best way to study pharmacology

[2bnurse_it]

hey.

I've been having trouble trying to study my medications.. especially when I have to apply them to "case studies".

From what I heard, the NCLEX is going to be this way. Is that right?

Anyone have any advice on how they studied their drugs? or any books that helped them?

thanks!:monkeydance:

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

I studied by understanding how the drug classes worked. If you know that then you can extrapolate what the effect is going to be on the patient.

F'rinstance: Lasix (furosimide) is a loop diuretic, so just from that you know that it will will impact the Loop of Henle. And you remember from A&P II that reabsorption occurs in the loop, so the effect should be inhibiting reabsorption. This will result in a decrease in Na (among other things) in the body as it gets flushed in the urine. Plus you remember that water follows Na, so now you can extrapolate that taking Lasix will also remove water from the body. This will reduce edema and lower BP.

That's roughly how I look at pharm. Once you're comfortable with how drug classes work on the body systems (i.e. ACEs, ARBs, beta blockers, pressors, etc.) you can figure out what will happen.

The book we had was Pharmacology by Lehne. Excellent text, the A&P overviews at the beginning of each chapter are better than any actual A&P textbook.

[MB37]

We're using the Lehne book too, and it's fantastic. It's written for beginning nursing students, not medical experts, so it's really easy to understand. I focus mainly on what we cover in lecture, but then have my book in my lap when I retype my notes so I can clarify/add things as needed. I'm also making drug cards for each drug, not just for each class, so I have to write out the ADR, interactions, etc. over and over again for each class. That helps it stick in my brain. Good luck!

[Galore]

I find that making charts for each drug class with the common drug names, action, indication, contraindications, adverse effects, and nursing implication helps me organize them in my mind and provides an easy study reference.

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

Study drugs by class. Then when you learn a new drug and know its class, you'll have some idea what the drug does, what it's for, etc.

The biggest thing I overlooked when studying pharm (and I got an F the first time I took it) was I didn't study the side effects and precautions. These always show up on the test. Also look at anything you would need to do as a nurse before you give the drug. For example, most blood pressure meds can't be given if the blood pressure is low (for example less than 90 systolic). Antacids can't be given the same time as other drugs but have to be given an hour after or two hours before other drugs. Anticoagulants can't be given if the INR is too high. A drug that has XR after the name

can't be crushed. Those little details are the ones I messed up.

Again, it's not every single drug that will have a special thing like that. But if you come across a drug that does, remember it.

[Sharanjit]

nice suggestion emtb2rn. This advice will help me a lot. Thanks