Fall 2012 - Pharmacology

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

Published

Anyone out there taking Pharmacology this semester? Want to start a support group? I ended up having to take Pharm online because the only time slots offered conflicted with my Physiology & Microbiology courses. I've never taken an online class before, so this is going to be very new for me.

How many books did you have to purchase for Pharm? We had 4 required text books and 2 recommended :eek: However, the good news is that we will use them again in the Nursing program, so it's a good investment. (We'll use them for the first 3 semesters of the Nursing program...yay!)

I was astounded at how large the main textbook is. It's bigger than my Physiology and Microbiology books combined!!! I forsee lots of math in our future :D

What about you?? Let's hear it :)

Specializes in Neonatal ICU.

I'm about to start my first semester of Nursing school on Tuesday, and even though I'm not technically a pre-nursing student anymore, I will be taking Pharmacology. I actually have to take a Pharm class all 4 semesters. My Pharm class this semester won't start until the beginning of October because September will be spent taking Medication Calculations and doing clinical skills labs to learn all the basic clinical skills before starting our first real hospital clinical in October. My book is also huge and super intimidating. I'm hoping it'll go well, but can't really think about it too much yet. I'll try to check in here throughout the month to see how everyone is doing. Good luck!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Hi Jocy_Anne, welcome! Our Pharm class has Dosage Calculations & Medical Math combined with the regular Pharm curriculum. We're expected to work on the math on our own. The tests are pass/fail, but you can't score lower than a 90% on Med Math or your fail the entire course...yikes! Luckily, we get 3 attempts to take the Med Math exam....whew! We were told that we'll be using the books for this course throughout the 4 semesters of the nursing program as well. Guess that's why the book is so huge!

Good luck with your first semester of nursing school!!!! I hope to be following in your footsteps next fall :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Inpatient Obstetrics.

First day of Pharmacology and I felt so confident in the beginning... then at the end I knew it was going to take a lot more than I had already hesitated. lol

Syllabus is 32 pages long but that doesn't scare me. All the chapters that I have to read and practice problems I have to do is what has me shaking in my boots :p

But it's on like donkey kong!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

We had our first quiz this week. 11 chapters and all she asked was 10 questions!!! I hate that! You miss one question and you have a B...ugh! I ended up missing one :rolleyes: Trick question though...I forgot that it takes 4 half-lives for a drug to leave the body. The question was: You give a patient 10mg of a medication at 8 AM and it has a half-life of 6 hours. How much will be left in his system by 8 PM?

DUH...I should have answered 2.5mg, but dummy me....I put zero, forgetting the 4 half-life rule. AARRGGHH!!! I tell you what...I will never forget that rule from now on :D

We have our first practice test on Monday....let's hope this one goes better. I'm a stickler for grades and I hate making less than an A on anything.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Inpatient Obstetrics.

Oh Wowza!! I don't like it when teachers do that, where they tell us to read so much and only ten questions. >.

Our first assignment was to read 13 chapters from one book and about 15 from our other book!! That's a lot of reading plus the hw we were assigned. Sheesh but no tests or quizzes until the beginning of oct. :/

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

OMG!!! :eek: That's a LOT of reading, gelibean!!!! We have a weekly reading quiz, plus 2 practice tests before we take the actual test. The quizzes & practice tests only account for 2% of our grade. 90% of our grade is based on the test scores. (The rest is from our online discussion board questions & group questions)

At least this week's reading assignment is only 2 chapters :D

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Took my Reading Quiz and got 100% this time. Our prof gives us a chance to take an ungraded practice test, then we take the practice test for a grade. I was surprised. It was only 15 questions and it was the SAME, EXACT questions & answers as the ungraded practice test. It even shows you which ones you got wrong on the ungraded test and gives you the answers. There's no excuse not to have 100% on the practice tests. Of course, they only count for 2.5% of our grade, so it's not much, but still...it's nice to have a buffer :D

We have our Unit I Exam on Tuesday. 50 questions. I have to take it in a proctored assessment center since I'm taking this online. Nervous only because I don't know what her exams are like. If it's anything like the practice test, I feel good.

The reading is just consuming so much time!!! I've noticed that the reading schedule is very lop-sided. There are 2 weeks for each unit. Week 1's reading assignment is anywhere from 10 to 12 chapters (:eek:). You take a reading quiz and then move on to Week 2. Week 2's reading assignment is only 1 or 2 chapters. So...everytime we have a Week 1 assignment, it's major study time. I can see why she arranged it that way because Week 2 not only has a reading quiz, there's also an ungraded practice test, practice test and Unit Exam in the same week. It's just hard to keep up with reading SO MUCH material in one week, on top of all the other classes!!!

How's your class going, gelibean?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Inpatient Obstetrics.

Wow good job SopranoKris! It may not count as much but it does help a little bit!! We only have quizzes to do before and after the test, and the actual exams as part of our grade.

This week, she only gave us 5 chapters to read.. phew!! That means I can catch up on the chapters I didn't get to last week :p

Either way, it looks like we are so far surviving!! Go us!! We can push through it!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Inpatient Obstetrics.

SopranoKris!! I think your class is a lot more crazy than mine!! We have to keep up with the reading and homework and then take a test every month, but you have more things every week!! It hurts my head thinking about all the stuff you have going on constantly!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Because Pharmacology is considered a Nursing class, they run it just like they do any nursing course you take in the program. In fact, Pharmacology is only a recommended co-req for the program. I couldn't imagine having to take this course AND another nursing class at the same time :eek: No wonder they give you bonus points for completing all the co-reqs before applying!!! I doing all the co-reqs so if I get accepted, I only have nursing courses to complete for the ADN. Lots of work upfront, but it'll pay off later.

And my Pharm prof is one of the nursing instructors, so it's a good way to get a feel for the program.

One day at a time, eh?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Inpatient Obstetrics.

So you are suppose to be taking Pharmacology DURING the program? And you are actually taking it before you start because they recommend you to do it before the program starts?

At the school I am going to they want us to take it prior to entering the nursing program... you must pass the class and math/dosage exam to be eligible to enter the program. But you have to also be selected by the school to even take the pharmacology class. You cannot enter the program if you haven't taken the pharmacology class.

In other schools, you end up taking pharmacology during the nursing program.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

It's not "required" that we complete it before we apply. In fact, we don't have to take Micro, Pharm, Physiology or Human Growth & Development before we apply. However, if we DO complete these classes, we get 46 bonus points on our application towards admission. For someone like me who does not have a patient care job (you gets points for direct patient care experience) or lots of volunteer hours, I need all the points I can get! Last year's cut off was 141 points. With my district residency, GPA, bonus points for co-reqs completed and volunteer hours, I will have 152 points. I should have enough to get in (fingers crossed)!

I couldn't imagine trying to take Pharmacology on top of taking the other nursing courses at the same time. WAAAAAYYYYY too much reading & homework!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment