Pharmacology Questions

[angelsrup2002]

My question is: How is it possible to be successful in Pharmacology? This is my first semester in nursing school and I feel lost like I am learning another language. I never miss class, I take notes, I feel like there is no particular good way to know what to even study for our tests because all of the questions are scenarios of real life situations that I have never experienced and have not even learned how to approach the answer to questions asked based on lack of experience.

[Caribbean Character]

That is because you ARE learning another language. The tests are NCLEX style, which means not only do you have to know what the right answer is, but you have to know WHY it is the right answer even though at least one other answer would be the right answer under similar (but not identical) conditions.

[Carpediem1012, BSN, RN]

Try taking a systems approach. For instance when learning drugs for hypertension, brush up on your physiology and really learn where each drug acts. Say the diuretics. Know that the loop diuretics act on sodium in the loop of henle in the kidney that is why their effect is more pronounced (they have longer to act). The potassium sparing drugs like spirolactone work near the end of the distal tubule so their effect is more moderate. What are the implications here? What does that mean in terms of HTN control? Why do diuretics work and how? (Think kidneys- water- Na, Cl, K). That sort of thing. Then move on to the ACE inhibitors. You will have to use rote memory for a lot, but if you understand WHY they work (or don't), you won't forget them.