Dowdy90

This test really blew my mind! After reviewing the 2nd test (take home) everything made sense. I was like wow, I really read into the questions too much. I was under the assumption that pharmacology would be memorizing drugs, actions, interactions, etc. but apparently our instructor thinks otherwise. She is very young, just finished her masters, all the while trying to teach a pharmacology class while working a second job. Our previous instructor, up and quit, leaving our school empty handed over Christmas break. Our new instructor took the job a week before our classes began and has been reading the text book that was selected by previous instructor & teaching by it, which she hates (I've heard this from numerous instructors & students). So all in all, hopefully I'll make it through this semester!! Thanks again for everyone's support!! P.S. GrnTea: this just goes to show that even though nursing is continuously progressing as a whole, that at the core of it all nursing today is still "nursing"!

hey everyone! sorry for such a late reply but i just got my 2nd test (take home) grade back. i made an 85, not as good as i had hoped for but better than last. the test were not passed back out in class for the class to discuss as a whole (how we usually do it so we can express our concerns together) but rather we had to make an appointment with the teacher for a one on one review of the test. my appointment was wednesday so that's why it took so long to get back to you all. the teacher handed me the 2nd take home test along with her answer sheet and said "go for it". when i asked for explanations of the ones i had trouble with, i was given a brief explanation of "her" reasoning. here are the questions i posted earlier and "correct" answers(in bold): 1. the client is receiving albuterol (proventil) for treatment of bronchospasm related to asthma. what is the initial nursing intervention as it relates to this medication? -monitor the client for nausea & headache -provide the client with age-appropriate education about albuterol. -monitor the client's serum drug levels. -monitor the client for relief of bronchospasms. 2. the client is diagnosed with cancer. the physician has recommended chemotherapy, which would likely save the client's life. the client tells the nurse, "this is punishment from god for sins i have committed; some women at my church say so." what will the best plan of the nurse include? with the client's permission: -plan to contact the client's minister to discuss the client's perspective about cancer. -plan to meet with family members to discuss the client's perspective about cancer. -plan to bring the case before the hospital's board of ethics. -plan to involve a hospital minister to discuss the client's perspective about cancer. 3. the african-american client has panic attacks, is suicidal, and is on an inpatient psychiatric unit. the psychiatrist orders zoloft and klonopin. the client refuses the drugs; he requests to have herbs & african objects in his room to "remove the curse". what is the priority action by the nurse? -allow the request without seeking further information from the client. -allow the request after the client signs a release of responsibility to avoid litigation. -allow the request after all members of the treatment team agree to it. -allow the request as long as the herbs and objects do not pose a safety risk for the client or other clients. 4. the nurse was very busy and unfamiliar with a new medication, but administered it anyway. later the nurse looked up the medication. how does the nurse manager evaluate this behavior? -this was acceptable as long as the nurse looked up the action & side effects of the drug later -an error did occur because the nurse could have administered the medication via the incorrect route. -an error could have occurred because the nurse was unfamiliar with the medication -the nurse manager was partially at fault because the nursing unit was understaffed & the nurse was too busy. once again, thanks for everyone's help & guidance!!

Noahsmama- Our initial test was graded (I made a 64) but since our instructor allowed us to retest, we were not allowed to see the actual test, only the grades. We have to turn the 2nd test in Monday, and should get our grades and test back Wed. of this upcoming week and I will let you guys know how it turns out! VickyRN-I completely agree with you. I feel these questions are not evaluating our knowledge accurately. Soon as I completed the test (following an acute panic attack I'm sure lol), I spoke with several classmates about the content of the test and the feeling was mutual. I felt more than apt to take the test the morning of but after taking it I wasn't so sure I studied correctly and I wasn't sure where my disconnect was. I really feel like the time and effort I dedicated the previous week studying, reading, and reviewing material was not accurately reflected by my test grade. ALL OF YOU , Thanks so much for the helpful words of advice! I can't explain how much I appreciate each and every response. I'm really torn as to what to put for my 2nd set of answers. I will definitely let you all know what the "correct" answers are possibly this Wed. depending if my instructor has given us the test back. ("usually" she is a pretty fast grader!)

Thank all of you for your responses! I appreciate every single one of them. From reading through the responses I once again realize how easy it is to read a question differently than the person sitting beside you. My biggest problem is determining whether my teacher wants the "NCLEX answer" or "real world answer" because I've learned quickly there is a BIG difference in the two. Our teacher is fresh out of school herself, with only 2-3 years experience, and so we're all trying to adjust and get a feel for her testing in the sense if she's looking for how we would respond in the real world or how we would answer on the NCLEX. For 1 question, I answered with "provide the client with age-appropriate education." My reason being that the question does not state if the client is currently experiencing bronchospasms or if the client is simply being prescribed the albuterol for future attacks. The questions does state what is the initial nursing intervention as it relates to this "medication". This lead me to answer with "provide the education" because by reading my book it says you should ALWAYS teach clients about medications before administering the medications. However, you can also read the question as if the client has already received the medication and what should you do now? For question 2, I answered with "plan to involve a hospital minister to discuss the client's perspective about cancer" on the initial test. Looking through my pharmacology book, there was NOTHING that even closely addressed this situation. I had no basis for my answer besides the fact I wasn't sure if you were, "by hospital protocol", allowed to contact a client's minister. Looking at the responses for this question, I realize I was completely disregarding what would make the CLIENT more comfortable. In this case, with the answers to choose from, contacting the clients minister would probably benefit the client the most. For question 3, I answered with, "allow the request as long as the herbs and objects do not pose a safety risk for the client or other clients" on the initial test. I answered with this because I've always read that as a nurse, you are supposed to make the client as comfortable as possible and be culturally sensitive to one's beliefs. However, I didn't know if I first needed needed to get the approval of the treatment team members or if I needed the patient to sign a form of some kind stating that he refused meds? I feel like I really read into this question too much and should just stick with my initial answer. For question 4, I answered with "an error could have occurred because the nurse was unfamiliar with the medication" on the initial test. However, some of my classmates made a valid point by saying that an error did occur (answer 2) because the nurse was unfamiliar with the medicine which neglects the patient's right to education on the medication they are receiving, but I'm not so sure I agree with answer 2 because it says, "an error occurred because the nurse COULD have administered the medication via the incorrect route". Yea, she could have but it doesn't say she made any errors. So that's why I went with answer 3. Plus, my teacher is always preaching, "You cannot add any information to a question or assume when you are looking for an answer. You can only use what you are given." And far as everyone saying, "read your material", I promise I have read it frontwards, backwards, and sideways. Our instructor has even said that this is the worst pharmacology book she has ever seen, but due to the fact she took the teaching job last minute, the book had already been assigned. So on that note, if anyone knows a book that would be helpful please feel free to elaborate!

To begin, I'm new to this site! Every time I google questions related to my nursing studies AllNurses.com seems to always pop up so I figured I would give it a try. I'm currently in my 2nd semester and enrolled in Med-Surg and Pharmacology. The nursing program I'm in is all messed up right now as one of the instructors were forced to resign due to the complaints from former and current students. In addition, the school was scrambling to find a teacher at last minute and the one they found is only 25 years old. She is not only trying to instruct us but also refresh herself. We recently took out first pharmacology test which was 12 chapters long from the Pearson Pharmacology for Nurses: A Pathophysiologic Approach 3rd Edition. Unfortunately, the highest grade was a 65, so the instructor gave us the exact test back to take home for the weekend and redo using any materials and she is going to average the previous test and the take home for a final grade. Okay, my dilemma: this test seems way harder now as a take home test than it did when I took it in class even though it's the same exact test. The questions which were supposed to be strictly from chapters 1-12 are not by any means. Many questions are critical thinking questions and only being in our 2nd semester the majority of my classmates have not developed strong critical thinking skills. I've found almost all of them except 4 (out of 75). I'm not asking for answers but I would like someone to guide me in the correct direction as to how to answer these questions. (One answer per question) 1. The client is receiving albuterol (Proventil) for treatment of bronchospasm related to asthma. What is the initial nursing intervention as it relates to this medication? -Monitor the client for nausea & headache -Provide the client with age-appropriate education about albuterol. -Monitor the client's serum drug levels. -Monitor the client for relief of bronchospasms. 2. The client is diagnosed with cancer. The physician has recommended chemotherapy, which would likely save the client's life. The client tells the nurse, "This is punishment from God for sins I have committed; some women at my church say so." What will the best plan of the nurse include? With the client's permission: -plan to contact the client's minister to discuss the client's perspective about cancer. -plan to meet with family members to discuss the client's perspective about cancer. -plan to bring the case before the hospital's board of ethics. -plan to involve a hospital minister to discuss the client's perspective about cancer. 3. The African-American client has panic attacks, is suicidal, and is on an inpatient psychiatric unit. The psychiatrist orders Zoloft and Klonopin. The client refuses the drugs; he requests to have herbs & African objects in his room to "remove the curse". What is the priority action by the nurse? -Allow the request without seeking further information from the client. -Allow the request after the client signs a release of responsibility to avoid litigation. -Allow the request after all members of the treatment team agree to it. -Allow the request as long as the herbs and objects do not pose a safety risk for the client or other clients. 4. The nurse was very busy and unfamiliar with a new medication, but administered it anyway. Later the nurse looked up the medication. How does the nurse manager evaluate this behavior? -this was acceptable as long as the nurse looked up the action & side effects of the drug later -An error did occur because the nurse could have administered the medication via the incorrect route. -An error could have occurred because the nurse was unfamiliar with the medication -The nurse manager was partially at fault because the nursing unit was understaffed & the nurse was too busy. Like I said earlier, I'm not looking for anyone to give me the answers but I would like help in understanding how to answer these questions. I have a general idea of what the answers should be but I can't find anything in my books about how to address these situations. And I'm scared to answer them the same way I did on the initial test because apparently I didn't get them correct if I failed it the first time. I'm scared I'm either reading into the questions TOO much or NOT enough. HELP ME PLEASE!