How important is Chemistry, really?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am in the process of taking the prerequisites for an accelerated BSN program. I have done very well (4.0) in A&P, Micro, Psych and all the other miscellaneous prerequisites, but now I am taking general Chemistry, and it is killing me. I understand the lectures and even find them very interesting. The theories all make sense to me, and the application of their basic formulas is simple. The problem is, our exams are 100% calculations-based. I am not talking simple calculations, but the kind that take up a few 8 1/2 x 11 sheets to complete. This is an 8-week, 5-credit course and I have taken three of the four exams. Up until this last one I have had a B, but I failed the last exam so miserably that I am now getting a C. Now, the best I can hope for is to make it through this class with a C. If I bomb the final like I bombed this last exam, a "C" would be a gift. This is the only time in my life that I would be happy to get a "C" in a class.

I will admit that A "C" hurts my ego more than it does my GPA, especially considering the amount of time I have spent trying to master the material. Each day's homework takes at least two hours to complete, plus pre- and post-lab calculations, and general studying along with that. (It doesn't just take ME this long to do the homework, etc - most of the students spend several hours a day doing the work for this class.) I do know how to study. I know how to work all the formulas and do the conversions on an indivudual basis, and even the stoichiometry is not a problem. But I bombed the last exam because I could not figure out how to apply four or five formulas in the correct order to come up with the right answers. I have gone to tutors and done my best, but I am finding this part of the class impossible.

I know that, in the grand scheme of things, my grade in one class is not going to matter. What I'm more concerned with is whether or not my lack of understanding of how to apply chemical formulas is going to impact my future as a nurse. Just to be clear, I do not have a problem with math. It's just the application of multiple formulas that is giving me such grief!!!!

I cannot spend any more time studying, or less time doing homework, or less time sleeping. Even working with a tutor isn't helping because it all makes perfect sense when someone explains it. I feel like a failure and I am even more upset because I have never worked so hard and not seen the results.

More than anything I guess I just needed to vent, but I would appreciate it if the nurses out there could give me some insight as to how my problems in chemistry might (or might not) impair my ability to do my job as a nurse, or to get accepted for higher-level study (advanced practice or MSN). Please help!!!!

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The formulae are not going to matter. Understanding the underlying concepts is vital.

Hang in there.

:)

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i understand your pain. i too am terrible at chemistry. i think it totally depends on the teacher you get. i ended up taking chem 1, 3 times. and it didn't make a bit of difference. i have yet to be denied my first choice job based on my chemistry grade. and the only thing chemistry has been good for, for me personally is just knowing what KCL and NaCL stand for so i get the correct IV fluids! chemistry doesn't even teach you the norm K and Na levels as it pertains to humans. it may be important if you maybe get a job in oncology or dialysis, but even then i think you would be hard pressed to find a unit that would not teach you what you need to know to be successful in their unit.

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It is so funny... from what I understand, the only chemistry I am going to need to concern myself with once I'm a nurse is the stuff I've already learned in A&P and Micro. I guess Chemistry is just something I'm going to have to struggle through. I just can't believe it though when I hear about Chemistry classes that are so easy because they require very little application of formulas/calculations. One guy in my Micro class said his general Chemistry classes were so easy like that, and they didn't even cover thermodynamics or Lewis structures. And he is pre-med!!!!! Maybe I should transfer to his college????????? :uhoh3:

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.

Hey,

Good luck on your exams. I am an RN and am 4 classes from completing RN-BSN. I am also 8 courses away from biochem degree. The chemistry courses I have taken made a world of difference in understanding concepts in nursing school. I grasped ideas easier than my co students who had not taken chemistry.

When you learn about different disease processes and medications and their effects, you have a better comprehension of what is happening because of your chemistry.

Electrolytes, acid/base balances, chelating agents, O2 vs CO2 binding with Hgb, and so much more will be clearer for you with a chemistry background.

Good luck

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.
Hey,

Good luck on your exams. I am an RN and am 4 classes from completing RN-BSN. I am also 8 courses away from biochem degree. The chemistry courses I have taken made a world of difference in understanding concepts in nursing school. I grasped ideas easier than my co students who had not taken chemistry.

When you learn about different disease processes and medications and their effects, you have a better comprehension of what is happening because of your chemistry.

Electrolytes, acid/base balances, chelating agents, O2 vs CO2 binding with Hgb, and so much more will be clearer for you with a chemistry background.

Good luck

And pharmacology and nutrition and pathophysiology...

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

If nothing else I hope you remember that we are all a big bag of chemicals. Chemicals have the potential to do several things, good and bad. So when someone says "take it, it won't hurt you" be aware that it might.

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Specializes in Oncology.

I have to agree with some of the other posters. Chemistry is vital to nursing. sure formulas and calculations, may not seem important now, but the theories are important -- acid/base balance, electrolytes, and not to mention pharmacology.

Keep up the good work, and try the best you can (thats all anyone can ask of you). Good luck :wink2:

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Thanks so much to everyone for your replies and support. I am glad that you've basically confirmed what I had hoped was true - that the stuff I'm actually going to use on the job is the type of chemistry that's reiterated in the bio classes. So much of what we're covering in my chemistry class does not pertain to human physiology, and the inorganic stuff is what I'm having trouble with. I STILL wish I didn't have to suffer through two semesters of this, especially since the stuff I am actually going to use I've already learned several times, in pretty significant detail, as part of the micro and A&P curriculum!!!!

But, I guess if everything was easy, everyone around here would just get their BSN instead of waiting several years to get into an ADN program!!! Believe me, I would have LOVED to avoid taking these chemistry classes. I can't help but think that if they were vital knowledge, they would also be required coursework for the ADN, since we'll all be doing the same work when we graduate!!!!!

Anyway, again, thanks to all. I will let you know how things turn out... just 2 weeks left of this misery, then 3 weeks off til fall semester and Chem 1600. Maybe the second half will be better!!!!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Good luck to you. I struggled with Chemistry. Just continue to do the best you can.

A&P is the backbone of nursing in my opinion.

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But, I guess if everything was easy, everyone around here would just get their BSN instead of waiting several years to get into an ADN program!!! Believe me, I would have LOVED to avoid taking these chemistry classes. I can't help but think that if they were vital knowledge, they would also be required coursework for the ADN, since we'll all be doing the same work when we graduate!!!!!

I have an Associates' and I was required to take chemistry classes.

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Specializes in Almost everywhere.

Chemistry bites! I loathed it myself. I stink at math for one thing, so that didn't help. I had a D minus at midterm and would have rather crawled in a hole and died. But, I buckled down, went in talked to the professor (who I would have rather kicked his butt than spoke to him because he was a jerk). I went to the tutors, I went online and looked up everything I could just to even understand on the simplest terms what some stuff meant. I even bought chemistry books on E-bay, cheap. I left the class with an A minus, but sacrificed my anatomy grade for it, got a B there.

As far as whether or not chemistry comes up in the future, I would have to say yes. I found it was helpful to have especially for pharmacology and pathophysiology.

Hang in there.

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