Pharmacology Made Easy for NCLEX-PN Review and Study Guide
By Linda Waide, MSN, MEd, RN, and Berta Roland, MSN, RN. 264 pages. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, Inc; 2001. $21.95. ISBN: 1-55652-392-0.
Although these two texts have different target audiences-one is for RN candidates and one is for LPN/LVN candidates-they have many similarities; thus, they are reviewed together. Both texts present detailed questions that assess pharmacology knowledge presented in the NCLEX format. The questions are organized by the body systems that are affected by the drugs, ie, hematologic agents, immunomodulation agents, and respiratory tract agents. The overview of each pharmacologic category that precedes the review questions is brief. The reader must have an additional pharmacologic reference for any questions that arise or to serve as a resource.
The review questions are detailed and comprehensive and include more than mere knowledge of pharmacology. Other phases of clients' need (health promotion and maintenance, physiological integrity, psychosocial integrity, and safe effective care environment) are clearly identified for every question. The answers are separate from the questions, making it easy to not peek at the right answer. The answers themselves include rationales for the correct answers, as well as why the wrong answers are invalid. The pharmacologic content for RNs is similar to that of LPNs/LVNs. A number of questions are identical. Other questions that appear in the LPN/LVN review are enhanced in the RN review. Both texts seem appropriately in-depth for the subject matter.
However, two drugs that were withdrawn from the market by the FDA are included in the test questions. They are cisapride, which was withdrawn in March 2000, and phenylpropanolamine, which was withdrawn in November 2000. It could be confusing for the student nurse preparing for the examination to encounter drugs that were withdrawn from the market before the publication of both texts. In addition, there is no index, making it difficult, if not impossible, to find information about a drug referenced more than once.
Both books are valid reviews for the NCLEX examinations. The student nurses using these texts must have additional sources for basic pharmacologic knowledge and for any questions that might arise.