Construction of a common medication list for use in undergraduate and graduate nursing curricula: bivariate organization, pedagogical integration, and iterative redevelopment (1058.2)

Abstract

An essential element in pharmacology course development is the selection of exemplar medications, which are introduced to students as prototype drugs and intended to be representative of the mechanisms, uses, and effects of entire pharmacological categories seen in clinical practice. While physician‐directed medical education has benefited from consensus medical pharmacology knowledge objectives and drug lists that were compiled by the Association of Medical School Pharmacology Chairs, no such counterpart exists for nursing. The purpose of this project was to construct a clinically relevant and pedagogically sound exemplar drug list, with an emphasis on medications used in family practice and primary care, that could be incorporated across undergraduate and graduate nursing program curricula. Prototype medications referenced by authors of leading pharmacology and pharmacotherapy texts were analyzed and compared to the 2013 NCLEX‐RN and 2012 AANP Certification Program test plans, to the lists of 2010‐2013 most commonly prescribed and highest grossing medications, and to the Tier 1‐2 preferred drugs of several leading insurers. To accommodate students’ understanding of both molecular drug actions and therapeutic uses, a nested bivariate organization scheme was employed. This single exemplar drug list may serve as a college‐wide formulary, used across undergraduate and graduate nursing education.