It's That Time Again!

After about the first two weeks of the semester are done-and-over with, the "real life" of a nursing student begins. This means tests - and lots of 'em. We will have one test a week for the rest of the semester; it's a cruel cycle. First is Med-Surg (in this class we learn the basics; what's wrong with your patient? How would they present? What do you do?), then comes Pharmacology, and the third week in this terrible rotation means OB (or Peds, for those who took OB last semester). At present, we are in week two of the cycle, and I have just finished my first Pharmacology test with an 86%. Yes, Mom, that is good news! I also got an 88% on my first Med-Surg test last week - also good, Mom ;) Those are both solid grades to start on, and I hope to build up from there.

And now, because I can hear your thoughts at night, right before you go to sleep:

"Ok, that's M.O.M. in the A.M.... no, in the P.M., for a B.M. in the A.M. Yeah, that's it..."

I have decided to share with you all the contents, the "bulk" if you will, of my first Pharm test.... which included "Bulk-Forming Laxatives" - get it? ... Nursing humor.

Anti-Seizure drugs: Now there's an interesting field of nursing: THE BRAIN! We had an award-winning Liberty grad neuro nurse teach us this in Med-Surg, which made it just a little bit easier to learn about in in Pharm.I use stories to remember things about drugs. Like for instance, Carbamazepine. "Carbs are only a small part of your diet, so Carbamazepine is the drug of choice for partial seizures."

We also learned about GI drugs: medicine to help with peptic ulcers.

Another interesting disease that affects the brain is Parkinson's. I would like you to travel with me, we're going to my brain. What's it like in there while I'm studying?

1. Parkinson's is an imbalance between Dopamine and Acetylcholine.

2. Parkinson's has two basic classes of drugs: Dopaminergic and Anticholinergic.

The Dopaminergic drugs are as follows: Levodopa/Carbidopa, Tolcapone, Entacapone, Selegeline, Bromocriptine, and Amantadine.

I read it over like this: "Let Tol Enter the Sale gate on his Broom with Amanda." Boom, got it. And you know what? Poor Amanda has had the flu for a while so she's been in her room where there is little sunlight so her skin is getting spotty. (Amantadine is also used for the flu, and a side effect of the drug is mottled discoloration of the skin).

Here's my favorite: Tolcapone: Al Capone drank a lot of alcohol and Took ('t' for 'took' and 't' for 'Tolcapone') money. Tolcapone causes liver damage and death. Alcohol and the liver don't mix.

I'm telling you, the brain is awesome. I can go through drugs pretending it's one big story and I remember it way faster than if I read and re-read facts.

Let's end this post with some Q&A:

Question:

Answer: Immodium