Pharmacology

[stacycakesss]

Hey Everyone! Okay, I am half way done term 3 at my LPN nursing school. Tuesday, we have this HUGE test in Pharmacology! SEVEN CHAPTERS which we unfortunately were not even lectured on. I feel like I am going to be cramming this info into my brain(which is bad).

I would like to know if anyone, anyone, has advice with Pharmacology. Any mnemonics you came up/discovered or any tips how to remember drugs class/action/adverse effects. Some drugs I just know now from Clinical experience, but sheesh...Pharmacology is tough! We are currently doing Cardiovascular drugs, and there are so many. We have an ATI proctored exam coming up in 6 weeks and I am already worrying about that! I think I am actually stressing myself a little too much over this. I currently have actual flash cards I purchased(Pharm flash) and I outline my chapters/ study common drugs...but it still wont stick! Maybe it's just me :/

Any advise would help.

[mainestar_21]

Remember the suffixes such as "olol" "pril" "statin".. :) that would help.

[stacycakesss]

Thank you so much! I appreciate it (:

[MsCupcakes]

I haven't taken pharmacology for nursing yet, but I do have quite a bit of working pharmacy experience. The way that I learned the drugs was by applying a "whole package" approach to it. If you already have clinical experience, then this could work for you too. Understand the mechanism of action for the medication, then apply it to a notional patient. Which drugs would you use when treating the patient, and why? Which classes would you choose, and how do they act on the patient physiologically? What is the starting dosage, and what is the end dosage (if there's a titration). What side effects or adverse reactions are they likely to experience? If they have a reaction, what are the second, third, and fourth line medications for whatever their notional disorder is?

For me, at least, using a holistic approach really helps to implant the correct information. As Mainestar said, so many of the same class meds often share the same suffix, so that's a really good place to start. Try to memorize all the medications in a class, as well as the "stand out" differences between them.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

I just wanted to point out if you are not a LPN yet, you cannot state that you are in username. It is against the TOS here and in some states is actually illegal. I just noticed that you stated your are in the third semester of your LPN program. If I am wrong please correct me.

Learn the drug classes and their suffixes. Do not try to learn every drug. Know your side effects. Do you have the ATI books? We got them for our program and when I take an ATI proctored I go through and answer the questions at the end of each chapter. The questions in the books are very much like the test itself. Also, do you do practice tests? I know we had to do practice test A and turn it in. If we scored below a level 2 on the proctored, then we would have to do practice test B. I always did A and B before I took the proctored. I have never scored below a level 2 on any ATI. Those books are awesome if you have them.