Best Way to Remember Side Effects

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 12, 2017

It helps me to understand what the drug does, how it works and why it's prescribed. If, for example, docusate is given as a stool softener, one of the side effects might be loose stools.

Warfarin is given as an anticoagulant -- so many of the side effects will have to do with excessive bleeding: blood in stool, urine, or vomitus, bruising, etc. Furosemide is a diuretic . . . it makes you pee. So dehydration might be a side effect, potassium depletion, etc.

Once you understand what the drug does and why it is given, the side effects (most of them) seem to just fall into place. Some drugs have bizarre side effects that aren't really evident from the way it works, and I put those in RED on my flashcard so I remember them more easily. You are using flashcards, aren't you? I made a flashcard for every drug I encountered, and brought the relevant ones with me to clinical.

LJR89 · Feb 13, 2017

Well for starters, darn near every drug is gonna have GI upset as a common side effect (except maybe drugs to treat n/v/d obviously) so I never wasted time taking notes/flashcards with that info.

I did the same thing as Ruby Vee... what does the drug do/what is it for? Well then the side effects is probably related to that. And then highlight the 'weird' side effects.

I also had to resist the urge to just memorize drugs, didn't start doing well on my pharm exams until I really started to take the time to understand the patho/action etc

waterdrifter · Feb 13, 2017

Thanks for the awesome feedback guys!

AliNajaCat · Feb 14, 2017

Corollary to Ruby's suggestion about flash cards: MAKE YOUR OWN, don't buy a preprinted deck. The small amount of time you spend writing on your index cards will go a long way to solidifying the information in your brain.

And you won't have a lot of cards for drugs you won't see in clinical. After you graduate, you can look others up in your hospital data base or your smartphone.

ireyes98 · Feb 16, 2017

You can endlessly study for pharmacology, there's a whole career on it. As a student nurse, you should be okay with what they are teaching you in class, the basics, you can iron out all of the small details as you go along. There's a free app on the mobile store that breaks it all down pretty good and concise. It contains common drug classes, drugs associated with the classes (generic and brand name because NCLEX only uses generic names), and all of the information school, clinicals, and the NCLEX requires you to know such as MOA's, vitals, labs, common/severe side effects and nursing considerations to watch for. Check it out, its called NCLEX Drug Study Guide or the website nclexessentials.barcalabs.com. Best of luck!