Question regarding drug cards

First off thanks Mitchsmom for the drug cards. I down loaded them and will keep them for reference.

As far as making drug cards. I got the list of 30 + or - drugs I will need to study this fall in Nur113. They say we should buy Nurses Drug Guide by Wilson and Shannon. I already own Davis's Drug Guide for Nurses which is current and new.

My question is this. I want to get a jump on the semester by getting the drug cards done. Is it really going to make a difference if I use a different book. Obviously drug cards are a copying of information for study purposes so I am not sure if the exact info from book to book makes that much of a difference.

If so what is another $38 for a new book. I just can't imagine it would matter that much.

Any feedback from the upperclass people or post graduates would be appreciated.

Thanks and have a great day, dave

[SC RN, RN]

I owned both books and I have to say that I much preferred the Wilson & Shannon Nurse's Drug Guide once I got used to it. It gives terms and definitions in a simple way with real life info (i.e. "works more quickly than this drug" or "more commonly used than so and so drug"). I would use either one if I needed info but preferred to use W&S when working on my care plans.

As far as drug cards go, we didn't use them because each drug is different for each patient. For instance, when writing up a drug that can be used for BP and for other unlabeled uses, the information that is pertinent differs so Iw would write it with the most important info. Or if the patient is elderly or diabetic or CHF, there might be additional side effects that don't effect an otherwise healthy person. Anyway, just some info to consider. I had all of the meds written in Word so that I could ammend them for each patient as needed ... saved a lot of time!

If you want, post a sample of a med from Davis and I'll give you the info from S&W so you can see the difference. I gave my Davis away to another student who lost hers and didn't have the money to replace it!

[Altra, BSN, RN]

After 3 semesters, I wholeheartedly recommend Davis' Drug Guide. Especially when you get into IV meds, I found Davis to be the best to QUICKLY refer to "need to know right now" info -- i.e. does this med I'm about to give need to be diluted? In sterile water or saline? Over how many minutes do I give it? Everyone has their preferences, but I've seen a lot of people who use other drug references having to also schlep around an IV meds book.

No matter how your school handles prep for your pt. assignment, when you get to clinical it seems the pt. is ALWAYS on a med that wasn't there the day before. :chuckle

Good luck to you! :)

[mitchsmom]

You're welcome for the cards... wish I could give input about the drug guides. Actually, I think I'm going to end up in the same situation in January - with a different guide than that instructor is going to request... same dilemma, do I fork over the $ for another dang drug guide when it's essentially the same info...

My suspicion would be that it wouldn't matter for general drug cards or whatever that are for your own reference. If it is for specific assignments for a teacher I'd want to ask them, to see if they will look at minute details in grading, since the guides probably vary slightly.

PS...edit...to throw another wrench in, the vast majority of info in my cards was from Mosby's 2004 Nursing Drug Reference (a few parts I looked up info in my pharm book, the web, the drug manufacturer's website, etc. for one reason or another)