Best way to study meds!

clairebearrn · Jun 23, 2008

Hurst review book has a section called, "Pharmacology in a Nutshell." and it reviews the categories of meds...You know it is impossible to memorize the billions of meds out there....Are you doing Kaplan??

I<3Nursing · Jun 24, 2008

Endings! Just know the categories of side effects and the endings, you'll do fine! I passed with 75 and reviewed meds twice :) BUT each test is different, so do what makes you feel comfortable

bai_RG22 · Jun 24, 2008

well for me i wrote all the meds in big letters in a big paper and i posted it on the walls of my room. before i sleep i make it a point that i memorize altleast 20 drugs a night so it will really stick in my mind and i wont forget it during the nclex exam..!! and also to be familiarize with the endings like the "olol", "pril" and etc.. with regard to the side effects, you just have to group it according to its system so its easier to memorize. :loveya: goodluck on your nclex exam. you can do it!!!! i hope i help you!!

Rajiv · Jun 24, 2008

Just study the suffixes or in some drugs the prefixes of the given generic name and you can identify them whatever their brand names. This for me is the best way of recalling drug classification; ex. most drugs ending in suffix pril if not all are Angiotensin Converting Enzyme use to control HPN. You can find more of this example in NCLEX-RN book by Pearson Vue. Hope this will help you.

imnotadoctor · Jun 24, 2008

One importance of pharmacology i learned with my prof before is to know its Indication and contraindication..ALSO,patient teaching is very important because doctors will prescribe meds to patients, explain what is for but it's nurses responsibility to discuss it thoroughly with the patient and family.

Mslusara · Aug 10, 2008

thank you

studymom39 · Aug 11, 2008

To study drugs - you must know the sympathetic vs. parasympathetic stuff, adrenergic, cholinergic, etc. If you get one down, the rest can be logiced out. Core Concepts in Pharmacology by Holland is good for the basics. I had an initial pharm course that was actually broad but excellent. The teacher said that you can't possibly learn every drug because new ones come out every year, but there are more common drugs in each section. She said the key is to really know that one chapter in the book with the sympathetic/parasympathetic, etc. stuff because even established nurses use drug books and have to understand it. It goes back to understanding the physiology thing.

I think of meds as layers - get the Core Concepts down first, really well. Then get those drug classes. Then fine tune as much as you can with more familiar drugs. Med Surg will be the broadest, probably. But you can definately know all the common OB drugs, the Psych drugs. The peds has its more predictable ones. Med Surg is the broadest, or so it seems.

My kids' elementary school has a program where it spirals information - meaning that they get the first lesson and absorb so much, then at a later date, that lesson comes back to them and they absorb the stuff they didn't get the first time, etc. This is ideally how nursing school should be, by reinforcing each clinical quarter the drugs and physiology to some extent. Some people pick more up the first time because they have an affinity towards it (or are gifted - I think that's one of the ways they measure that - is how many repetitions it takes to "get" the lesson). But there's nothing wrong with rehearsals and lots of test questions. It's unlikely you can sit down and know it all in one sitting. There should have been a foundation in nursing school and A&P.

I wasn't half bad on pharm but there's a lot of ins and outs on drugs that weren't taught to us that I guess you pick up "on the job".

Hope this helps. Don't try to do it drug by drug in the beginning. There has to be a plan of attack. Macro level, then micro level. Pace yourself.