Pocket Psych Drugs Point-of-Care Clinical Guide 2nd Edition, Kindle Edition

I even learned some new medications for use with my patients!

Great portable resource for novice PMHNP

Very helpful.

Find what you need quickly!

Absolutely great pocket reference.

Up front please note that both this and the Psych Notes clinical pocket guide are written by the same NP author:  PsychNotes: Clinical Pocket Guide  and both are great references. However, this one focuses primarily on the pharmacology, meds and prescribing, which makes it much smaller and more concise, which I really like. This pocket guide is about 1/2 as thick as the psych notes, and the spiral seems about 1/3 the size - much more realistic to fit in a pocket or to bring along on the go. I've uploaded pictures so look for those so you can see for yourself.The titles make clear the primary differences, with this guide focusing on meds and prescribing, whereas the Psych Notes covers the general range of all things psych, with less than half dedicated to the meds. This pocket psych drugs guide has more information on the drugs and prescribing than the Psych Notes Guide, which presumes you're using a more comprehensive drug prescribing guide along with it. That right there should help you determine which might be a better fit for you (or whether you want both), and as a broad criteria, if you're getting only one, I'd say this smaller guide is great for experienced providers, whereas the more comprehensive one is better for students and new providers who may seek a good reference beyond the meds and prescribing & who are using a different, more comprehensive, primary source for prescribing info.However, I'd also say having both would be handy for the student and new provider, as the Pocket Psych Drugs has great prescribing info you likely will not find in your drug app, and would have to spend much more time searching out in the volumes of information found in UpToDate and other more comprehensive treatment/presribing/protocol guides/resources. (By the way, FPnotebook is much more user friendly than UpToDate and I recommend it to my students and new providers. It's free online but also has a low fee app for those who like apps).Content Differences:Again, this booklet focuses primarily on meds and prescribing with related relevant info, whereas the larger Psych notes focuses on all aspects of Psych care, including assessment, disorders & Dx, but less info per drug than this one. Here is a comparison of the sections:This book, Pocket Psych Drugs:*Basics*Drugs in sections, A-C, D-G, H-M, N-Q, R-Z, (Nicely formatted drug information, easy to use)*Labs & Protocols*Tools and IndexThe Psych Notes Clinical Pocket Guide:*Basics*Assessment (thick section, meaning lots of pages/info)*Disorders & Interviewing (thick section)*Labs*Drugs A-Z (thick section) Drugs are set up in a chart style, so you have to hold book sideways to read it. Not as user friendly a the Pocket Psych Drugs guide, more of a general summary & presumes you're using a 2ndary, more comprehensive drug reference along with it.*Crisis*Geriatrics*Tools/IndexThere is obviously more content in the larger Psych notes, for example, in the Basics section, the Psych notes discusses Maslows hierarchy of needs & Psychoanalytic theory, Stages of personality development, etc. which aren't in the smaller psych drugs book. The smaller psych book Basics section focuses more on pharmacokinetics and dynamics, neurotransmitters, etc. For the experienced provider, stripping out the psych theory stuff makes the smaller pocket psych drugs much more handy and user friendly.Other differences:The primary other difference I see is that the larger Psych Notes is made with wipe-on, wipe-off plastic type paper/pages, whereas this smaller pocket psych drugs guide is real paper, which allows you to easily write permanent notes (which I prefer...). There is a page in the Psych Notes guide specifically for sticking some 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 sticky notes, but realistically if you're into that you can easily do that in this smaller guide as well, a there is a second page that is just a repeat of the title, author and publisher you could stick it on. Both have enough white space on most pages for small notes, however, with the Psych Notes guide you risk them wiping or smearing off because of the plastic pages - perhaps a benefit for temporary notes while a student, but not necessarily desirable for an experienced provider.My final thoughts:Why bother when there's online and App references??The advantages to references like this are that there is more information relevant to prescribing and often valuable tips and pearls from experienced providers, that you can find in these that aren't ever in any of the drug reference apps or online sources. In addition, it can often be quicker to thumb through one of these for something specific you want to check or double reference than searching it out online or in an app.Of all types of medicine, psych has the largest aspect of "art" mixed in with the "science", so in this way, straight, fact-based online and app references don't help as much as with other medicine specialties that are often more straight forward. Any insights, tips or pearls you can glean from other experienced providers are truly valuable. Pedersen does a nice job of including important prescribing and monitoring information in her guides that you will not find in Apps and online sources, and often not found in the larger psych reference and school texts either. For example, most Apps aren't going to tell you that foods that alkalinize the urine, such as fruit juices or natural health practices specifically attempting to alkalize the body, will increase the effects of amphetamines. I think that's pretty useful information to know as a prescriber. Go check your online reference or app - does it tell you about that? Most Apps and online guides don't give you clear and specific guidelines related to gero and pedi/adolescent clients either, so there's another advantage.I have both, I like both, but I'm much more likely to look in the Pocket psych drugs guide than the Psych notes.Summary: Great for experienced providers and students/new providers alike. Get this one if you're primarily seeking a psych drug and prescribing guide, get the Psych Notes if you want a more comprehensive pocket guide to all things psych practice, Get both if you're a student or new provider and can afford to buy both.

With the PDR print version apparently discontinued after the 2017 edition, these pocket guides are more handy than they used to be. Organized alphabetically by generic drug name, this text provides quick reference for each of the most utilized psychotropic medications. Outside the academic environment, clinicians tend to use brand names rather than generic identification, and there's a handy translation tool present, but it's buried on page 203. I'd rather see this right at the start so that it's easier to look up Effexor without having to remember that it will be under V for venlafaxine. I'm also concerned that the text does not include any of the medications used for patients with addictive disease. Buprenorphine, naltrexone, disulfiram, and naloxone, for example, are all missing - somewhat odd given that nearly half of patients with psychiatric illness also have addictive disease. Overall, though, for the drugs listed, the text provides a necessary workplace desktop reference that works more rapidly than looking something up on a computer.

My teenage son was recently diagnosed with bipolar. He's at the stage where they are trying different medications to see which ones will help him the most. As a mother, I really don't like the idea of letting him take pills that I know nothing about. This book has been a great help. His doctor was going to prescribe something to him and I was able to look it up in this book and realized it wasn't the right medication for him, or at least not in and of itself. I pointed this out to the psychiatrist and she did change his medications (ones that I looked up in this book and didn't see a problem with). Definitely recommend if you or a loved one are prescribed psychiatric medications. Doctors are human. They make mistakes and, regardless of what they believe, don't always know everything. This book is an important tool in understanding what is being prescribed, how it works, etc. It could be easier to navigate but other than that it's a brilliant resource.