How well did you know pharmacology?

BlueEyedRN · Aug 30, 2006

I mean, I knew the major ones like digoxin and insulin and morphine and stuff like that, and I had studied the pharmacology chapter in the NCLEX review book, but it totally didn't stick with me at all. But with the pharm questions I got, one I had never heard of and completely had to guess (it was what time of day do you teach the patient to take it), one I had heard of but still had no idea what the answer was and had to guess, and a couple that I had never heard of but could figure out with the rest of the info. I think I had 5 pharm out of 75 total. I can't even remember what the drugs were (they were so obscure) and it was just on Friday that I took it. I would say study it, but don't be discouraged that you can't remember most of it. Good luck.

crb613, BSN, RN · Aug 30, 2006

I can tell you I am not that great w/pharm! The ones I had were pretty standard for M/S, Psych & OB. Good luck!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2006

In school I performed poorly in Pharmacology because I never really studied my drugs. I received 4 Pharmacology questions on the NCLEX and passed on the first attempt with the minimum amount of questions. Two of these questions focused on Captopril. One asked about Xanax.

willdgate · Aug 31, 2006

To everybody who have passed NCLEX.
How well did you know pharmacology? I don't even try much to remember all this staff,i can't remember even names.But questions ask for side effects, wether take in it with meals or not and so on.Some pharm cathegories have the same endings, but most of them don't.

You have to know the basic meds even though there may be a lot of them, dig,hep, psych meds, gi meds, neuro meds, insulin, and their side effects/adverse rxn

rfmages · Aug 31, 2006

I must say working for a few months prior to taking the NCLEX made a big difference for me, working with drugs daily gives you a better opportunity to learn some of the more popular ones and I thought like I said it was a big help.

loving-it · Aug 31, 2006

Most of the ones I had on my test were common ones for HTN, DM, Arrythmias and stuff like that. Dont feel alone I dont know many meds yet either but was told that when you start working you will learn more about meds.

kathy_bear · Aug 31, 2006

in the actual exam, do they give the generic and the brand name TOGETHER?

DolphinRN84, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Aug 31, 2006

in the actual exam, do they give the generic and the brand name TOGETHER?

Yes they do :)

RGN1 · Aug 31, 2006

I went mad trying to learn pharmacology, pretty much tried to learn everything but stuff just wouldn't stay in my head!

Then I decided to learn by group rather than individual meds. What a difference! Most meds have clue endings as to which group they come from so it's easy to place them e.eg. "pril" for ACE inhibitors & "lol" for beta blockers. It all started to make much more sense & was easier to learn.

Anyway, LOL I hardly had any pharmacology questions in the actual exam, those I did have were nearly all "tick all that apply" so many of them probably didn't even count!

Still I'm now the most knowledgeable nurse on my ward in the UK when it comes to drugs! :lol2:

tanita · Aug 31, 2006

Thanks for your replies and encouragement. Now I feel much better.

I’ll try to remember some of the common meds and groups as many of them as I can keep on my mind and won’t be afraid to take the exam with such knowledge.

LeahReview84 · May 10, 2010

Do flashcards for sure :)