Essentials of pharmacology for nurses

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Nursing students should not be afraid to ask professors questions if they find something confusing – professors will always answer your question with a clear explanation – instead of giving up studying altogether. Studying pharmacology is difficult for nursing students because they are afraid of getting things wrong. After all, it can reflect poorly on them even if they have the best intentions. However, being a bad student is never an option which makes studying pharmacology easier for everyone.

The Nursing Pharmacology OER by the Wisconsin Technical College System authored by Chippewa Valley Technical College is comprehensive for entry level nursing students that covers areas aligned with our curriculum and end of program student learning outcomes in pharmacology. The Table of Content was easy to read and well organized. Each chapter covered the learning objectives, an introduction, basic concepts and principles, medication types, effects, considerations and safety in preparation and administration, module learning activities and interactive activities, critical thinking activities and a glossary. Answer keys were provided at the end of the book. The references were evidenced-based and comprehensive. This text book gives a good overall comprehensive review of pharmacology from the perspective of how it affects each system in the body. Along with inclusion on pharmacokinetics, dynamics, and legal/ethical considerations each chapter is broken down into basic overview of the body systems and the pertinent medications for that area. Included are alternate learning activities such as flash cards, mini quizzes, videos, and graphics.The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework. The inclusion of the glossary is a great addition. Nursing students must know when to give certain medications to patients not to cause harm in drug interactions. Also, nurses need to know about administering specific dosages without making severe mistakes in administering meds to prevent errors caused by poor nurse practices. Drug dosage calculation is very important. What Are the Problems Nursing Students Have in Pharmacology? It is better to research pharmacology after discussing things with your classmates or friends than to learn alone without knowing what you’re learning because you fear that you might get something wrong, leading to failing the course. You can find in-depth online tutorials on youtube about your subject. Nursing Students Should Not Give Up New drugs are frequently developed in direct response to the emergence of new understanding of the disease process and the place of enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters and immuno-active substances within it.

The topics covered basic concepts and principles in pharmacology progressing to application of concepts in the nursing process with emphasis in safety, effects, patient education as well. The division of the modules into the various body systems and functions were logical and clear. Knowledge of the medications include, knowing its approved drug name and classification, correct dose and route of administration. A medication may have as many as three different names- a chemical name, a generic (proprietary) name and a trade name (Crisp & Taylor, 2011). A chemical name refers to the chemical makeup of a drug, a generic name is the drug name listed in official publications such as the MIMS annual, and the trade name is the name manufacturers have registered the medication as.This is because of their prescribing rights, so they must know everything there is to know about prescribing lawfully and safety. As new medications are introduced regularly, continuing education is essential for nurse practitioners to keep abreast of the latest pharmacological trends. In conclusion pharmacology knowledge for the nurse and nurse practitioner is essential for the safe and effective care of patients. When drugs are involved it is important that they are used in the way which best benefits patients, so that they can achieve better health for themselves. N368 Test 3 Diuretics, Electrolyte and Fluid Replacement, Vaccines, NSAIDs, Immunomodulators, and Antibiotics, As new drugs are regularly introduced to the world it is important nurses continue their education, to keep up with the latest advances in pharmacology. As mentioned above in the five reasons of safe administering, monitoring adverse reactions, education, legal and ethical responsibilities, and the nurse practitioner, pharmacology knowledge plays a huge role. Without pharmacology knowledge patient’s lives are put at risk, and many more medication errors would occur hence its importance. References Sections are arranged based on medication classes. Students can easily review the key topics and move to the next section with ease.

Jovanna Rios 11/25/13 Pharmacology is the study of the physical, biological and chemical actions of drugs (Bryant & Knights, 2011). In the practice of medicine, drugs are used to diagnose, treat or prevent disease so for the registered nurse in a clinical setting, the knowledge of pharmacology plays a huge importance in their role of medication administration. Pharmacology knowledge allows the nurse to carry out safe medication administration, monitor medication actions, educate patients, and act legally and ethically within the pharmacological parameters. Stems are useful for making communication of drugs more precise to avoid prescribing errors.Having an unambiguous standard of names for each drug is important because many different brand names may sell a drug, or a branded medication may contain more than one drug. Common Drug Stems Cheat Sheet Information, figures, tables were found to be evidenced-based, error-free, and unbiased. Appropriate references are found in each section. Some references used were more than 5 years old which I am sure will be updated. I would recommend referencing the answer keys as well. Reading level is appropriate for an introduction to pharmacology course, seems suitable for multi-lingual students. Bolded text offers basic definitions of unfamiliar words. Text and ancillary materials are clear and tailored to a novice audiance - offers solid foundation for learning basic pharmacology concepts. Information in the text is consistently presented throughout the text to make not only finding relevant material easy but also to navigate through the material.The modularity was great with this resource. It was well broken down in easy to read segments with different exercises and films intertwined.