understand WHY (based on their chemistry, pharmacodynamics, level of protein binding, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) these drugs have certain side effects, interactions and nursing considerations. If we know the why of it, then we don't have to rely on memorization.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 26, 2006

you should find out the course name/number of the nursing pharmacology courses required at some other nursing schools. this is easy to find by checking their online college catalogs. then, go into their online bookstores and see what the required textbook is for the class. use the internet to get a used copy of that textbook or just purchase one outright from one of those college bookstores. they will ship them to you by ups. then, you can begin your own study. never hurts to have your own supplemental library. when i was in nursing school i had 3 med/surg textbooks that i used to help with my studying. what i couldn't find in one book was usually in one of the others.

you should all be aware that allnurses also has a new forum called med savvy that has drug related information on it that you should bookmark and check periodically:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f279/ - promoting medication safety, medication alerts and understanding uses of new/old medications.

here's an online pharmacology textbook and a pharmacology tutorial for pharm students:

http://www.pharmacology2000.com/learning2.htm - an online "textbook" of pharmacology. site includes outlines of pharmacology information plus practice questions, flashcards and tests. answers to tests are online.

http://www.kumc.edu/research/medicine/pharmacology/cai/menu1.htm - this is an online tutorial on pharmacology from the university of kansas medical center of drugs by their classification or by use in disease. this site was designed to teach students of medicine and pharmacy and has good information. most of the information is organized into several pages of tutorials where you are given drug or drug classification information and then presented with a question to answer before you can move on to the next piece of information.

Student at UMass · Dec 26, 2006

GREAT sites! Wow!

barbnyc · Dec 27, 2006

Thank you for the websites. I also want to get a head start on the pharmacology. We're required to take a 3 credit pharmacology course, but there are no spaces available in the class at the local college this semester.

RANCH GIRL · Dec 27, 2006

I'm shocked your ADN program doesn't have a pharmacology course per se! I just finished first semester of an ADN program and we had pathophysiology/pharmacology - yes in that order - as well as fundamentals! Here are the systems we covered during 1st semester and oh, the questions on her tests, formatted NCLEX style: CNS, respiratory, cardiac, endocrine, fluids and electrolytes, antibiotics, and renal. Six of 42 students failed this class. I managed to get a B. Daytonite's advice above is outstanding (as always).

moongirl · Dec 27, 2006

some ADN programs put the pharmacology within the material that is being taught at the time. I learned insulin while we studied the pathophys/disease process/nursing interventions of diabetes. Same with cardiac, renal etc. To me, it makes more sense that way

Scrubz · Dec 27, 2006

some ADN programs put the pharmacology within the material that is being taught at the time. I learned insulin while we studied the pathophys/disease process/nursing interventions of diabetes. Same with cardiac, renal etc. To me, it makes more sense that way

I think that's what's going to happen with my school. I guess it makes more sense to study pharm in sections like you said. Well, regardless of how we do it in my ADN program when I go for my BSN in a couple years I'll have to take a pharmacology class, so I'll get it all at some point... :rolleyes:

KARABO · Jan 2, 2007

Thanks for the links - checked it this morning and loved the tests. I need it for my med calculations test at the beginning of the next semester. God bless your soul!

chickapin · Jan 3, 2007

My class was 3 credits. Focused mainly on uses, mech of action, side effects, and CONTRAINDICATIONS!! And if there was an antidote for something, I made sure to know it (Malignant hyperthermia? Dantrolene! Organophosphate poisoning? Pralidoxime!) Skipped dosages for the most part. Very important to understand the drugs and not just memorize things. My book was Lehne - Pharmacology for Nursing Practice (newest ed.). This book is awesome. One of the best textbooks I've ever read.