Returning to work rusty on drugs

Dear Nurse Beth,

I am 66, returning to work telemetry and have been out of nursing 1.5 yrs with a 35 year history of working. I am rusty on drugs (esp rates of IV administration) and would like suggestions for an app on my phone to look up drugs. Can you make a suggestion?

Dear Rusty,

Here's the good thing. On tele, there are really only a handful of drugs that are used the majority of the time and over and over. Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretics, electrolyte replacements, digoxin, blood thinners, etc.

Add in some commonly used antibiotics, amiodarone, and heparin drips and by the time you're done with orientation, you will have administered most of them repeatedly.

Your smart IV pump will calculate drip rates and even step up boluses from the drug library. Many hospitals' intranets have Micromedex or some other resource directly available to you and even from within the patient chart (electronic medical record).

However, you may have to pass an entry competency exam such as Prophecy that will test you on cardiac conditions, including strips and meds, using NCLEX-type questions. Prophecy itself does not publish a study guide, but if you Google Prophecy telemetry study guide you may get some hits.

 I'd also Google free medication apps for nurses- there are plenty for both Android and IOS. Since they're free, just try one and if you don't love it, try another.

Next, I'd renew my ACLS if you haven't already. It will focus your learning and get your head back in the game, so to speak. 

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth