How to narrow it down?

[Elysianna, BSN, RN]

Hi - this is my first time posting a topic, so please be gentle! :)

I'm down to my last two semesters of nursing school. (Hooray!) One thing I've never gotten the hang of is narrowing down my study information when making drug cards for studying/reference. I'm never sure which adverse effect is important vs. which can be safely left out; or which nursing implications or patient teaching info can be left off the card. I know I'm supposed to narrow it down to a teeny, tiny bit of info, so I can recall it, but when making my study cards, I always end up cramming in as much info as can possibly fit. This is obviously not the ideal situation.

My question is: How do you choose which info from the drug guide is incredibly important, must-know information, and which can be safely left off? Any tips or pointers would be VERY welcome!

- Elysianna

[Jules A, MSN]

Is this for NCLEX, passing school exams or what your clinical instructor might quiz you on? That might help you get more relevant answers.

Something I always look for are the black box warnings, as well any serious complications. It helps to know common drug:drug interactions. If ever stuck and flat out have to guess be sure to include GI upset because that seems to be a likely side effect from most any medication. :)

[Elysianna, BSN, RN]

Hi, Jules - thanks for answering! It's for class, but I'll be using these med cards to study for the NCLEX as well. Mostly, I'm trying to figure out what's most important in med knowledge for the NCLEX - is it A) Know the most common side effects, etc. or B) Only the extremely unusual side effects, etc., that are particular to this med?

[rob4546, ADN, BSN, MSN]

One thing I used was the Medscape App on my phone. This app provided the adverse events in the order of likelihood they would occur. I believe that it also provided a percentage of occurrences in clinical trials. I would concentrate on the likely top 3 or 4 adverse events and not much more unless the drug warrants it.

[Elysianna, BSN, RN]

Thanks, rob4546! :)

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

Did your school have you take a separate pharmacology course (some mix it in with the courses I have heard, this is why I ask)? If they did, then the book that you used for that course will have a lot of the pertinent drugs to know. Typically, if you learn the prototype a lot of the information with that drug can be applied to the others like it. Not always, but a lot of the times (tip from my pharm instructor a few quarters back). Otherwise, I would know the IMPORTANT information...major side effects, signs of toxicity, toxic lab values for drugs like digoxin and lithium. Key patient teaching and nursing assessment/intervention items were also important when I was going through pharm.

For my pharm HESI I studied the drug prototype boxes, the nursing process/patient teaching boxes, and the alerts in the text. Good luck