Advice needed: Advanced Pharm

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

I am in an accelerated BSN program and I have an opportunity to take several advanced classes that will count for both my BSN and NP as long as my grades are high enough. The classes are Advanced Patho, Advanced Pharm and Advanced Health Assessment, which can be taken in lieu of the basic level of these classes. I am taking Advanced Health Assessment and Advanced Patho this semester, and although the learning curve is steep, I am averaging a low A in each class by working extra hard and attending supplemental labs and I finally feel like it was a good idea, after a month of drowning. My plan is to work as an RN for a year and then finish the NP, assuming I still want it once I have some experience.

Next semester I need to choose Advanced Pharm or basic Pharm. All around, I hear that advanced pharm is a nightmare at my University and for non-nurses it's a double nightmare. Very few students in my program are opting into it, due to these rumors. Also, the pace of the program has picked up, clinicals start this Friday, and things are getting hectic. I am feeling it, but keeping my head above water.

I am tempted to take advanced pharm because it will save me 4k and a ton of time to take it now, rather than later. I am also sort of nervous about taking it because of the workload, and I want to be sure my pharm knowledge is all there.

I don't find the academic aspect of nursing school as challenging as most of my cohort.

So, what do you think, should i take the advanced pharm, save myself 4k and extra time in school, or play it safe, take basic pharm and take advanced pharm later?

[BostonFNP, APRN]

Most students will benefit from taking it later on in their clinical and didactic education.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Moved to general nursing student.

[kalycat, BSN, RN]

For the vast majority of nursing students that I have encountered, pharm is by far the most challenging subject in nursing school, particularly if you don't have any background.

I was successful in pharm because I already had a lot of exposure and context for a good portion of commonly administered medication classes. I would really wait if I were you. Pharm requires exposure, repetition, and critical thinking to master. It is much more than memorization. Without having given meds and knowing what you need to know and understand, plus not yet being exposed to pharmacokinetics in the real world, I think you might be setting yourself up for failure. Sure, you might save some money, but is it really worth it if you fail the class, have to repeat, damage your transcript, etc? Not to mention, if you're just starting clinicals, your life is about to get a whole lot more stressful. I would strongly encourage you to wait.