200 Medications, can someone please expound???

puppyrules · Oct 29, 2008

Don't mean to be annoying, but can somebody tell me what I need to know about the 200 drugs nursing students are required to know? Please help and thanks!

chevyv, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2008

I'm not really sure about the 200 drugs, but as a ns, we have to be able to spew out classification, side effects, interactions with other meds, routes, etc.

If you look in your pharm book, it makes it easier if you begin to group your meds. One example are the 'prils' (enalopril, captopril etc= bp med and ACE inhibitor, blocks the fight or flight response). If you can begin to associate your endings, it will become easier. There are so many new meds that it's impossible to know everything.

I hope this helps a little.

RN1982 · Oct 29, 2008

I never had to learn 200 meds, felt like 200 meds though.

philanurse74 · Oct 29, 2008

Gosh this SHOULD be right on the tip of my tongue. Let's see...trade/generic names, routes, usual dosages for child and adult, major side effects, interactions, uses, contraindications, and what to assess for.

chevyv, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2008

Oops I almost forgot to mention that you should be aware of anything that needs to be assessed before giving a med. For example, if your going to give Digoxin, you need to assess the apical pulse first. I believe if it's 60 or below, you would hold it, andd let the physician know.

Now, that being said, I wouldn't think you would have to know most of this off the top of your head. Dig is quite common though, but you'll get it as you move through.

Ilithya · Oct 29, 2008

We did have to memorize those in my program. I didn't write my cards though. I bought Mosbys drug cards off of amazon.com. Saved me a lot of time

APBT mom, LPN, RN · Oct 29, 2008

My advice would be to find someone that's currently in the program and find out what drugs you need to know and what needs to be put on the cards. My program had us buy med cards and gave us a list of 150 meds that we had to write out during summer break. They were due the first day back so I wrote all the stuff that was listed on the cards and when I turned them in it wasn't what they wanted. I wasted a bunch of time by not putting them in the correct information that they wanted at the time.

With that being said what they usually want is the brand and generic name, dose , side effects, routes, and what you need to do before, while, and after the patient is on the med. ( check v.s., check labs, etc..).

Also like the pp stated you can buy cards already made but check with your program. Since we were to turn ours in we couldn't use them. We either had to hand write or type ours.

gdsgrl · Oct 29, 2008

I have to know the pharmacological class, the reason my patient is taking the drug, the action of the drug, the side effects and any parameters for the med. Also if med depends on a lab result, I better have that result there during my med recall, for instance, ASA/ we hold if platelets are less than 130,000 (at this clinical site), or you may need to know the PT for Coumadin. This is always a fun night, the dreaded night before med recall, I've had up to 17 meds to memorize. Plus we have to have our plan of care completed also.

uscstu4lfe · Oct 29, 2008

i would recommend not studying before nursing school. just take time to enjoy to yourself. you will have plenty of time and practice to learn all of this when you are in school.

83studentnurse · Oct 29, 2008

If it were me, I wouldn't start memorizing drugs yet. Before you begin to understand nursing (and take pharmacology so you better understand how and WHY the drugs act the way they do), it's all just rote memorization, which doesn't stick with most people very long. The better thing to do, I think, is to learn about drugs as you use them or study them in school (for example, tomorrow I'm giving my patient 10 meds, so I've learned about them, why this patient is getting them, etc.). It makes it much easier to really remember long-term when you can apply it. I don't need to memorize all the side effects and interactions because I can figure a lot of them out based on what I've learned in school about the action of drugs and nursing considerations. I think this would be much more effective in the long-run.

Medic09, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Oct 29, 2008

i would recommend not studying before nursing school. just take time to enjoy to yourself. you will have plenty of time and practice to learn all of this when you are in school.

+1 !!!

Excellent advice. No point in getting a head start on the ulcers. In fact, it sounds like you need to practice NOT studying. As in, every single day some sacred untouched-by-school time. And every single week some time for playing hooky and going climbing, hiking, fishing, whatever.

My wife hated when I did that every time I've been in school (three times back to college in the last 10 years), but it kept me (in)sane and ulcer free. :yeah:

Get out and play!