New Student Advice

ValDonovan · May 21, 2011

I think it totally depends on the program and where you take it.

Pharmacology tends to be tough, so many meds, dosages, side effects, etc.

Good luck,

Val

johnsonny2fl · May 23, 2011

I'm hearing pharmacology is the hardest for some.. What else? Could that be all?

chicookie, BSN, RN · May 24, 2011

Pharmacology kicked my butt. I stressed way too much about it and failed. After that first semester, it was so easy. I just really freaked out and let my fears control me and I froze. I didn't go out with anyone, I was always studying or working and I still failed. I realized that it wasn't worth it. Why force myself to study when I wasn't learning anything so I took a different approach to studying. If I found myself just staring at the page, I would drop it, do something else and then come back to it. What really helped me though was looking at websites like medlineplus, drugs.com, etc and reading the information that was given to patients. By having the a good foundation I could build up to what I needed to know.

My advice is not to let it overwhelm you. Take deep breathes. It will be ok.

johnsonny2fl · May 25, 2011

Thanks for sharing that! Not looking forward to this class. Everything worked out for you though that's great.. Hope the same goes for me! And did you say that was the most difficult for you?

chicookie, BSN, RN · May 25, 2011

Class-wise yes. I think really the stress and the desire to be the best was what really brought me down. You just have to take it easy and not stress too much.

Columnist · May 25, 2011

Moved to General Nursing Student Discussion forum for more responses.

studentLJinCA · May 26, 2011

If you are fearing the math part - best to get a head start now!

Not sure if it is like this at all schools - but there will be a math-based test each semester at my school that is IMPERATIVE to pass (I begin this fall). I freaked out when I read that! So I started reviewing math that I hadn't done in a few years, including unit conversions.

It's helped me A LOT and now I feel a lot more at ease :)

You could try getting a cheap book on dosage calculations - or there are plenty of helpful sites that provide instruction and practice questions for free.

misscherie · May 27, 2011

I agree with the others, if you find maths difficult, you will definitely be challenged by pharm. But dont be afraid of it - it just takes practice! You dont need to be a complete maths whizz or genius, you just need to know about numbers and calculations etc. Best advice I can give you is to take each day as it comes. Youll have your ups and downs (really amazing moments in clinicals then really sad moments) so think of it as a rollercoaster... and then when youve finished on that rollercoaster, youll be feeling great and ready to rock!! :)

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · May 27, 2011

More people failed math at one time than anything else. The sad thing is it wasn't hard.

Example:

Give 4 mg of Ativan to patient. 2 mg tablets are available. How many tablets do you give? There are some harder elements. A few formulas even. But this is BASIC, and we had people in college that couldn't get this.

For others the foundations course was troublesome, but I don't know why. It wasn't a difficult class - mostly sociology and communications.

Nobody had trouble with the ology in pharmacology although it was pharm "lite" if you ask me.

Patho was the most troubling of all I think. I loved that class. Missed 2 points the entire semester. Other people were given grades it was so bad. I can't fathom why it was hard though.

Mental health was odd. You have to think nursey to get the absolute right answers on the test. I'd say at least half of our class was medicated for some mental health problem and those were the ones that did surprisingly worse in that class. You'd think the experience would help, lol.

When someone says healthcare I think more in terms of biology; sick cells. I want to know what's wrong with them, how they correct themselves, and what we can do to facilitate that, chemically and surgically.

Although I aced mental health and liked the course the courses that are more touchy feely in nature are the hardest for me. That's why I made a B in fundamentals, because it's largely communications and cultural sensitivity, and A's in everything since. So that's my weakness.

The absolute hardest part is listening to the girl ask questions every seven seconds and tell us all about her damned diseased family. From AIDS to ebola they've had it.

sommeil, ASN, RN · May 27, 2011

The absolute hardest part is listening to the girl ask questions every seven seconds and tell us all about her damned diseased family. From AIDS to ebola they've had it.

that is so funny. i had A&P with a Radiology Tech who was going back to school for nursing and this guy had a comment about everything. He was giving out medical advice to students who had anything from broken bones to the common cold. I don't think I could ever take another class with him.. i'd probably kill him.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · May 27, 2011

I don't think I could ever take another class with him.. i'd probably kill him.

Ha. I know. Been there. I happen to be finishing up my program online from the state prison.

lol jk