Any good med books to study?

[andreasmom02]

I'm an LPN, currently not working though to stay home with my kids. I'm planning to go back to work in the next year or so though. When I was in LPN school, I didn't feel our class got the best "medication education." Our school LPN focused more on illnesses & patient care, rather than learning medications. I haven't worked much since getting my LPN license because of my kids, so I feel very rusty with medications. Anyone have any good suggestions for books that are helpful in learning about common meds, & refreshing memory on medications? Thanks...

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

I would learn medications by class as well as their prefix/suffix...for example, beta blockers end in "-olol", ACEi's in "-pril", ARB's in "-sartan", etc. Learn the side effects/nursing interventions/what to look for regarding each class. It's easier that way instead of learning each individual drug.

I also find that when you work with drugs on a regular basis that really helps build up your knowledge base. I'm always looking up medications, whether it's through our computer reference manuals or in an actual drug book...then eventually you'll have it set in your head on what to look for.