Essentials of pharmacology for nurses

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Barber, P. , & Robertson, D. (2009). Essentials of Pharmacology for Nurses. Berkshire, England: The McGraw-Hill Companies. Nursing school can be challenging, but most students enjoy going to classes and learning about topics related to nursing. However, pharmacology is very hard because there is much information about medications that need to be taught for nursing students to understand the whole picture of what they need to learn during their clinical. In nursing school, pharmacology class is challenging for most students. Pharmacology focuses on how drugs work, their effects, and how the body utilizes drugs. Most nursing students find pharmacology very tough. When they are in clinicals, they have to administer medicines to patients under the careful supervision of their instructors. The medication information included is up to date. New medications are continuously being developed, and it would be easy to add those to this book. This textbook is designed for entry-level undergraduate nursing students as a basic comprehensive pharmacology textbook. The book includes links to DailyMed for reference to information about medications from the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health. Each chapter starts with learning objectives. Quizzes are found in each chapter with the answers and rationales provided at the end of the text. Critical thinking activities and interactive activities are included. A glossary is found at the end of each chapter. The source is comprehensive for an introductory nursing pharmacology text.

When it comes to memorizing drug pre-fixes and names, their side effects, students need to know about every individual drug. Students need to prioritize learning drugs essential to learning compared to those unrelated to the nursing profession. Certain medications need only high school basic knowledge of taking care of patients to take the information. Cramming A nurse’s knowledge of pharmacokinetics (what the body does to the drug), and pharmacodynamics (what the drug does to the body) (Lecture notes, 2011) both subdivisions of pharmacology, allows them to choose the right route based on the assessment of the patient, the speed at which they want the drug to be absorbed at and the magnitude of the therapeutic response that results (Bryant & Knights, 2011). As well as these points nurses must use the five rights of medication administration to safely administer drugs. The five rights being, the right medication, right dose, right patient, right route, and right time.

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Factors also include toxic and allergic reactions. A therapeutic effect is the expected or predictable physiological response a medication causes (Crisp & Taylor, 2011). This is the best results for the patient and can be achieved if the nurse is highly knowledgeable in pharmacology. Side effects, adverse reactions, toxic and allergic reactions are negative effects. In saying this nurses apply the knowledge of pharmacology should any of these occur by modifying the therapy, or discontinuing the medication. With limited knowledge the nurse may not know what to do should this situation ever occur. The text is definitely designed for entry-level nursing students and covers fewer exemplars/drug classes than other texts I have utilized in pharmacology courses (missing immune modulators, contraceptives, chemotherapy agents, meds for OAB and BPH), but presents common drug classes in a concise and understandable way. The glossary and table of contents are excellent. Pharmacology is one of the most essential subjects in nursing school because nurses are the ones who dispense medicines to patients. Nurses are also the one who supervises how well the patient is tolerating certain medications. Pharmacology courses contain much content, but most nursing students have trouble with drug calculation and metabolism. Some of the classes covered during pharmacology are Pharmacodynamics, Pharmacodynamics, Pharmacokinetics, Drug Metabolism, Excretion Mechanisms & Non-Prescription Medications. However, suppose nursing students feel like giving up. In that case, they should not because there are many ways to study for an exam – all of them do not necessarily mean memorizing everything about medications and their side effect – which will guarantee them passing marks/grades at the end of the semester.

This can also result in medication errors. The nurse’s understanding of pharmacology is important in her role of educating patients about their medications. The nurse must be able to answer any questions the patient may ask about their medications, such as why they are being taken, and consequences of not taking them. Knowledgeable nurse educators are able to make patients feel like experts with regards to their own medications. According to Barber and Robertson, “The nurse should be able to educate to the extent that they and the patient feel confident with their medication management”. Get to know the different types of intravenous solutions or IV fluids in this guide and cheat sheet.The book covers majority of the classifications of medications with a strong emphasis on nursing implications and safe medication administration. It includes action, indication, nursing considerations, adverse effects, patient teaching/education, and a medication grid for each classification. I also like that it includes a chapter on legal and ethical considerations for medication administration. Individual drug guides and nursing considerations for the most common medications used in nursing pharmacology:

Most students find it hard to study pharmacology because of the high dosage of information they need to learn. However, there are some tips on how nursing students can ace their pharmacology course without studying too much and spending too much time memorizing drug names. Make OutlinesThe book was current with material that I cover in my course. Also the other videos and web content were current and easy to follow.

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