Chemistry skills relevant to nursing

work&play · Dec 11, 2009

Try explaining the chemistry behind the meds and body fuctions to a patient. Their HCl will produce in excess and that won't be good.

dcgrrl, ASN, RN · Dec 11, 2009

Yes, Chemistry is relevant to nursing. I think I realized that the most when I was having to do alot of dimensional analysis problems in Chemistry which actually helped me with calculating drug dosages. Also, there are some fundamental concepts in Chem you'll see crop up again in A&P and Micro. Just for the record, I hated Chemistry in in high school :madface: but not as much this time around.

My advice--try to get a professor (or tutor) that is really good at explaining the concepts and breaking down the material (my lab teacher was excellent---lecture teacher not so much), and go in with an open mind! Good Luck!

tokyoROSE, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2009

I had never taken a chemistry class (even in high school) before I took A&P and I did fine. I did an accelerated chemistry class (chem 101 and 102 combined) my sophomore year and got an A+! It was not bad at all. I don't really care for chemistry either, so please don't let that deter you away from nursing school. So far most of the material correlates with A&P more than anything.

DITN · Dec 12, 2009

I'm a student currently doing my RN prereqs and I have mixed feelings about Chemistry. On one hand I'm kind of glad that it isn't a prerequisite for the RN program at my college, as it isn't exactly my best subject. I still have to complete Microbiology and A&P 1+2, but I don't think I'll have as much of a problem with those classes as I would Chemistry.

On the other hand I know that Chemistry will come up again and again later on in my quest to become a nurse, so perhaps it will be detrimental in the long run. I looked through some of the NLN study books at the bookstore and there were quite a few questions in the science section that I don't think come up in Bio/Microbio/A&P.

I'm thinking of either taking Chemistry anyway and gutting it out, even though there's always the risk of lowering my GPA (3.86) or failure, or I might just buy the Chem textbook for the class and work my way through it in my spare time.

CuriousMe · Dec 12, 2009

I'm a student currently doing my RN prereqs and I have mixed feelings about Chemistry. On one hand I'm kind of glad that it isn't a prerequisite for the RN program at my college, as it isn't exactly my best subject. I still have to complete Microbiology and A&P 1+2, but I don't think I'll have as much of a problem with those classes as I would Chemistry.
On the other hand I know that Chemistry will come up again and again later on in my quest to become a nurse, so perhaps it will be detrimental in the long run. I looked through some of the NLN study books at the bookstore and there were quite a few questions in the science section that I don't think come up in Bio/Microbio/A&P.
I'm thinking of either taking Chemistry anyway and gutting it out, even though there's always the risk of lowering my GPA (3.86) or failure, or I might just buy the Chem textbook for the class and work my way through it in my spare time.

Honestly, the 101, 102 kinds of chemistry really isn't that bad. It takes some work, but the concepts aren't tough.

The work comes in because there's a lot of word problems, so it's kind of like math....you don't study it as much as you need to practice it over and over until you understand what you need to do to solve different kinds of problems.

I think it would serve you well in the long run!

whichone'spink, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2009

I had to take 2 semesters of the basic organic and biochemistry classes that are required for pre-health students (not just nurses). That stuff will all make more sense as you take your other pre-reqs, and then your nursing classes. It'll come together.