Pharm self-study plan?

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Does anyone have a self-study plan they've done for pharmacology? We have an integrated curriculum at my CC and so there is no formal pharm course. I would like to do some self-study over the summer. I finally feel like I'm slowly starting to get somewhere, but would love to gain a better perspective. I have the Adams pharm book and the Saunders NCLEX (I was thinking the pharm chapters there would be good to quiz myself as I haven't even looked at those). Does anyone have any ideas? I've thought about taking a course somewhere, but I don't really have the money and I won't need an official course for the MSN program I'm (hopefully) going to eventually.

Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.

Also, I wonder why the BON even accredits these schools.

Food for thought.

It's not that people aren't learning the drugs. We are learning the drugs through our regular classes. The schools build the class into the regular semesters which to me makes sense. Doesn't it make sense to learn about meds a little at a time and based on where you are at in the school? Cramming them all into my head in 1 class prior to being able to apply them just won't get me anywhere.

The BON accredits them because it's a good alternative....there is more then 1 way to do something.

Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
I can understand schools integrating pharm into the different body systems, but I still think it is slightly scary that nurses are being pumped out of these programs with no knowledge of pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics.

We are learning them. We are learning that in the regular program.

It's not that people aren't learning the drugs. We are learning the drugs through our regular classes. The schools build the class into the regular semesters which to me makes sense. Doesn't it make sense to learn about meds a little at a time and based on where you are at in the school? Cramming them all into my head in 1 class prior to being able to apply them just won't get me anywhere.

I can see your point. Now that I think about it, sounds like a good idea to teach cardiac drugs with the cardiac classes, psych drugs with the psych classes, etc.

I suppose I'm thinking about this in the "traditional" sense (again!)

Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

I had a nurse tell me today that she went through an ADN program that had the meds built in to the systems they were studying each semester...and that when she graduated, she had a better foundation than the programs that had a separate pharm class because she was familiar with which drugs were used with certain dzs....I think any exposure is good exposure....I do think there has to be some benefit to some concentration on drugs, however....

Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
I had a nurse tell me today that she went through an ADN program that had the meds built in to the systems they were studying each semester...and that when she graduated, she had a better foundation than the programs that had a separate pharm class because she was familiar with which drugs were used with certain dzs....I think any exposure is good exposure....I do think there has to be some benefit to some concentration on drugs, however....

I know for us we still have a Pharmacology book that was required. We do the drugs as the systems come along. We had a math class where the only focus was giving meds and doing calculations. We had hours on lecture that were based on the safety of meds, how to give them and so on. There are times where we really concentrate on the medication aspect. It is heavily tested on. I honestly can't see what I could be missing since we will cover the entire Pharm book. So essentially we have the class in it's entirety just spread out. So we do concentrate on drugs...it's definitely not something that is just a side issue.

Specializes in Operating Room.

Ya know.....I had a 'separate' micro class like most programs require.

God help me if there is any Micro on the NCLEX. I probably won't remember a dang thing, even though it was a separate class, and I did make an A in it.

;)

I am a newbie to nursing school (1st quarter) but I was a pharm tech for 12 years preceeding. I read a good post advising you to break the drugs down on a legal pad, etc. etc. I use to help techs study for the CPhT (certified pharm tech) test and aside from writing all the info out, we would get colored notecards and make our own PDR entries, lay person style. Each color was a different class, i.e. antibiotics, analgesics, NSAID, etc. and listed on the card would be the chemical name (generic name), available strengths, dosing requirements, usage, and pertinent warnings or side effects (i.e. exposure to sun). In my case, the more I learned about a drug or classification, the easier it was for me to remember it, quirky details, or side effects. If you are limited on financial resources, WebMD.com has a great medication info bank that you can pull info. I would hit a medical bookstore or a Borders and look through different drug books to find one that you are comfortable reading and one that you like the layout of each drug. They are like dictionaries, same info just different layouts. Grouping definately helps...you will realize the similiarities of drug names (roots and suffixes) in some drug classes. Brand names of drugs sometimes relate to their use and you will find that helpful (ie. Ambien for sleep, manufac. harp on sedatives that don't give you the hangover feeling in the morning.."A.M. good" (bien=good in spanish)

Hope this helps...back to studying.

"A.M. good" (bien=good in spanish)

This is awesome and I never would have noticed that. But I will remember it forever. LOL Thanks!!!

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