Basic medications- nursing student

[Mgrispi24]

I am in my second year of nursing and currently learning about respiratory meds. My lists consists of

Sympathomimetics

Corticosteroids

Antimuscarinics

Methylxanthines

Mast cell inhibitors

Leukotrine antagonists

Mucolytic agents

Antihistamines

Antibiotics

Antitussives

I remember from fundamentals of nursing a lot of the drugs and different classes but I am now having a hard time remembering all the names of drugs under each of these categories. Does anyone have any shot cuts/ easier ways to remember drug names? I'm killing my self trying to remember so much and there's a ought to worry about besides the drugs! Haha. One example I can think of is for corticosteroids some one told me to remember ONE. Corticosteroids are the number ONE anti inflammatory drugs and this device helps me when I see a drug with ONE in it i know it's a corticosteroid. Sorry for this long page of writing. Thank you for reading I hope you all have some good ideas I'm so stuck! :) thank you

[nursephillyphil, BSN, RN]

1. Identify the medications, included in the classification and subclassification. This will be your key to identifying the purpose of the drug as well. SO group them into beta blockers, antihistamines, corticosteroids, glucocorticoids, antivirals, etc. The quick way to identify them will be by suffix/prefix such as -lols -statins -virins etc.

2. Identify the action or effect

3. identify the therapeutic use of the med.

4. based on the action of class/subclass identify the precautions or contraindications. remember if you want to know the overdose effect it's typically an overexageration of the intended effect. So opioid analgesics can end up causing resp depression if they are getting more than the therapeutic level.

5. Study the nursing considerations, should the med be taken with a meal? Celaphosporins are the ones that must be taken with food, others do not require an empty stomach, others do not allow you to take with milk or anything containing magnesium.

6. do not try to study everything for each med! Focus on the bigger/key things of each one, especially when it comes to side / adverse effects.

good luck!

oh and try to find an app for your phone that can help you study meds and do them when you have downtime.

[Mgrispi24]

Thank you so much I really appreciate your response! I will study that way from now on. Sounds a lot more organized to follow those steps and pick out what's most important rather than trying to memorize every single thing for each med!