MedSurg and Pharm .. What to study?

nlynrob · Apr 27, 2014

Study A&P. You absolutely have to understand the body systems; how they work individually and how they work with each other. Especially the renal system. For some reason that was the hardest for me to grasp which made pharm and medsurg difficult for me because so much of it has to do with the kidneys. Looking into diabetes wouldn't hurt. Obviously your program is different than mine but I feel like diabetes was drilled into our heads. We went over it seemingly endlessly in both classes.

NursingGirl0726 · Apr 27, 2014

If you will have your text books I would use those to preview the material and review the A&P in nursing terms. I wouldn't start studying Pharmacology. I have taken 2 semesters of pharm each of which was taught by different teachers. The material is essentially the same for both BUT the teaching styles have been different and I found that adapting to the teacher was easier than doing my own thing. If I were you I'd wait that one out.

I'd also urge you to consider taking some time off to get things done (cleaning, freezing meals, etc.) so that you will free up some time for your studies once school starts. I know time to study during the semester can be hard to find so that might be more help. Also, reflect on your study habits and time management. I like to listen to the lecture in class, make a review/study guide that night. Do the reading either that night or the next night. Then about 4 days before the test I start to review it. Then 2 days before I do NCLEX questions. Etc. It works for me. I have to go over and over and over and over it. Review your study techniques, find the weaknesses and work to improve it.

Episteme · Apr 28, 2014

As NursingGirl pointed out... the answer to your question is "it depends". Here is one guideline you can use to plan. How many credit hours are MedSurg and Pharm? For theory (i.e., lecture) you should allow 3 hours of study for every one hour of class. And that's just the average student. If you find the material to be more difficult, you may have to suck it up and study more.

Typically MedSurg is a 3 credit course and Pharm about the same. So that's at least 9 hours/week outside study in MedSurg and 9 hours outside of class study in Pharm. 18 hours not including when you're in school and clinical.

Structure your time that way and you'll probably do fine.

PS: Pharmacology FREQUENTLY begins with the autonomic nervous system since so many drugs have sympathetic/parasympathetic therapeutic or side effects. If there was one thing you could justifiably hammer before Pharm starts, it is how the autonomic nervous system works, which tissues have alpha, beta1 and 2, and muscarinic receptors on them. What happens when those receptors are activated or blocked.

IThinkICan100 · Apr 28, 2014

I start med-surg next semester, but I am two weeks to finishing pharm. Before I say anything else, go over your ATI books! Get the gist of the information before you start class and you will be golden. If you don't yet have those ATI books, the ATI website has them for free as ebooks.

Pharm is really a difficult class being that it is a lot of information that you have to learn quickly. But, don't worry too much; you'll primarily learn the foundation and then build upon it during the rest of nursing school. Pharm is -of course- taught to you within the RN scope of practice, which means that you learn pretty much everything about the medication except for how to prescribe the medication. Usually, you learn the medication class and the focus on the specific medications. Three good things that you can do to prep yourself for pharm is to:

1) Learn the basic classes of drugs. This will give you the foundation of pharm and you can spend your time on other things when everyone else is still learning the classes. Also, learn the general indications and side effects for each class, which will be a huge part of the pharm ATI. Nursing considerations are good to learn right now, too.

2) Learn your medication suffixes. Most drug classes have common suffixes in their name that will give you a good hint as to what they do. Some examples off the top of my head are: -olol, -apam, -cept, -statin, -azole, -cillin, etc.

3) Familiarize yourself with common drugs (both generic and brand-names). At clinicals you'll hear billions of drugs being thrown around and you can't be expected to know every single one right now, but know the basics. NSAIDs, different pain meds, basic antibiotics, key heart medications, drugs for common neurological diseases, etc. Also learn your OTC drugs that you can find at a drug store because those will be your first line of action when treating patient. Go to a drug store and read the labels of the OTC medications and familiarize yourself with them.

EJhummingbird · May 2, 2014

Start looking up mnemonics.

Get a good drug book.

Know the ins & outs of the nervous systems (SNS and PSNS)

Think oxygen, circulation, etc.

Formulate a plan and stick to it.

Try books that simply the info.

Find a mentor, prayer partner, whatever you want to call them.

Breath and relax and know you are not alone.

Nobody is perfect, has perfect advice, or know you better than you do.

Here is a list of common drugs (sorry it pastes funny to here)

TOP 50 DRUGS PRESCRIBED

1. Advair Diskus Salmeterol xinafoate

2. Albuterol Aerosol Albuterol

3. Allegra Fexofenadine

4. Ambien Zolpidem tartrate

5. Amoxidillin Amoxicillin

6. Ativan Lorazapam

7. Augmentin Amoxicillin and clavulanate

8. Celebrex Celecoxib

9. Coumadin Warfarin Sodium

10. Desyrel Trazodone HCI

11. Dyazide Triamterene/HCTZ

12. Effexor XR Venlafaxine hydrochloride

13. Elavil Amitriptyline HCI

14. Flonase Fluticasone propionate

15. Fosamax Alendronate

16. Furosemide Furosemide

17. Glucophage Metformin HCI

18. Hydrochlorothiazide Hydrochlorothiazide

19. Hydrocodone w/APAP Hydocodone w/APAP

20. Keflex Cephalexin

21. Klonopin Clonazepam

22. Levoxyl Levothyroxine

23. Lexapro Escitalopram

24. Lipitor Atorvastatin calcium

25. Metoprolol Metoprolol tartrate

26. Micro-K Extencaps Potassium chloride

27. Motrin Ibuprofen

28. Naproxen Naproxen

29. Neurontin Gabapentin

30. Nexium Esomeprazole

31. Norvasc Amlodipine

32. Plavix Clopidogrel bisulfate

33. Prednisone Prednisone

34. Premarin Conjugated estrogens

35. Prevacid Lansoprazole

36. Prilosec Omeprazole

37. Prinivil Lisinopril

38. Propoxyohene N/APAP

39. Protonix Pantoprazole

40. Prozac Fluoxetine HCI

41. Singulair Montelukast sodium

42. Synthroid Levothyroxine

43. Tenormin Atenolol

44. Toprol-XL Metoprolol

45. Tylenol w/Codeine Acetaminiphen w/codeine

46. Xanax Alprazolam

47. Zantac Ranitidine HCI

48. Zithromax Azithromycin

49. Zocor Simvastatin

50. Zoloft Sertraline