Once again, I am posting an email from a Nurses Station Blog reader. If anyone has thoughts or comments for the Professor, please do comment or email so that we can help her help her students.

Hello Nurses: 

I am a Professor of Chemistry at a liberal arts college.  This fall, I am teaching the nursing chemistry class for pre-nursing students.  When I have taught this class in the past, I have heard that it is a waste of time for nurses to take chemistry, and that nurses never use what they learn in this class. 

I thought I would go to the source — your blog — to see if real nurses think this is true — or is this part of nursing student folklore?  If you are a practicing nurse, I would be interested in hearing exactly what topics from your chemistry course(s) you actually use in your day-to-day work, if any.  Are there topics that we don’t cover in enough depth — things you wish you had learned more thoroughly? 

I will use your input as I design my class for this fall and, hopefully, my nurses will learn what they need to know rather than what we think they should know.  Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

All the Best,

Kimberley Waldron, Ph.D.
Associate Prefessor of Chemistry