How to pass Pharmacology

dblpn · Jun 25, 2009

I'm in pharmacology now and so far it's going great. we have tons of chapters to read with homework, drug cards, etc... alot of what you learned in A&P will definately come up in pharm...so know your body systems! esp. the cardiovascular system, lots of drugs to know there. another thing that will help is to look at the suffix of most of your drugs esp. the common ones that are used, they will all end with the same suffix.

drugs ending in 'tal'= barbituates

drugs ending in 'lol'= beta blockers

drugs ending in 'pril'= ace inhibitors

also those ending with 'cillin' are your antibiotic penicillians

so start there and hope this will help you. others on here may have some more methods that could help you out.

Good luck!

stressedsobadd · Jun 25, 2009

Is the pharmacology class hard?

mscandi2 · Jun 25, 2009

No the class isn't hard it just a lot of drugs

ZanatuBelmont · Jun 26, 2009

I am a LPN nursing student. Currently, I am taking Pharmacology. Once I complete Pharmacology, I will be going to cliniclas in September. Can anyone please help me with any ideas or tricks on how to pass Pharmacology.

Learn the differences between the sympathetic and parasympathetic responses in the nervous system. Drugs mimic those responses - they will either be a "sympathetic drug" or "parasympathetic drug."

NamasteNurse, BSN, RN · Jun 30, 2009

The books in the "Incredibly Easy" series are great. Pharmacology made incredible easy" for example

mscandi2 · Jun 30, 2009

How can I get the books?

DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN · Jun 30, 2009

It is a lot of drugs but the real trick is not to memorize ALL of them. You need to memorize drug groups and use trends within the groups. Usually your instructor will highlight 3/4 drugs within a group. Learn those.

Maybe don't buy a whole new book but one of the laminated study guides that covers the groups and has a cheat sheet on drug prefixes and suffixes.

Other things will be to know when there is a critical assessment to be done prior to giving a medication etc. (or after) OR critical patient teaching items. You will have to learn the peak, onset and duration of most of the insulins I bet.

I would suggest that cardiac drugs and those of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems seem to cause the most problems in my class.

Good luck.

Here is what will happen...you will take this course and pass it. You will not have memorized it all but as you proceed through your other classes you will continue to use these drug names when you cover conditions/diseases and again when you do clinicals. As you go along you can reference back to your pharmacology book/notes for details.

Don't sweat it. By all means you should go check out the Incredibly Easy book (maybe borrow it from your library).

stressedsobadd · Jul 1, 2009

I went to the information session yesterday.... I think I'm going to do it. I just need to find a good area to move to.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 2, 2009

I would purchase this: http://www.amazon.com/Delmars-NCLEX-PN-Review-Judith-Miller/dp/076680299X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b. I found their pharmacology section exceptional. It does go into the prefixes and suffixes of the drugs, breaks them up into catagories, etc.

Pharmacology is usually frightening, and the course in my program was a nightmare because it wasn't taught in a simplier way (plus, it was only a six week course for me, which made it worse). Keep in mind that in most cases, they usually use a prototype drug.

mscandi2 · Jul 2, 2009

Thank you for letting my know. My pharmacology is 8 weeks long & I'm afraid that I won't pass.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 2, 2009

They also sell this book in most Barnes and Noble stores, along with other NCLEX study guides. I always found it to be an advantage to have a good NCLEX book to study from while you are in your program because they have a nice summary of 'need to know' information that usually came on my exams. Take a look at some of the books and see which one appeals to you. For me, it was Delmar, because of the pharmacology section...I was a lost cause in there, also, but did earn an A- (somehow).