How should I study for pharmacology? How did you or are you -studying for pharm?

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Hello everyone!

I just completed orientation for an LPN program, and I would like to be ahead of the game by studying pharmacology. Any suggestions of how I should study? I have a ton of index cards that I will fill up with drug information. I was thinking about doing 10 drugs at a time, by going through Mosby's nursing drug reference 2011, starting from the very first page (I know, I'm nuts, but my instructor said that it was a good idea . Which drugs should I really focus on? Which drugs do LPNs usually deal with most of the time? What are the classifications and how should I organize them / everything? I know not to memorize any part of nursing, and I really want to understand it all, so I would love to hear your suggestions. Thank you much!

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First off there is no way on God's green earth you can ever memorize every drug in the drug book..well..unless you have a photographic memory. That's why they have the drug books :)

I work LTC as an LPN and my main meds are diuretics, laxatives, anticoagulants, hypertension meds, psych meds, Antilipidemic, insulins..and on and on..

Usually its easier to get the classifications down and then you can usually use an educated "guess" as to the side effects. Do you have your classes Pharm book yet? If you do, just go through the book and check out the sections (usually broken up by classifications). Don't even attempt to try to go through the entire Mosby Drug Ref book..you'll go crazy.

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Thank you ct pixie! you just put me in check LOL - I would go crazy, Huh? I guess that's my nursing school jitters :uhoh3:. My program doesn't require a pharm book, just the Mosby's 2011 reference I had mentioned. I think we're just going to go the by drugs mentioned in the fundamentals text and refer to the ref.

I am going to look up the types of drugs you had mentioned and study those for now. What should I focus in on for each drug such as side effects, etc?

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I just finished taking pharmacology last week and I agree with the other comment. I would focus on the drug classes, how they work, and the side effects. A lot of the drugs you will be able to identify by the suffix in the drug name. For example, beta blockers all end in "lol", ace inhibitors end in "pril", most calcium channel blockers end in "pine"..... and so on.

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I'd be looking at the indications for use (what diagnosis warrants this type of med) the classification of the med..and warnings/precautions of the med.

If you look, you'll see a pattern of side effects and warnings/precautions with certain classifications. Once you get to the body systems you'll understand WHY that med does what it does and WHY it causes side effects etc.

While I was in LPN school we had to do "drug cards". Take a look at this post..it should help..(check out Yummy Chocolate's link)

https://allnurses.com/starting-drug-card-collection-t362915/

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

In my program, we take 2 semesters of patho/pharm. It's mostly patho. We learn 5 or 6 major drugs w/ each unit.

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I am in my second week right now. We are learning antimicrobials and have to know the action, side effects and nursing implications. Im having a heck of a time because the powerpoint doesnt match up exactly with what my book says. I made a posterboard the other day and will make flashcards today.

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When I was in school i went and got a pharmacology incredibly easy at a Barnes and Noble store.... that helped me a lot. Whenever i was in lecture i would pay attention to the medication that the instructor talked about and study those. For clinical i would write about 10 medication (per clinical session/class) on a flash card from the meds dictionary, this would include the name, class, use, side effects, intervention, etc, etc. I got a good grade in pharm so i guess what i did was good.... Good Luck!

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Specializes in Infusion.

This is taken from my schools LPN program for the first quarter on pharmacology, we have to write out all the info on med cards that fit in our pockets during clinicals....

Objective 11- Identify and discuss the assessment data to collect, evaluate, and document with administration of medications; include the following drug categories in your discussion:

- Anti-anxiety agents

- Anti-infective

- Diuretics

- Antiemetic

- Antipsychotics

- Analgesics

- Anti-hypertensive

- Anti-pyretic

Objective 12- Discuss the legal implications of a medication error and the appropriate nursing actions to take.

Objective 13- Differentiate between side effects and adverse reactions, describe the times each can occur, signs, symptoms and nursing actions.

Objective 14- Research and discuss the drug reference information, patient assessment and nursing actions required before and after the administration of the following medications (handwritten med cards):

- Ipratropium

- Percocet

Insulin:

- nitroglycerin

- Tetracycline

- Digoxin

-Lantus

- neurontin

- Oxycodone

- Furosemide

-NPH

- Paxil

- Albuterol

- Percodan

-Regular

- azithromycin

- Valium

- Catapres

-Lispro

- Coumadin

- DOSS

- levothyroxine

- doxycycline

- Vistaril

- Lasix

- Lopressor

- Wellbutrin

- Dyazide

- Lipitor

- Narcan

- atenolol

- trimterene/

hydrochlorothiazide

- metoprolol

- K-Dur

- Cardizem

- Lotensin

- Aldomet

- fentanyl patch

- Loxapine

- Glucophage

-Premix – 70/30, 50/50

-Aspart

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Before you start memorizing all the meds, you need a good background on what the different classifications are and do and their uses. I do not know what book you are using, but I have found the Pearson Pharmacology for nurses: A pathophysical approach (3rd ed.) by Adams & Holland--if you buy it, buy it used, a new edition, and as cheap as possible.

The book comes with a free Pearson website called MyNursingKIT and it gives you notes, practice tests, etc. They have another website that is actually a self paced course and it guides your studies. That program is MyNursingLAB and it either comes with the book or you can buy it from Pearson. While I did take pharm I am now required to take this in the transition to RN course. The book is laid out very well and the chapters are not huge--meaning they break down the info in easy to learn chunks. My class requires us to be enrolled in MyNursingLAB and work the program. So far, it has been helpful. The MyNursingLAB wold be a good program to do in the summer, if you do not have classes. It would keep your mind engaged and keep you thinking about nursing, etc.

Best to you and your endeavors.

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I created 8 free videos on drug pronunciation that you can listen to on YouTube for free just type in Drug Names Decoded. I just finished writing the next edition of the book that goes with it called "A Little Pharmacology Paperback", it's really more meant for students as a "Pre-Pharmacology" or "Co-Pharmacology" book so you learn the drug names before you get into class. I read that you can't memorize all the drugs, and that's true, there are 13,000 of them, but you can memorize 175 that will be foundational for most of the other ones. My students are super impressed with themselves at the end of term when they see 100% on that part of the exam.

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Studying during pharm I used a ton of neumonics (spelling? Haha). But the best advice I got for pharm on the NCLEX was to always choose the answer that's gonna kill the patient and it worked! Haha

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