Chemistry and Microbiology

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I'm currently taking pre-nursing classes and two of them include chemistry and microbiology. How much of the material do we actually use in nursing?

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A lot.

Chemistry is big for pharmacology and understanding human physiologic homeostasis.

Microbio is incredibly important in understanding the pathology behind infectious disease and the human immune response and treatments for and prevention of infectious disease.

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Specializes in retired LTC.

Nursing and medicine = art + SCIENCE.

I won't speak for others, but I love chem & micro. You will be surprised at how much the sciences factor into so much of our professional work careers but also our personal lives.

Say, you're an athlete and a distance runner. In hot weather, you know to prevent/treat dehydration by drinking water and Gatorade.

That's the sciences in your real life. In a hospitalized pt, if I see an elevated serum potassium level I know it can cause cardiac rhythym irregularities. And it can be treated with administration of IV fluids (for dilution) and medication (chemicals). That's sciences at work. Also known as FLUID & ELECTROLYTE IMBALANCE.

Heartburn, dieting, saturated dietary fats - all are science based. Diabetes, AIDS, tuberculosis, Ebola, etc.

You can't separate science out of health care's foundation. Which is why it's so crucial to nsg education. All the science-y things get translated into concepts that direct your understanding of the causes and management of health problems & wellness. And it's one big curley cobweb-by mass of inter-related & interdependent principles.

The trick is to get great instructors who make learning and understanding science pleasurable. Then everything clicks.

Good luck in school.

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