How to Write a Drug Card for Nursing School

Students in nursing school, practical and registered courses, must recognize and understand hundreds of medications during required clinical rotations. The average number of clinical hours is over 700 in a nursing program. Creating a drug card for each medication administered will aid in memorizing the name of the medication and reinforcing nursing-specific information critical in administering drugs safely and correctly.

Things You'll Need

• Current pharmacology reference guide
• 3-inch-by-5-inch note cards

Instructions

1. 

   Decide if your cards will be handwritten or typed into a digital format. Many students have to write a card for every medication their patient is taking. On clinical rotations, which last anywhere from several weeks to months, the amount of cards created can add up. More information can be added onto a digitally created card versus a handwritten one because you can change the font size. However, handwriting your drug reference card will aid in the memorization process.

2. 

   Divide your cards into the main categories required by your instructors. These will vary from school to school, but can include generic name, trade name, classification, dose, route and frequency. Many times certain drugs are used more than once in a clinical rotation. Make sure to update information that will vary from patient to patient such as dose, route and frequency. Patient-specific information to add to your card can include why the patient is taking the medication. Always list a drug's side effects and adverse reactions. Lab values change when a patient is administered certain drugs. Note what labs are affected by the drug on the card.

3. 

   Assess your patients and determine if they should receive the ordered medication, and write your results on each of their drug cards. If you should hold the medication, state your reasons on the drug card as well. Ask yourself "After giving the medication, have there been any side effects that have developed?"

4. 

   Practice using medical short hand on your drug cards. Medical terms should be a part of your cards. This will get you in the practice of writing proper medical abbreviations and using proper medical terminology. Nursing cards can be small, so use a color-coding system to locate information fast on each card.

5. 

   Update your cards as needed throughout your clinical rotations. Your drug cards are vital during nursing school as well as while studying for your nursing exam. Create a straightforward organizational system so you can access any of your cards when needed.

Tips & Warnings

• When handwriting cards, write in pencil so you can update and make changes.

References

• Mosby's 2009 Nursing Drug Cards; Joseph A. Albanese MS PhD, Patricia A. Nutz RN MSN MEd; 2009
• Nursing Education Perspectives magazine; Clinical Immersion: A Residency Model for Nursing Education; Cynthia A. Diefenback, Judith W. Herrman and Lisa Plowfield; April 2006

Resources

• Nursing Link