by erin01

i just accepted a job on a ccu step down, and i am thrilled but to make this short and sweet i was always told i would never make it as a nurse when i was young. I proved them all wrong and graduated with honors from nursing school. But now that i am here i am starting to dout my math skills and wonder if it will get me introuble and fired. I love to read and study and will do anything but i am NOT a math wiz. What should i do? Especially when i get nervousness its like my brain shuts off. I am petrified i am gonna be found out and told i am stupid and be fired=( thanks for any info

Re: am i gonna fail ...cause of math nerves?

You should get you a Math for Meds workbook, and work all of the problems in the book. You can do this. You just need to have the confidence. Working all of those problems will give you the confidence.

Re: am i gonna fail ...cause of math nerves?

The level of math you will need to survive isn't much beyond solving simple ratios. Heparin ordered 8,000u, vial supplied 10,000u in 2cc, how many mls do you need? Each ml has 5,000u, so 8,000 divided by 5,000 is 1.6cc. I always want to know how much of the drug is in one ml. Or to stick with heparin, orders read for drip to run at 640u per hour and the bag from pharmacy has 20,000u in 500cc. Well thats 40u per ml so divide 640 by 40 and set the pump to deliver 16cc/hr. Alot of IV pumps will do the calcs for you. Some units even have the cardiac monitors set up to do the calculations. In the beginning always have someone check your calculations and you'll gradually gain more confidence. You're going to see the same calculations over and over. Mcg/kg/minute can be confusing at first but once you know the weight of the patient and the concentration per ml of the drug you just plug the numbers into the formula. Do the math and then call the pharmacist to double check your calculations. I have never had a pharmacist chide me for asking a question because they don't want you to make a mistake either. Good luck.

Re: am i gonna fail ...cause of math nerves?

thanks i can totally handle what you have talked about chisca!!!!

Re: am i gonna fail ...cause of math nerves?

if you have a smart phone or an ipod touch download and become very friendly with something called epocrates (its free). its a quick drug reference tool and also has several calculators. ive been using it for years