Evaluating student learning in an undergraduate pharmacology nursing course using pharmacology timed tables.

Nurses’ roles related to administering, prescribing, and educating patients about their medications are expanding. Nurses need to have adequate knowledge in pharmacology to provide safe, high-quality care to their patients. Some studies suggest there is a lack of student knowledge in pharmacology, and some practicing nurses do not have a suffi cient understanding of pharmacology (Dilles, Vander Stichele, Van Bortel, & Elseviers, 2011; King, 2004). One strategy for increasing student recognition of medication names and their classifi cations is through the use of pharmacology timed tables. Pharmacology timed tables require the student to match preselected medications with their appropriate therapeutic classifi cations. These timed tables were used to evaluate student knowledge regarding medications in an undergraduate pharmacology nursing course.