How Much Mircro Do I Need to Remember?

Mirasol · Mar 6, 2007

As far as the NCLEX their is no Micro-- just RN stuff!!! The only thing of Micro that I remember is gram neg. gram pos. and the test to determine what antibiotic the microorganism is sensitive to. I can't recall the exact name of it. Oh, and once in class we discussed the RNA of the HIV virus. For the most part you can forget Micro. There will be plenty of other things you will need to stuff your brain full of in RN school. Do pay attention in Anatomy and Physiology. I wish i remembered more of my anatomy class.

Good Luck!

NaomieRN · Mar 6, 2007

As far as the NCLEX their is no Micro-- just RN stuff!!! The only thing of Micro that I remember is gram neg. gram pos. and the test to determine what antibiotic the microorganism is sensitive to. I can't recall the exact name of it. Oh, and once in class we discussed the RNA of the HIV virus. For the most part you can forget Micro. There will be plenty of other things you will need to stuff your brain full of in RN school. Do pay attention in Anatomy and Physiology. I wish i remembered more of my anatomy class.
Good Luck!

I would not say forget Micro, because you do need to understand transmission precautions, incubation, nosocomial infections (C-Diff, MRSA, VRE, VRSA), handwashing, TB, AIDS, droplet precautions, airborne, antibiotics, contact, aseptic technique, different type of viruses, bacteria ect. I learned all that in Micro last summer, which have helped me tremendously. I think there is a reason why Micro is a requirement. They do not want you to forget the information.

Mirasol · Mar 6, 2007

yes, it is true understanding infections is important, and saying to forget micro was too strong, I mis -typed! But in my opinion you do not need a complete understanding of micro and all its complexities to be a good nurse. Those who teach Micro have a doctorate and i don't think you can completely understand Micro to the fullest with out taking more classes. In nursing school TB, HIV, droplet precautions... is all gone over and a basic knowledge of micro is vaulable, and as long as you are not totally bombing micro I think you would be ok. I personally would not stress over not understadning all of the complexities of Micro, in my option, is not needed. But hey thats just my opinion.

indigo girl · Mar 6, 2007

The book goes into much more detail than the tests, and it got me to wondering about how much micro a nurse needs on the job.
...do I need to be able to recall what bacteria is gram neg and gram postive, etc.?
I find all the material a bit overwhelming, but interesting.

Legitimate concerns, Lizard. I am going to give you my totally biased, and completely prejudiced opinion that micro really is important as basic knowledge that you will frequently be applying throughout your nursing career. You do not need to know all the details, but you do need a good working knowledge because you will be using it, more than you would think.

Example, most nurses know that gram negative bacteria cause many urinary tract infections. We know that gram negatives frequently come from the rectal area so we teach our female patients in particular (because of the short distance from urethra to rectal area) how to avoid these types of common infections with specific techniques when toileting and cleaning themselves.

We frequently collect urine specimens from our patients, and receive preliminary results from labs that give us a heads up on what treatment is likely to be, and that sensitivities for the appropriate drug therapy will be pending. We obtain throat swabs for influenza and sputums for TB. The nurse specialists might be testing for gonorrhea or chlamydia. We gather stool specimens for Cdiff. We are up to our elbows in body secretions sometimes. Well, maybe not quite that bad, but it could be a weekly occurrence that you are gathering something or other as we do this quite a bit.

Obviously, you do not need to know the details that someone going into lab science or related fields would have to know, but there still is much to be digested and retained. A good test prep manual might help highlite important points. Perhaps a recent test taker could help with this?

Knowing how the bugs cause disease, and the method of spread is key to being able to protect ourselves and our other patients in the work place.

This becomes critically important with blood borne pathogens and TB, not to mention the more unusual diseases like SARS or avian flu.

Think Big Picture. I heard recently in a video by a physician/public health officer that infectious disease is still the number one cause of all deaths on the planet. I believe it. You do not have to go to Africa or Asia to find infectious disease. It is alive and well, right here. The bugs outnumber us and they always will so we have to be smarter than them.

Your micro book will be useful later so save it as a reference. Learn how common things are spread, and how to prevent it from happening. Think about cultures you might have to obtain and why. You will tie all this stuff

together in your nursing classes later, and it will make more sense.

I would think that it would be harder to learn this on line. I had a wonderful micro prof, and it was my best subject maybe because he made it so real for me. I understood from the beginning why it was important.

I give you credit for the learning that you are doing.

Why are you in China, BTW, and what part? It was announced just today that avian flu originated in, Guangdong, China. They could tell by the viral sequences exactly how it traveled and what part of China it came from. Micro, and its sister, virology, it's a wonderful thing.

Mirasol · Mar 7, 2007

Again i say, a basic understanding which i received in molecualr biology and micro is helpful, but the kreb cycle is not. Understanding infectious diseases is important, but i learned a lot from a test prep manual as indigo girl mentioned, on how to obtain samples. Maybe a lot does have to do with the professor. In my class without curving the class the top grade was a C. He curved the grade in order to pass half the class. I got most everything from my book. His lectures were way over my head and i did manage an A at the curved grading level. I still think, though i seem to be the minority of input, that a basic understanding is okay. I don't think you have to have a complex understanding of micro to understand sterile technique, droplet precautions, how to wash your hands to prevent infection control, how to avoid contamination of samples, how to gown up for MRSA. A basic knowledge of infection will give you an understanding of why you glove for one thing and put on the whole "gown up garb" for another. I guess you will have to decide for yourself how much info you think you need. Good Luck!! And hang in there is is all worth it in the end!!!!!