How to study/learn medications

BrandonLPN, LPN · Aug 21, 2012

Well, anything that's enteric coated or ends in ER or SR shouldnt be crushed. Iron shouldn't be crushed. Coumadin shouldn't be split in half, though we do where I work. In my nursing school pharmacology was taught a** backwards. We spent way too much time memorizing stuff that wasn't relevant to what a nurse does. Learn CLASSES of drugs first, and then learn which drugs are in which classes. Knowing what a beta blocker is is more important than knowing every obscure detail about lopressor or tenormin or whatever individually. I can pick up any MAR in my facility (over 700 beds) and I know for a fact I can tell you what 99.9% of every med is used for. No, I don't know a lot of the physiological actions. Or a lot of the exact peak/onset times. But I know the basics. If you try to memorize *everything* you'll likely end up memorizing nothing.

cindirella3 · Aug 21, 2012

Thanks Brandon, your answer was very helpful. An instructor had suggested I look them up and study them in flash cards, but there is just too much information per drug. :)

magn1jes · Aug 22, 2012

Hello there Cindirella, do you still have your Pharmacology text book? I would read over that... at least ours doesn't have a TON of medications in it (not like the drug guide, anyway). During our class we had lists of medications we had to make notecards of... on those cards we had to put the trade name and generic name on the front, and classification, indications, a few side effects, and nursing actions on the back. This seemed to narrow things down quite a bit so we didn't feel SO overwhelmed. I think it really helped, as I still remember quite a few of them.

@Brandon - that is VERY impressive. I wish I had your pharmacology knowledge!

KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN · Aug 24, 2012

Having a drug manual will help too. I was a bit rusty as well when I first started my job (didn't have a lot of experience with the psych meds) but I did remember the classes. It helps to remember their endings- for example:"olol" "ine" "pam" etc.. that will help you 'group' them together in your mind. Google "Do Not Crush list"..that will help you know what can not be crushed. Once you start reviewing this stuff, it will all come back to you! Good luck :)

medic9872 · Aug 24, 2012

Well, anything that's enteric coated or ends in ER or SR shouldnt be crushed. Iron shouldn't be crushed. Coumadin shouldn't be split in half, though we do where I work. In my nursing school pharmacology was taught a** backwards. We spent way too much time memorizing stuff that wasn't relevant to what a nurse does. Learn CLASSES of drugs first, and then learn which drugs are in which classes. Knowing what a beta blocker is is more important than knowing every obscure detail about lopressor or tenormin or whatever individually. I can pick up any MAR in my facility (over 700 beds) and I know for a fact I can tell you what 99.9% of every med is used for. No, I don't know a lot of the physiological actions. Or a lot of the exact peak/onset times. But I know the basics. If you try to memorize *everything* you'll likely end up memorizing nothing.

This is the way I learned too. In paramedic school we learned classes and then the major drugs in each class. Of course we focused on emergency drugs but we were expected to know the drugs that our pts would be taking. Something that helped me a lot was to write down any drugs I came across that I wasn't familiar with and then look it up when I had time. Flash cards helped me too.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

cindirella3 · Aug 24, 2012

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond. These are all great ideas;)

Elladora · Sep 5, 2012

I used these: Amazon.com: Mosby's Pharmacology Memory NoteCards: Visual, Mnemonic, and Memory Aids for Nurses, 2e (9780323054065): JoAnn Zerwekh MSN EdD RN, Jo Carol Claborn MS RN, Tom Gaglione MSN RN: Books

And I agree with Brandon - learn CLASSES of drugs first.

JWEMT · Sep 5, 2012

When I got my first job after 3 days of orientation I had to take a test in pharmacology

I received a 52/100 and I asked the educator what should i study and she said read the nursing drug guide.

I retook it again 72/100 and again 78/100 and again 84/100 now passing is 90 so i never actually passed the test. After I took it the passing became 85

So realistically I never passed it. but if i had to take it now I would ace it because I administer these drugs everyday. So my advice would be to pretend you are administering medication. look up the top 50 medications prescribed or something like that.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Sep 5, 2012

And when you learn a med, make a notecard. It works like a flashcard. Look through them on the train, standing in line, waiting for an appointment, or from 6-7 every evening while you have some tea----look at them daily. It could be easier if you start head to toe and major illness....

Psych meds, seizures, headaches, eye drops,heart, lung, stomach, bowel, neuropathy, diuretics, blood pressure, diabetes, antibiotics, gout, pain, sleeping pills and alzeimhers.

If your goal is LTC, most elderly people will have issues with (and I quote) "not sleeping, cataracts, pain, sugar, pressure, gout, and those darn pills that make me pee and I can't breathe!!". :)

Notecards were the best. And you could get neon ones that each color is a type of med......breaks it up a little, or perhaps I am way too type A.....

fridgelight · Sep 5, 2012

When I did clinicals in school we had to write down all the meds our patients were taking and look them up and submit it later. Alot of times the patients had similar meds. Depending on what department your applying for I would look up what are common meds for those types of patients. It would make sense they would ask about the major meds instead of the obscure ones.

CarliMoua · Sep 13, 2012

I agree, learn the classes and the major meds in those classes. It is a lot to remember