Nclex in a few days....need help with pharm:(

nicurn426 · Jun 29, 2012

First off, I didn't even have more than 5 Pharm questions out of 75. I was able to get the ones I had no idea about just through process of elimation or there were context clues in the question. I think I flat out guessed on one. I would focus on core content more. I would study drugs with the system that they go with ( so cardiac, study beta blockers, etc)

aniya05 · Jun 29, 2012

Ok thanks so much for the advice; like you've said, Ive got the basics by the body systems (cardiac,etc.) but just the thought of getting an outragously weird medication is freaking me out!!! I guess my nerves are starting to get the best of me at this point!

L8RRN · Jun 29, 2012

Study drug endings. Each drug gave generic name along with trade name so if you know generic endings, you can figure out what most of them deal with. Like 'pril' is an ace inhibitor...can cause cough, hypotension, etc. and 'olol' is beta blocker...can cause decreased pulse, fatigue, etc. So if you get a drug called aniyaolol, you would know it is beta blocker. I studied drug endings and common stuff for those drug classes and made it through NCLEX pharm just fine.

aniya05 · Jun 29, 2012

@ L8RRN; aniyaolol that is so funny. Thats my daughter's name and sometimes I feel I need hypertension meds!!! Thanks for the tips by the way

lvcourtneyy · Jun 29, 2012

I had maybe 4 or 5 questions out of 75 that were about meds also. One I had no idea what it was and can't even remember it. The others were pretty basic meds/med classes.

Babyheart, BSN · Jun 29, 2012

I had about 4 pharm questions. 3 I had never heard of the meds and I had to wing it. The other one I actually knew.

I don't know how well you can possibly prep for the pharm portion, they don't seem to ask questions about the more common meds.

aniya05 · Jun 29, 2012

I had about 4 pharm questions. 3 I had never heard of the meds and I had to wing it. The other one I actually knew.
I don't know how well you can possibly prep for the pharm portion, they don't seem to ask questions about the more common meds.

Yea, that is whats terrifying me the most...

Babyheart, BSN · Jun 29, 2012

I hear that! You're not going to see any Prils/Ones/Lols on there. Now I need some **** to get me thru the next day and a half til results are up!

I would say just keep doing questions, Kaplan was a good resource for questions. I didn't need to use that decision tree for any questions. Most of mine were basically evaluating all answer options to see what worked. I hate those questions! But if you have a broad knowledge base, your odds are good. Keep the faith! You made it thru school - you can do this!!

aniya05 · Jun 29, 2012

I hear that! You're not going to see any Prils/Ones/Lols on there. Now I need some *** to get me thru the next day and a half til results are up!
I would say just keep doing questions, Kaplan was a good resource for questions. I didn't need to use that decision tree for any questions. Most of mine were basically evaluating all answer options to see what worked. I hate those questions! But if you have a broad knowledge base, your odds are good. Keep the faith! You made it thru school - you can do this!!

Save me some of those **** too!! But I'm sure you did fine! Ive been doing kaplan Q-bank questions...so I'm hoping they are really Nclex-like! Thanks for the encouragement!

RoMoFo · Jun 29, 2012

I think I had three or four medication questions when I took my test a few days ago and if I didnt know it, I looked at the answers and attempted to do a process of elimination if I was able to. I would totally focus more on content and understanding the "Why"...I have heard of someones test going to 85 questions and 75 of those were SATA and the other 10 were priority, so it really depends on what they decide to throw at ya.

kv07 · Jun 29, 2012

I would not worry about any pharm meds. I would recommend to understand side effects of psych meds though. I had a lot of those (akinesia, tardive dyskinesia, parkinsonism, etc). Know to differentiate those.