Best way to study for Pharmacology?

[jarielle22]

I am so confused. I am in level 1 in the nursing program and pharmacology is a tough class; I am more than aware of this.

However, I am having such a hard time studying for this exam. I feel like the information was thrown at us in such a short period of time and we got all the classifications/drugs like 3 days before the exam. Do I need to just read EVERY PAGE OF EVERY CHAPTER assigned chapter before lecture? I will say this, recording lecture DOES NOT WORK for me at all. I am a visual learner; not an auditory learner.

I have a feeling I am not going to do well on this exam because everything in the first part of this semester has been so unorganized.

Does anyone have awesome tips on what they did to pass pharmacology and how they studied and read their books that prepared them for the exams? I need help!

THANK YOU! :) Any advice will be much appreciated.

[Kuriin, BSN, RN]

I can't really say for sure since I don't know if your professor provides powerpoint slides. I know for my pharm class, the slides were pretty much useless so all of us took notes and read the chapters and focused on the NCLEX questions at the end.

There's an amazing pharm flashcard thread somewhere on this forum.

[brycross33]

I feel like if you know your drug classes you will be good like your statins (hmg co a inhibitors) (the only reason why I know that action is because I probably had to look up every single statin twice for my note cards) I'm in the same boat as you are and it sucks but it's all memory and recall if you look at things enough you will get it if anything I know my statins right now but tomorrow I may forget and learn a different group I don't know if your teacher is concerned with knowing every single drug and their action in the body but mine is more concerned about if we know the group the drug is in have a general idea of what it does in the body and nursing considerations and if course common side effects

How I studied: I went through the pharm book and made flashcards for each drug type and studied them assiduously.

Because I'm such a danged nice dude, I posted 'em here for the world to use...

Have at 'em... they earned me one of the two A's awarded in my pharm class.

https://allnurses.com/nursing-student-assistance/pharmacology-flashcards-595483.html

I also highly recommend Lippincott's Illustrated Review of Pharmacology... it's a great survey of the topic in a very readable and memorable format.

[polka-dot, RN]

I did something kind of silly, but it really worked for me...I made up little stories about the psych drugs so that I could keep all of the side effects straight. For instance, here's what I wrote for Tricyclic Antiosychotics:

Traditional Antipsychotics

Bob was a single guy who could not control his muscle-building obsession. He really wanted a girlfriend, so he decided to try some other hobbies in hopes of meeting someone with skin problems just like his. His dream girl wasn’t the typical type. He liked them big and he liked them diabetic! So, he went to a few speed-dating meetings, but they only made him restless, even when they played shuffle board. His favorite activities were poker (he has a great poker face), and limbo (his stooped posture made him a natural). After weeks of speed-dating, he finally met a girl at the Tardive, a dive bar near his house. The sad part of this tale is that she had neuroleptic malignant syndrome and died on their wedding night. Bob eventually wrote a screen play about the romance and is now back to contracting his muscles.

Yes, totally silly...but it worked!

I have others, and can email them if you want :-)

Good luck with pharm...it's a tough one!

[dudemursebrah2b]

weed then read. srs tho, good luck.

[steve jamal]

it is really awesome .can you send it for me :) this my email : [email protected]

[steve jamal]

it is really awesome .can you send it for me :) this my email : [email protected]

[steve jamal]

it is really awesome polka_dot .can you send it for me :) this my email : [email protected]

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