Clayton's Basic Pharmacology for Nurses
Willihnganz, Gurevitz · 20th Edition
Complete chapter-by-chapter study guide aligned with Clayton's Basic Pharmacology for Nurses (20th Edition). Includes summaries, learning objectives, and NCLEX-style practice questions for all 45 chapters.
Overview
Clayton's Basic Pharmacology for Nurses, 20th Edition, by Willihnganz and Gurevitz, is a mainstay in LPN/LVN and ADN pharmacology courses, and this study guide is built to track it chapter for chapter. It follows all 45 chapters across the book's 11 units, beginning with the principles of pharmacology, drug actions across the life span, the nursing process, and safe medication administration — including the percutaneous, enteral, and parenteral routes — before working system by system through drugs for neurologic, psychiatric, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, endocrine, reproductive, and other disorders, and closing with the anti-infectives. For every chapter you get a plain-English summary of the key ideas, the chapter's learning objectives listed up front, and NCLEX-style practice questions with a full rationale for every answer. The rationales explain why the correct answer is correct and why each distractor is wrong, so the guide teaches the clinical reasoning behind medication safety rather than just testing recall. Clayton's is known for its strong focus on administration technique and dosage calculation, and the guide keeps that emphasis — reinforcing the assessments, monitoring parameters, and patient teaching tied to each drug class. Because it is matched to the 20th Edition's numbering and unit structure, it lines up cleanly with your syllabus whether you're preparing for a unit test, reviewing before a med-administration checkoff, or building toward the NCLEX-PN or NCLEX-RN. It's a printable companion you can highlight, annotate, and carry through the entire course. The concise summaries make it easy to review a drug class before a quiz or a clinical day, and the questions after each chapter flag exactly where you're weak, so you can shore up administration technique, monitoring parameters, and safety points before they show up on a test or a med-administration checkoff. Original, independently written, and not affiliated with the publisher.
Aligned with LPN/LVN and ADN pharmacology courses and written in an NCLEX style, so the practice questions and rationales mirror how medication administration and drug therapy are tested on course exams and the licensure exam.
- 1,350+ practice questions
- 45 chapters
- ~135 pages
- Instant PDF download
What you'll learn
The major topics this guide walks you through, matched to the textbook's order:
- Basic principles of pharmacology
- Drug actions across the life span
- The nursing process in pharmacology
- Medication administration routes and safety
- Parenteral and IV administration technique
- Dosage calculation
- Neurologic and pain drugs
- Psychiatric and mental-health drugs
- Cardiovascular drugs
- Respiratory and digestive drugs
- Antidiabetic and endocrine drugs
- Anti-infective drugs
- Patient education and medication safety
Need the textbook itself?
The textbook itself, by Willihnganz and Gurevitz (Elsevier), is a long-established nursing pharmacology text known for its emphasis on safe medication administration technique, dosage calculation, and drug therapy organized by disorder.
Buy new, rent, or find a used copy of Clayton's Basic Pharmacology for Nurses below. Make sure you get the 20th Edition — editions differ, so double-check the ISBN on the listing before you order. We earn a small commission if you buy through these links — your price is unchanged.
Chapters covered
Every chapter below is fully covered in the PDF — summary, learning objectives, key terms, and NCLEX-style practice questions with rationales.
Thinking about RN-to-BSN or MSN?
Compare accredited online nursing programs (CCNE-accredited, NCLEX pass rate published) in under a minute. Most students get a tuition estimate the same day.
Compare nursing programsNew grad? You need your own malpractice policy.
Your employer's coverage doesn't fully protect you. A personal RN policy from NSO runs about $100/year and is what most nursing boards recommend on day one.
Get a quote from NSOQuestions about this study guide
What exactly do I get?
A printable PDF study guide covering all 45 chapters of Clayton's Basic Pharmacology for Nurses (20th Edition) — chapter summaries, learning objectives, and NCLEX-style practice questions with rationales. One file, lifetime access, no subscription.
How soon will I get it?
Instantly. A download link appears on screen and lands in your inbox the moment your payment clears.
Does this match the 20th Edition specifically?
Yes — it's built around the 20th Edition, following its 45-chapter, 11-unit numbering and structure. Most content still lines up with the 19th edition, though some chapters may be renumbered.
Does it cover medication administration and dosage calculation?
Yes — the early units on administration routes and safety are covered in detail, with exam-style questions and rationales to reinforce safe-administration reasoning.
Will it match my edition?
This guide is built around the 20th Edition. If your class uses a different edition, chapter numbering may shift slightly, but the topics and learning objectives are usually unchanged.
Do I still need the textbook?
The study guide is a companion, not a replacement — it helps you study efficiently and review fast, but you'll still want the textbook for full depth and any assigned readings. You can buy new, rent, or find a used copy through the price links on this page.
What if it is not what I expected?
Every purchase is backed by a 14-day money-back guarantee — email us within 14 days for a full refund.
Is this a test bank or copied from the textbook?
No. This is an original study guide written to align with Clayton's Basic Pharmacology for Nurses — summaries, objectives, and practice questions with rationales, not a reproduced publisher test bank or copied text.
About this study guide
This is an original study guide written to align with the topics and learning objectives covered in Clayton's Basic Pharmacology for Nurses (20th Edition) by Willihnganz, Gurevitz. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or licensed by the publisher or the textbook's authors. All summaries, practice questions, and explanations are independently authored.