Teaching Pharm-I need your input

[JACKMAC]

Hello to all students,

I have just agreed to teach a pharmacology class for the fall semester. I have been a nurse for several years but new to teaching. For those of you who have taken pharm, what was helpful and not helpful in taking the class? I remember when I took this class that it was terrible and completely unstructured. I want to make it a great class for the students and I greatly appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

[TallGirlAni]

I took Pharm last semester. My teacher was great. She gave examples of drugs from T.V. commercials, she used personal stories, she used powerpoints. The book was EXCELLENT. "Pharmacology for nursing care" by Lehne, elsevier/saunders. She gave extra credit if we memorized important charts in the book and other important things. We had 4 tests, and a comprehensive final. She made sure we knew what we would be tested on a few days before each test---

Did you go to UW-Milwaukee? If so, then we had the same teacher. If this is indeed the one, she was one of the best teachers I had in my program. My teacher had mneumonic devices, such as Verapamil, Crapamil.....etc. She had us group the classifications of drugs and look for common endings such as beta blockers....."olols." Ace-Inhibitors, "oprils." Pharmacology teachers should be engaging to draw in the class, share anecdotes from previous jobs, and be as organized as possible. We were able to get some extra credit by doing a small research paper on a drug of our choice and by taking a sample pt's (anonymously) medical history and drugs that they were taking and how they interacted with each other, doses, etc. It was nice to do this because it was taking the knowledge that we learned and applying it to clinical practice, something I am now doing everyday. It is amazing how many students in my class did not even bother to do the extra credit that was offered. They were the same ones who complained the most about how hard the exams were or how hard the class in general was.

[AOx1]

I am also in a similar position as the original poster- I am an instructor teaching pharm and am always looking for ways to improve the class. What helps, what doesn't? Any other thoughts on this subject?

[2010RN]

We also used the Lehne text by Elsevier/Mosby and I thought it was a great resource. My pharmacology class was taught by a pharmacist and he was great. He mainly focused on the drug classes and said that if we learn the pharmacokinetics and mechanism of action of each drug class then we would have a strong basis towards understanding the possible uses and side effects of individual drugs in that class. He would focus on one or two drugs from each drug class and explain how their pharmocokinetics and mechanism of action made them similar/different from each other.

We were not required to learn about all the drugs, their side effects, dosages, etc as he said that will come later. This was expected of us by our clinical instructor though, and when I did look up a drug, the first thing I looked for in Davis Drug Guide is its pharmacologic classification, as it immediately puts a "frame of reference" in my mind as to that specific drugs probable effects on the body.

I really liked his approach and found his "big picture" teaching method very useful.

[tiggerdagibit]

My instructor posted appropriate Mosby's memory aids with her powerpoints. They were very helpful.

[Valasca]

OMG you are amazing for seeking our input! Your students are so lucky! Here's how not to run your class lol.

Ok I just finished an introdutory pharm class (my one and only nsg class so far) and it was horrible. My teacher was an NP. Very nice guy and very diplomatic, I liked him and still do. Unfortunately I got the feeling that he was very new to teaching...or something.

He gave us a "study guide" which were also our learning objectives. He used power points. We had weekly quizzes and a comprehensive final. It all sounds pretty typical right? We NEVER learned about ANY meds at all. His lectures were disorganized. He seemed uncomfortable w/the material. He did not follow the learning objectives. It was like he did not know what the important info was so he tried to cover q thing. He lectured on the differet angles you need to have your needle at when giving different injections. He talked about s/s of w/draw from different drugs. He talked about the Canadian drug classes. He talked about ethics. He talked about pregnancy. He talked about politics r/t pharm. He was all over the board. There was no structure. He told use we should learn prototypes before NS started. We were required to buy a Davis Drug Guide (along w/the text book) but NEVER EVER even cracked it open.

Our test questions obviously came from a question bank b/c they did not follow along w/the lectures or the assigned readings. Oh and they were "NCLEX" type questions which we never received any preperation for. Talk about system shock! Oh yeah and we had many duplicate questions throughout the qtr.

I am an A student, I followed along in class, I did the readings. I finished the class w/an A but feel like I learned nothing. I certainly did not learn the 'learning objectives'. I spoke w/other classmates and they all said the same thing. We feel totally unprepared. I am gonna study this summer myself based on the learning objectives which I am thinking are mandated by our NS program.

Ok off my soap box.......

[AOx1]

Wow Valasca, that's a shame! I always try to tailor my class time to what is "need to know" information....I've looked up the top hundred meds by prescription and ensured that they are well-represented in lecture. We teach by drug category. I would never dream of coming to teach unprepared or disorganized. I have worked 8-10 hours each day this summer to prep this class and make it good. I can only cross my fingers and hope it is! Thanks for your input.

[msjellybean]

My pharm instructor used a novel approach toward attendance.

At the end of each lecture, she would assign a drug (related to the topic of the week) and the next week, we were to turn in a drug card.

It was to include: trade name, generic name, indication, contraindications, side effects, onset, peak effect, half life, pregnancy category, drug class, nursing considerations (special administration instructions, effect on certain lab values, etc.), patient teaching issues, typical adult & pediatric dosages.

Those cards really helped drive home the info on the drugs we routinely gave during that first clinical.