upset with pharm...

Jules A, MSN · Jun 8, 2008

Yeah, sadly ours was a do it yourself class also. No sense dwelling on it, just hit the books hard and if you need get a tutor because we probably lost more people due to the dosage tests than anything else. You need to know how to do this math but the good news is that once you learn it you are golden. Good luck.

Atheos · Jun 8, 2008

Our professor wanted to lecture. I would have preferred a self taught course due to the massive amounts of memorizing I had to do. Also I find that self-directed classes are a little better and allow the professor to focus on people that are a bit slower in the learning while not holding back those of us that like to fly.

Of course, I rarely bug the professor for help. I bug all the nurses at work. Revenge for them coming to find me to change a patient. :yeah: :yeah: :yeah:

Just kidding. :clown:

catzy5 · Jun 8, 2008

Do you think Pharm can be self taught? Our professor seems to think so. We are given a hand out and chapters in the book to read, then tested. Is this the norm for learning this subject? The handout consists of a power point, and the pics/diagrams are to small to see...when you ask a question it's presented to you in a "you should have already known this" attitude, with no real explination on what you don't understand. During class, the lecture we get is simply the power point being read to us word by word, again no explinations into what it means. The first exam had a lot of questions that pertained to drugs we had not covered, and we were given about 20 chapters to cover in 1 week before the test, which might have been ok had we not been in school/clinicals for the other 5 days of that week, so really study time was 2 days on the weekend. I did manage a B on the test, but I feel as though I flash-memorized everything I could without getting a good grasp on each med. Class for Pharm is 1 day a week, for about an hour. Please, tell me, is this the norm, am I just whining, or is something seriously amiss?

Well in my limited experience I fear this is the norm, we self taught Pharm as well, our instructor did not know the material at all, she read off of power points and we read the book. Thankfully we had a book with chapters specific to what we were being tested on, that's more than I can say for the other two nursing courses I have taken. We also were tested once a week on several chapters. You will get through this just keep plugging away. you'll be amazed at what you do retain, and these things are revisited.

oatmeal · Jun 8, 2008

thanks :) I'm keeping on plugging away. Its just scary to know that 1/2 the class failed the first test, and it seemed I was spending every waking minute in my book or writing it out, and still feel as if I know very little..but, onward and upward with it...

Bicster · Jun 8, 2008

Kind of off topic, but if you were going to self-teach Pharm, what textbook and or supplemental material would you recommend?

KCnTexas, ADN · Jun 8, 2008

wow, i am surprised, my pharm prof was terrific and i can't wait to take more classes with her. good luck to you with your studies.

catzy5 · Jun 8, 2008

thanks :) I'm keeping on plugging away. Its just scary to know that 1/2 the class failed the first test, and it seemed I was spending every waking minute in my book or writing it out, and still feel as if I know very little..but, onward and upward with it...

This is how our class was too, hardly anyone could make it over the required 75% it is a hard class! and so much info in so little time. What book are you using? I really liked our pharm book it broke things up really good and had boxes with the key points outlined. I made spread sheets to help me study it helped a lot. our Pharm was the first 8 weeks and it was so hard!! we did it alone with fundamentals and clinicals, we were all overwhelmed just with nursing school, I studied morning noon and night and all days on my days off from school, I still get the willies when I go in the library like Post Traumatic stress syndrome. You will make it just keep your head above water!

oatmeal · Jun 9, 2008

thanks..my book is pharmacology and the nursing process by Lilly/Harrington/Snyder, fifth edition..well, back to studying I go..

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jun 9, 2008

i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but many colleges are making this class an online class with no lectures at all. just read the book, read powerpoint outlines that are posted online, do exercises in the textbook, submit homework online and take tests online. why? because this has traditionally been a lecture class. many straightforward lecture classes are being converted to online classes. if you have a question, e-mail the instructor or talk with the other students in the class on a discussion board.

you will find that as you go higher and higher up the educational ladder that you as a student are expected to be more independent, active and self-directed in accomplishing your learning. in other words, you are expected to seek out the answers to your questions rather than depend on the instructors to provide them for you. the instructor is merely a facilitator and might help tell you where to look for the answers, but isn't there solely to give them to you.

donsterRN, ASN, BSN · Jun 9, 2008

This is right; pharmacology is lecture and memorization. Won't ever be anything more than that. If you can get the same information from reading the textbook instead of attending class, then why not?

Information in, information out...

Music in My Heart · Jun 9, 2008

Kind of off topic, but if you were going to self-teach Pharm, what textbook and or supplemental material would you recommend?

Our pharm class was "online" and totally and completely self-taught. I found the Lippincott's Illustrated Review of Pharmacology to be a very valuable aid in learning the material. I earned an A in the class and a Level 3 (the highest) on the ATI exam and this book really helped. It was much, much better than my nursing pharmacology textbook.