Help with Meds

[Angeleyesss]

I am a first semester nursing student who just gave her first SUBQ shots yesterday! Yay!

Before we give meds or injections, I have to give a small report to my CI about my patient, and what meds they are taking and WHY.

Im struggling with the "why" part. Some of them are obvious and easy to know and some are difficult. I have been studying the differences between Beta Blockers, Calcium Channel blockers, etc and cant seem to correlate why my pt is on one or the other. If they have HTN, A-Fib, Kidney diseases, and such...how can I better understand what the B blockers or CA channel blockers will help with- and whats the difference if there is one?

Or is it something I will learn in later semesters? If so, how come they expect us to know now? I cant seem to find answers other than the definitions of how it works. Thanks :)

[Jcgirl]

Being able to understand and read lab values is also key. If you get a chance, look at your pt's diagnosis and look at lab values and how they relate. That has helped me out immensely

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

Mine incorporated meds into the disease and disorder curriculum (would be med/surg for RN). They offered a three month 4 hour a day, two days a week pharmacology course for an additional charge that they strongly encouraged us to take towards the end of our program. Personally, I only had a few med questions on my boards. However, I do think that it should be required if they nurse is going to be dealing with meds (which is around what, 90% of the job opportunities?). When I graduated there was a certification for LPNs called NAPNES, but since the test has gone electronic and was no longer proctored at the time I graduated it lost its value and wasn't required by any hospital/nursing facility that I applied for.

They offered it at an additional charge? That sounds like a scam to me. If you are going to be a nurse, you better know what meds you are giving. It's impossible to know every, single med, but if you look up an unfamiliar med you are giving a patient and say it's a beta blocker, you better know what it does in the body and how to know if the patient has anything that may interact. Physicians don't always catch that stuff, and as the nurse who is administering it to the patient you should know. Not just a few generic drugs incorporated into a med/surg class. I strongly disagree that it should be optional.

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

They offered it at an additional charge? That sounds like a scam to me. If you are going to be a nurse, you better know what meds you are giving. It's impossible to know every, single med, but if you look up an unfamiliar med you are giving a patient and say it's a beta blocker, you better know what it does in the body and how to know if the patient has anything that may interact. Physicians don't always catch that stuff, and as the nurse who is administering it to the patient you should know. Not just a few generic drugs incorporated into a med/surg class. I strongly disagree that it should be optional.

I agree that it should be required. This was a while back when I got my LPN. However, as I wish I could call it a scam it probably was not. The nursing program was a public vocational school that received county funding which greatly reduced the cost of tuition for students. If they could not provide documentation from students that went on to get their nursing licenses and gain employment then the program could be discontinued in the future. Most of my classmates passed their boards on the first try. I do remember there being a lot of meds included but nothing compared to an actual separate course.