medication test

[CTnewgrad826]

So I landed my first RN job a few weeks ago and started Monday! I'm more than excited, but a bit nervous. I've found out that all new nurses at my hospital are given a medication test. They give us an optional "study guide" Tuesday, which I'll obviously be asking for and then take the test Thursday morning. I can't imagine it's anything crazy, but they give us an hour to take it and pharm definitely isn't my best subject. Just wondering if anyone's had to take a similar test and what kinds of questions they asked. Specifics on what meds do/common dosages/routes etc., situational things, math/figuring out dosages? Thanks!

[RN403, BSN, RN]

I had to take one recently as well. Pharm is not my strongest subject either, but, I passed. It was common meds like dig, anticoagulants and their antidotes, a couple dosage calcs, gtt/min, what do you check before giving lets say lisinopril, stuff like that. Most are not hard tests and they're usually pretty short.

I would review common meds and nursing considerations. Also know antidotes to common meds. As long as you follow the study guide you should be fine.

There are also other threads on this topic that might assist you. Good luck!

[lrose_rn]

I recently took a pharmacology test for my new job about two weeks ago. I was also given a study guide, which I reviewed like crazy. It definitely helped, because I passed! Math was not my strong point and I passed all of the math! The pharmacology questions weren't that difficult, and I was able to eliminate half of the answers. The questions were very basic, like what size needle/gauge do you use for an IM injection, what labs do you measure with heparin and Coumadin, and how you apply topical meds, eye/ear drops, etc.

i would suggest that you review the study guide that they offer so that you will have an idea of what will be on it.

Good luck to you !

[arijay]

Is it "medication/drug" test are a "dosage calculation" test? I was given a study guide for a dosage calculation test prior to an interview last week. It was all math -- programming an IV pump using ml/hr and gtt/min; most questions used the formula D/H x V; metric equivalents and how to convert, i.e. g to mg. Some of the questions came straight from the study guide. I also studied my dosage calculation book. I passed the test and waiting for call back from interviewers.

[mk854]

Congratulations on passing pharmacology test.