How important is Chemistry in the long run?

Philly_LPN_Girl, LPN · Jun 2, 2012

Honestly, just do the best you can in chemistry because you do want a good grade so that you'll look good for when you go to apply to nursing schools HOWEVER, chemistry is not that big of a deal in nursing the only things that are important are what to mix together and not to mix together for the medications, and the elements such as nitrogen, hydrogen, iron, acids, bases, etc. In my opinion, schools requiring chemistry I and II are a big waste of time because no nurse is sitting there balancing equations and or doing stoichiometry, etc but, do know the basic stuff like I told you in the paragraph. Now if you were a chemistrist (sp?), Pharmacist, etc then yes you would def need to know those things. I took Chemistry and they were all easy but good luck

Tricia76 · Jun 3, 2012

I have Chemistry in the fall and I hear it is hard..which scares me :eek:

Nolli · Jun 3, 2012

Honestly Acids and Bases are the thing you'll see the most. They will come up in A&P, Pharm, you will see them in your clinical nursing courses. Understanding diffusion, pressure, etc is a lot of what you'll see repeated in other courses, but for the most part you can forget a good portion of the chem classes and still be okay as long as you don't actually forget the need-to-know stuff. You can always bury the notes someplace if you are that worried and there are sites like khanacademy or chem4kids which can explain the basics anyway. Bio, A&P, and Microbio are the ones that have the most material you'll need to retain.

Cali_Nurse_209 · Jun 3, 2012

I had to take organic/biochem class for my program and I'd say that acid/bases and mixtures/ dilution type concepts will come up in nursing. And I'm pretty sure pharmacology will have that material inn it. But other than that like other posters have said, you won't have to worry about stoic or balancing or anything like that.

ddunnrn · Jun 3, 2012

I will admit upfront that I am biased, because I have a BS in Chemistry, but I think that Chemistry is very important for nursing--not so much for individual factoids, but for the overall "themes" in Chemistry, the most important of which is equilibrium. Think of chemical equilibrium as a physical manifestation of the biomedical concept of homeostasis. Things naturally seek a level of balance, and in the case of chemicals, a state of low energy and stability.

There are many chemical theories and phenomena the knowledge of which will be applicable to nursing, some of which have been mentioned in other posts--acid/base reactions and pH, osmolality and diffusion (which I am intimately aware of, being on dialysis), not to mention the whole branch of biochemistry. Chemistry is the major foundation of genetics and pharmacy. One minute change in the chemical makeup of DNA can cause a major disease, as will a minor change in structure give you an entirely different drug.

I could go on for a while, but I hope I imparting the major idea that the overall scientific discipline of Chemistry will be be helpful, as illustrated be a few specific examples. Taking Chemistry in college, as well as having had 4 years of Latin in high school, have been immensely useful in my 25 years as a nurse.

PS: It also just came to me that learning and applying the Scientific Method (which is basically the same as the Nursing Process) will be a good foundation for your nursing practice. (I just wish the general public had more experience with it, or we wouldn't have the creationist or intelligent design kooks!)

Aejeck · Jun 3, 2012

Thanks for all of the responses. I definitely feel better about where I'm at now. My only remaining question now would be if my end goal is informatics, is it better to get my RN/BSN then a masters in nursing informatics, or get my BS/MS in health informatics?

Is this too new a field still to know what the best course of action is?

Thanks again for everything. You all are great!

leenak · Jun 3, 2012

Are you specifically looking for nursing informatics? What is your interest? From what I understand, you can work in nursing informatics with a BSN (possibly ADN too). Generally, they will want you to have some experience in the field. There are options though if you don't specifically want to be a nurse. What do you want to do and what kind of job are you looking for?

Aejeck · Jun 3, 2012

I'm really interested in dealing with patient data. Analyzing, researching and helping with data systems to improve healthcare. I've been researching the informatics field for a couple of months now and every site I end up on seems to tell a different story. Some say you absolutely need to have a clinical background to get into anything, and some say going into a health informatics program is enough. The BS in Health informatics has a lot of allied health style courses, including terminology, A&P, patho, pharm, etc, with IT mixed in. Databases, networking and security.

I started college with the intent to get an IT degree years ago, but found myself getting EMT certified from a trade school and did a lot of my clinicals following nurses and ER techs. I enjoyed both aspects and have a strong desire to get the best education I can to reach my goals. I don't want to shortchange myself just because one path is faster.

I've tried talking to the nursing staff at my college, but most have been away from hospitals long enough that they don't really know what I'm talking about when it comes to informatics.

Generally, I enjoy dealing with patients, so clinical informatics is what really sounds interesting to me. I don't necessarily want to do data warehousing and mining.

Thanks again!

ddunnrn · Jun 3, 2012

As to your educational path--if you get as BSN first, then go for an MSN, the MSN expenses will (at least for now) be tax-deductible. Continuing education in your current job (and the gov't sees all nurses as having the same type of job) is deductible; education for a new type of job is not. But who knows what will happen if the Presidency or Congress change hands?

Actually, I was interested in a similar development as you, but by the time I got out of nursing school at age 30, I hadn't had a year without some type of schooling since kindergarten, and I was sick of it. I was never really super-ambitious, and the one thing I considered, too, is whether I would have ever recouped the amount of money it took for an advanced degree. Back when I first started, advanced practice nurses didn't make significantly more than other RN's, From what I understand, even now Doctorates in Nursing do not pay for themselves in the long run.

Aejeck · Jun 4, 2012

Thanks a lot for your response, it helps quite a bit, especially as I continue to research the field of informatics. I've learned a lot over the past few days, and it seems as though going into informatics isn't the best path for me. After speaking with a few people in related areas, it sounds as if it's more related to sitting in one place working solely with data and very little interaction with other people.

As for continuing on to a masters program, that is something I would have to do, but the cost doesn't concern me. It would be more for self satisfaction more than anything else.

It seems what's best for me is to continue on this current path and go from there.

Thanks again for everything!