Authors

  1. Morse, Brenna L. PhD, RN, NCSN, CNE

Article Content

Pharmacology instructors are usually tasked with teaching students about drugs that are used across the lifespan, head-to-toe, in 1 semester. Students enjoy opportunities to learn about specific drugs, because they are often concerned that they will not recognize or know about specific products in practice or on examinations. "On This Day in Pharmacology History" is an assignment that allows students to explore individual drugs and build confidence in their knowledge of broader drug classes. Students are instructed to visit the US Food and Drug Administration drug database (https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm) and search for a drug by approval date. Students may select any date, such as their birthday or another special day in history. Then, students select 1 drug from the list and answer these question: Is the drug still on the market? If not, why? What was the drug originally approved for? Has it since been used for other purposes? Students are also asked to identify the drug indications, adverse effects, contraindications, and nursing considerations from the course textbook. Students search for a recent research article involving the drug and summarize the work. This is an assignment that may be used at the start of a course to introduce students to foundational pharmacology concepts or at the end to draw on comprehensive knowledge. The assignment also allows students to recognize that, although they may not always know every drug on the market, their knowledge of an entire class of drugs may be applied to specific products.