I'm giving meds and NEVER took a pharm class!!

Nursing Students General Students

Published

I'm in my 2nd semester of a 4 semester program and passing meds....one BIG problem, I NEVER took a pharmacology class. My teacher is a drill sargeant and expects us to know EVERYTHING before we give any medications to our patients, and I have no problem with that, but I don't know any meds. Does anyone know any good resources, I have the Davis Drug Guide, but when I have 3 patients and they all have meds it takes too long.

Thanks....

Specializes in med/surg, ER, SDS.

I used a flash card format that when I looked up my meds I would gather the flash cards that I needed for each pt. My instructor was kind enough to let us look them up because if you don't know that is what you do!! After time you will know alot of them by heart but on a daily basis you continue to look things up. That is the best thing about nursing, always learning new things.... Besides taking care of the patients.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Nearly everyone in my program looks up all of thier drugs when they get thier patients in the Davis Drug guide. It doesnt take long and it can be made quicker if you first look up all the drugs(in a semi alphabetical way so that your not flipping all over) and then write the pages down for all of them. THEN go look up the drugs in the book! I found this easier b/c then i wasnt flipping through the book like crazy!When I came across a drug that I knew was common on that floor or just in life I would tab that page with a post-it that said the name of the drug on it. I go to a state college so not many could afford a PDA and we got along just fine! We are only 77 days from graduation! :balloons: GOOD LUCK!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

We don't have a seperate pharm class in our ASN program either...I specifically asked a few weeks ago and I'm having a hard time grasping some of the drug concepts....just learning the "classifications" is hard to squeeze in when you're so busy trying to keep up with other things...I did buy the Incredibly Easy for Nursing Pharmacology but heaven knows when I'll have "free time" to go through it!

In the meantime, we are allowed to get pt info the night before and are expected to look up all of our meds and be prepared to answer questions as most everyone posted before me. But I wish we had a basic nursing pharm section or course we could take. I tried looking around online for something this summer but am having a hard time finding anything outside of a university pharm class that will be $$$ and possibly MORE info than I actually need....I think it's a shame also that it's not included in our program...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I am shocked. I can not believe that there are nursings schools out there that do not offer pharmacology courses. No wonder there are patients that receive 8 grams of dilantin.

I do not think this is a fair assertion. As I stated my school does not have a seperate Pharm class. We learn the pharm incorporated into whatever lecture we are currently sitting in. For example I am in OB right now...we learned the OB drugs. In Pysch we learned the Psych drugs. In Med/Surg 1 which was mainly Resp/Endorcine...we learned those. Next semester in Peds- same thing. Honestly, I find it a lot easier to learn the drugs when I am learning the diseases/disorders surrounding them at the same time. Yes, there are occasionally drugs I have not learned yet- that's why we have to look them up and have drug cards, and state their effects/SE/dose/etc. That's what triple checking AND not passing meds w/out your instructor is for.No one has made a med error in my class since the start.

** edited to say I should say that, yes, a pharm class would be helpful to some people I am sure**. I think my school does a bang up job of handling the meds for what we are learning. I'm in semester 3 and haven't forgotten a drug learned yet. When new drugs come out on the market we are handed out pamphlets about it. It's worked well so far. They know the NCLEX has a lot of pharm on it so I really, honestly, do believe that my school does an outstanding job of encorporating pharm into lecture.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OBGYN, Neonatal.

I'm a senior nursing student and we've been giving meds since our second semester and we never had a pharm class. It does stink though b/c I'm fearing that the NCLEX will have lots of pharm questions on it.

Anyway we learn as we go but I think a pharm class might have been better.

We use Davis (as requried by school) but I imagine any would work as long as it is reputable and current.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hello, We are just getting done with level one and we had med. administration and had to pass at the school for one of our teachers. She had a fake MAR and fake drugs. We had to mix insulins and give injections and figure doses. I got to a 1 year program in PA and it is AWESOME! Teacher's are great! And now we can pass med's. We do have to go to the facility the night before to get the list of PT and what drugs they are taking to look them up the night before. I try to have one index card for each PT. With all their drugs and info on. If you can't fit on one then put it on however many you need and staple them together. We don't have our Phamacology till the third level. They feel the most important thing right now is to be able to pass med's properly without errors. Good Luck! Hugs, Chrissy

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When I was in nursing school our first semster we had to take Pharmacology. It taught us all the different classes of drugs, chemical structure, and how they worked. Yes in clinicals we had to look up the individual drugs we were giving but it made it a whole lot easier if you knew ahead how an ace inhibitor worked vs a beta blocker vs a calcium channel blocker. I guess this could be one area of difference between AD and BSN nurses.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
I am shocked. I can not believe that there are nursings schools out there that do not offer pharmacology courses. No wonder there are patients that receive 8 grams of dilantin.

Any nursing program that doesn't teach pharm. should be shut down and not accredited.

Many NLN accredited programs don't have a course entitled "Pharmacology", but of course it's taught, otherwise how could they become an RN and pass NCLEX.

People give 8 grams of Dilantin for other reasons because all RNs and LPNs are taught pharm.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med surg, school nursing.

I'm in my fourth semester of an ADN program, have never taken and will not be taking a pharm class, and have been giving meds for 3 semester, IV, SQ, PO, & IM. I feel fairly comfortable giving meds, as long as I have a 1/2 hour to review them first and keep my Davis Drug Guide handy.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My program also integrates pharmacology into all of the courses. I think it is much more efficient this way, instead of learning EVERYTHING Pharm wise at the beginning, and then having to relearn it as we are able to apply it. (i.e. learning OB drugs in Pharm (which would be during fundamentals, I believe), but then not having to use that info until my second to last semester (when we take OB), and having to relearn everything as we apply it with knowledge of the subject)

Every school has their order of curriculum for a reason.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment