How to prepare for Physcial Assessment and Basic Pharmacology class

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Hi I have a week off from Nur 108 which I passed with a B. Now my next class NUR 130 starts on the 15th. I just want to get some advice on how to prepare for this class. Other than the required textbook, are there any books, or other material that you would suggest I get in order to be successful in this class. I would also lover to hear everybody's expericence in their Pharm class.

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FYI, not every college has the same course numbers so its important to include the name of the class in your post.

In this case, Im assuming your talking about Physical Assessment and Basic Pharm. For me, prior to taking Pharmocology I read one of those 'for dummies' or 'made incredibly easy' books just to brush up... but when I got in the class I wished I had just used the text to start getting familier with classifications and commonly used drugs of those classes. I think memorizing the drugs have been the hardest part for me so far.

I dont know if there are any books you could use as additional material for physical assessment, but I would just start looking through the text book and study guides.. That seems to have been the most helpful to me in the past.

HTH! :)

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Thanks for your response. Im sorry I was referring to Physical Assessment and Basic Pharm. Our first class was fundamentals of nursing.

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Specializes in LTC/Behavioral/ Hospice.

Pharmacology= lot's of index cards. LOL. I'm not sure that you really need to do any prepping. Have you bought and used additional resources in the past? Did they help? I actually like the Made Easy line of books, but I don't think it's necessary to read them before hand.

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Mosby has an excellent drug book (Mosby's Drug Reference 2010). It doesn't cost that much and it highlights key points about each drug or classification of drugs out there.

I am taking pharma now and it's not difficult. They key is to know the drug categories very well and know the 2-3 widely used drugs for each class.

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Specializes in ED Nursing, Critical Care Nursing.

Get the course syllabus and get a jump on the reading for week 1. Make sure you have a good, current drug guide (I recommend Springhouse or Davis). If you are in an ADN or BSN program, I also recommend 2010 Intravenous Medications: A Handbook for Nurses and Health Professionals. As for health assessment, I also used Mosby's Pocket Guide to Health Assessment by Pamela Weilitz (6th edition-orange book published in 2006)...it gives you some quick "down and dirty" pointers on health assessment. Another good one is Health Assessment Made Incredibly Visual, 2nd Edition (from the "Incredibly Easy" series...really good especially if you are a visual learner.) All are available on Amazon. Good luck!

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