Pathophysiology?

My advice for taking patho- know how the inflammation process works frontwards and backwards. Chains in the inflammatory process are key to most other diseases.

Also, i'd say pharm was harder just because it involved memorization. For me, patho was just following a story line, and you could usually predict any part part in a disease process based on what you knew about inflammation. It's not true in every case though.

I'm in 3rd semester now. Hands down, pharm is worst than patho. It's the endless memorizing of wierd drug names. In my school, I'm taking med-sur1, patho and pharm. The 3 classes are each teaching on the same system each week. So say it's the heart, I learn patho first, drugs and then nursing which pulls on the knowledge base of the other 2 classes. I'm immersed which actually makes it easier even if it is somewhat overwhelming. I'm just in the beginning stages of my 3rd semester. So far the 2 things I would suggest you know stone cold-the nursing process, how to assessment.

BIGGEST FACTOR-

I would suggest you take this time to get all your affairs in order. You need to clear your schedule of everything you can. You will need the time to study. Pepare everything you can in advance so you don't have to take time away from studying to do it. Being immersed in the school work can be overwhelming, but it all the other stuff we try to do while being immersed which will make you drown.

By the way, the semester is awesome!

It's helpful to have a solid knowledge base of A&P and Microbiology when taking Pathophysiology. If they are any areas in which you feel you are weak, I'd recommend you brush up on those areas. There is a lot of information to be covered, which makes it difficult to go back and review topics in A&P and Microbiology.

As far as difficulty of Pathophysiology vs. Pharmacology? Pharmacology is more difficult because it requires a solid knowledge base of Pathophysiology, A&P, Microbiology, memorization of a "million" drug names (trade and generic), and the nursing implications that accompany medications. There's just a lot more involved in applying Pharmacology, but it's not impossible. The key to success in both classes is to study and do as many practice questions as you can! :)

Understand physiology. I can't ever emphasize that enough on these message boards.

If you've got physio down then patho just makes sense and it easy. Those are my two favorite subjects. Pharm makes sense when you know physio especially if you've got patho down as well. The names of drugs are like anatomy; just memorize it. Pharmcotherapeutics, pharmacokinetics, etc. build on physio.

So if you want to be a good student make nursing school as easy as a Dummies book know you're physiology.

But to answer your question...cardiovascular, respiratory and pH, renal, inflammatory and pain, electrolyte balance, CVA and DM are the biggies you see over and over in nursing school.

Pay attention to Clinical Manifestations, the most common treatments and how you would interact with a patient who has the diagnosis if you are tested in the NCLEX style. If you know what your patient is going to look like and what he will be experiencing, you'll know how to treat him and educated him.