Is chemistry important to become a nurse?

NurseEmmy · Dec 2, 2015

My chemistry class is frustrating me to no end. I don't even get why my nursing program
requires pre-nursing students to even take chemistry I and II. I've heard it from nurses
themselves that they don't even use chemistry nor remember it. What is the point
of learning chemistry? Other people tell me its a "weed out" course which I think is true.
I am struggling in this course now, my average is a 78%. I think its just going to get worse.
I am so scared and frustrated because this is the only class I am having a problem with.
I just think chemistry is so pointless. Who cares about redox reactions or how to draw
resonating structures.

I was not a fan of Chemistry either. In fact you won't use prob. 50% of what you learn in that class. However, you will use the other 50% quite a bit, which is why it is important to take it. I struggled in the class, but I passed it and now don't have to worry about taking that class again. If you have to take the TEAS V entrance exam you will find quite a bit of chem on that, so it is helpful for passing that exam as well.

AspiringNurseMW · Dec 2, 2015

Ehhh. I'm not a nurse. But I'm a first semester nursing student.

My nursing program does not require college level chemistry to get into or graduate the nursing program, and I understand why.

I think all the necessary chemistry knowledge I needed for A&P was outlined in the first chapter in my A&P and my microbiology textbooks.

I took chemistry 10 years ago in high school , so when I took A&P I invested some quality time with that chapter and I was fine. Do I think I whole semester is necessary no. But as long as you understand the basics and how it relates to physiology I think you'd be fine.

LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN · Dec 2, 2015

I can see why Chemistry is relevant but the thing that really gets my goat about my program is that if you had taken it with 6 years of high school chemistry, you do not have to do college chemistry. Ok, sorry, but the crap I had to learn in college chemistry was NO WHERE NEAR what I learned in high school chemistry. I would have rather enrolled in a high school chem class at 28 then take the college course. I was actually super excited about it. I did bad the first time, withdrew. So I hired a chem tutor (who was also a pharmacist that did this on the sides]) to give me a good base knowledge before I had to re take it. She looked at my course work and had no idea why I had to learn such advanced chemistry for an associates in nursing. I don't know but it's my Achilles heel.

LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN · Dec 2, 2015

Oh and I will say that I did much better in chem AFTER taking A+P 1. A+P is a practical, real life application that makes sense in my mind. Chemistry was a no mans land of formula, numbers, and oddly shaped structures. But I breezed through it after taking A+P. I am finishing up a very difficult A+P 2 course now and while I see where chem has helped me slightly in some material, I would have gotten an A the same without taking it honestly.

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2015

If your program requires chemistry, suck it up and conquer it vs. finding and making excuses about it. That stated, if your program doesn't require it, based on my experiences, it's not needed. To clarify, the RN program I'm currently in (ranked 8^th in the United States) allows for high school chemistry to count if it was college level (mine was).

That was well over 30 years ago as I started my prerequisites when I was 50; I'm now 52 having just finished my second semester of the RN program. The chemistryâ€ that I needed to pick up was limited: cation vs anion, diffusion, dimensional analysis (a huge boon for dosage calculations), filtration, osmosis along with simple ion exchanges and a handful of periodic table symbols (for fluids and electrolytes).

The hardest of what I needed to learn â€“ dimensional analysis â€“ took a few hours to learn, and then a few days of practicing hundreds of problems.

is (in my opinion) the absolute best video on learning dimensional analysis. The other concepts took only a few hours to learn. So I could see the frustration of having to dedicate an entire semester to learn the principals of chemistry.

Yet, as I shared in my opening sentence, if your program requires it, then suck it up and conquer it.

George A · Jan 31

Organic chemistry is challenging but worth knowing. Concepts like reduction oxidation are the mechanics of cellular respiration. Patient eats food, Chemistry gets in citric acid cycle... in end exhales the waste product CO2 and H2O.

Maybe this can be remembered when applying the nasal cannula 2LPM.

Of course patient gets strength to get out of bed to chair ..glycolysis, defecats some of it out the end - enzymes have reacted- products sent down the alimentary tract (sometimes referred to as code brown).

Acid base balance is another useful concept. Diabetic patient with poor compliance may get high blood sugar. Diabetic ketoacidosis usually shows up blood pH lower than 7. Compounds like ketones appear in bloodstream.

I've observed clinicians starting bicarbonate HCO3 IV to restore pH in addition to treating hyperglycemia with insulin IV gtt.

Parallel concept is chemical equations need to be balanced like the narcotic count. One side of equation must equal other side. 2 nurses legally need to count the controlled substances. In both cases all items must be accounted for.

My O Chem was average, not A student.

Ultimately passing NCLEX requires demonstrating clinical judgement so that safe nursing is practiced.

Good luck.