Pharmacology study tips for new nursing student

tfleuter, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2009

I'm in my first semester of nursing which includes our pharmacology course. So far I have an A in the class and the two things that have worked for me is making detailed flashcards and studying the textbook. I love our pharm book, it gives us all the info we need to know without a lot of extra fluff.

rmkelly · Oct 29, 2009

Flashcards are fabulous. Mke them faithfully from your clinical assignments. This will help you lock info in your head. Also, I like to say there were only 10 drugs when I was in school. Now there are millions! I subscribe to Epocrates as an app to my blackberry. It is helpful to me beyond what I can describe.

NSALVADORE · Oct 29, 2009

Yes I agree flashcards are helpful! Focus on what's unique to that drug.. Most drugs cause a number of side effects so when studying ask yourself whats unique to this drug? and ask why? If you can figure out why it has that effect you'll get more out of it.

cunchurch2 · Oct 31, 2009

Got it- Flashcards.Thanks a million. I find that actually reading the text is very helpful! Thanks a million. So nervous!!

cunchurch2 · Oct 31, 2009

Pardon me for sounding ignorant but clinical assignments- do you mean once I start clinicals or are clinical assignments something I'll get in a textbook?

CuriousMe · Oct 31, 2009

I'm lousy at straight memorization, so while I do make flash cards to boost my lousy memorizing skills. The way I learn is to connect the info to stuff I know already. So for me, I really focus on the pathophysiology and the mechanism of action of the drug. So, what exactly is the drug doing, on a cellular level. If I don't do that first, then I really struggle with the flash cards being effective.

cunchurch2 · Nov 1, 2009

Got it. Thanks!

pinkishlimegreen · Nov 28, 2010

pharm is crazy for me because the school i attend goes so fast.. as sson as i grasp the concept, i've already failed the test and are studying for the next, i use to make A's but now i settle for low C's this is overwhelming!!!!

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Nov 29, 2010

I've done this twice now. Once in paramedic school where we went into serious detail on about 40 meds (not that many), and this was ten years ago nearly. Now, I've got merely the semester final for nursing pharmacology, a three semester hour course, where you don't go into much detail at all. The first time I was what you don't need to be - worried about memorizing. Now, I'm getting it better because I soak it in.

Do this...

Read your drug text book for quality, not quantity. Understand the classes of the drug. Don't freak out like all the kids in my class trying to memorize stuff that you'll forget in ten days. I did it too back then. It's all about understanding and application.

ePocrates is a handy phone app for quick reference. It leaves out the filler in the nursing drug books that make the books unwieldy and useless.

JennJillO · Nov 29, 2010

Flashcards help for sure but memorize the suffix of the name. For example typically... all your "pam"s (diazepam, alprazolam) are anti anxiety/sedating medications such as valium and ativan. There are "olol"s which are beta blockers/BP meds (atenolol, betalol). "pril"s - lisinopril - ACE inhibitors/BP meds, etc. Memorizing that part will help you significantly!

healthstar, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2010

Know the actions, uses, route, side effects of each medication.Know what med is given in case of overdose.

Use flashcards, I found them helpful at least for this class.

learn the proper way to adminiter meds( Ex: SQ injections, you pinch the skin and IM you make the skin flat and inject) remember to always always aspirate ( except blood thinners)