How do you pass patho/pharmacology?!

WOLFE, BSN, RN · Oct 25, 2006

try making note cards..list the med..reason taken..side effects etc...hope that helps a little

wildmountainchild · Oct 25, 2006

Notecards are good, but concept mapping, as grueling as it is, takes the cake for getting me to understand.

For your pharm, What book do you have? We use the one by Lehne and I swear he writes so well that it's actually a pleasure to read about the drugs and therefore the retention is higher for me. If you don't use that book then I would buy it anyway. Talk to people about what drugs thier on....I always remember something if it's been put into context for me with a personal story.

Good luck!

NurseCherlove · Oct 25, 2006

I'm taking a pharmacology class right now and i cant seem to remember anything at all!
I read all about the different types of drugs and it just goes out through the other ear.
I cant remember the dosages or the side effects, etc
I feel like a failure that is so going to do horribly in this class
Does anyone have any tips for passing pathophysiology?

Are you taking the two together (pharm and patho)? I ask because I found it very helpful to understand WHY a person would be taking a particular drug, i.e., what patho problem is that drug addressing and HOW is it doing it. A very basic example would be why would a CHF patient need Digoxin (as well as other drugs)? That person's heart muscle has gotten too weak to accomodate the body's fluid volume and subsequent tissue needs. And the longer this state continues, the more fluid builds up, making the heart even weaker. Enter Digoxin - a drug that increases the contractile ability of the heart (gets that fluid moving along again) and also slows down the heart rate. Why would you want to slow down the heart rate? I thought we wanted to get that fluid moving along? The heart needs to slow down so that it can get more rest as well as better perfusion during the longer diastole - hey its been through a lot!

Anyway, I'm sure you probably know all of that stuff above, but just wanted to give ya an example of how having some background info, especially knowing the why and how, can be helpful.

student456 · Oct 27, 2006

Hi right now we are using medical surgical nursing in canada for patho, along with Phamacology and the Nursing process in canada.

thanks for the suggestions...keep em coming!!!

dacryocystitis · Oct 27, 2006

i agree with nursecherlove. If you are taking the classes concurrently, bring out both books when you start to study. When you read about the pathophysiology of HTN, look up the drugs that are used to treat it (diuretics, beta blockers, ace inhibitors, etc etc). When you understand the pathophysiology of HTN, you will also better comprehend how each drug works to treat it and also how they work synergistically.

Also....I wouldn't try to remember each and every small side effect of the drugs. You need to know the major side effects .....not the ones that "0.1% of people will develop xyz side effect"