Calculator not permitted?!

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Aug 13, 2006

A calculator doesn't insure accuracy. It's easy to enter an incorrect digit, or misplace a decimal, or turn the equation around.
You still have to double check, and have at least a ballpark idea of what the correct answer is, so that you know if the answer you get is reasonable.

Exactly. How many times have any of us punched in some numbers and looked at the result and thought "HUH???". You need to know how to arrive at the answer correctly without one....however, that said, I still always double-check my answer with a calculator. If I get the same answer, life is good :)

Makes me think of something an instructor said when we were beginning to prepare for dosage calc test first semester: once you've reached an answer, LOOK AT IT. Does it make sense? If you're being asked to take whatever med is on hand in tablet form, calculate out how much of it you will need to give to fulfill MD order, does it seem reasonable that the answer would be 48 pills??? Also, pay attention to those pesky decimals : does it make sense you'd give 26 mls of something, or 2.6?

Gotta be able to think :)

tddowney · Aug 13, 2006

..... My much younger sister was allowed to count on her fingers when doing a math problem in school-I went to Catholic school and my fingers would have been slapped with a ruler if the nuns saw me counting on them. We had multiplication drills daily etc. LOL, I sound like one of those old coots who say "I walked to school in 10 feet of snow, barefoot." .

LOL

I'm about 18 years older than you, and I thought the nuns had stopped whackin' fingers before you got to school.

:lol2:

I don't recall if I ever got my hand smacked for counting with my fingers, but they drilled math into us enough to where I can do a lot in my head, and with paper and pencil, just about anything.

BTW, did the ground where you live tilt from morning to afternoon, so you walked uphill both ways?

puggymae · Aug 13, 2006

Nursing school is college - the actual math procedures of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions and decimals is fifth grade math (check out the math workbooks at Walmart). Would you want someone to care for you or your family who can't do those calculations without a calculator? I wouldn't.

Finallyy · Aug 14, 2006

And speaking of faux pas?
(I suppose that if you are deceased, your math skills will be poor...but I don't know that you will pass the physical required of nurses if you are minus a pulse.)

Your sarcasm is appreciated.

I was given a prognosis and I obviously beat it or I wouldn't be sitting here today.

If I ever make it far enough to become a nurse, I'll actually have some compassion too.

Lachrymologist · Aug 14, 2006

And speaking of faux pas?
(I suppose that if you are deceased, your math skills will be poor...but I don't know that you will pass the physical required of nurses if you are minus a pulse.)

Was that necessary?

pepsihla · Aug 14, 2006

the math skills are still taught in nursing school,but in block III, and IV, they allow for calculators at the nursing school I attended. These are basic calculators that are allowed. Every math class and statistic class I have had allowed the use of calculators and Excel as a tool for calculations.

I don't understand the point of doing the math in your head for a magic number to use as a constant for a gtt rate when your titrating vasoactive or inotropic medications and ones where you need accurate calculations.

I think my patients and family members appreciate the calculator method to calculate their loved ones gtts after a cardiac surgery. I surely don't have time to do these in my head, or want to count on the accuracy of my rushed thoughts when my patients blood pressure is circling the drain.

I like to use technology to my advantage so I can provide safe and efficient care for my patients, and nursing schools should also recommend the same, but also allow for basic math skills to be assessed.

I think nursing schools need to focus on not avoiding or eliminating technology but how to use it to your advantage so you can become a safer nurse.

My question is, do they refrain calculators in your clinical portion? If they don't, then why should they not be used during the test?

Heidi

Pro-calculator

ortess1971 · Aug 14, 2006

LOL
I'm about 18 years older than you, and I thought the nuns had stopped whackin' fingers before you got to school.
I don't recall if I ever got my hand smacked for counting with my fingers, but they drilled math into us enough to where I can do a lot in my head, and with paper and pencil, just about anything.
BTW, did the ground where you live tilt from morning to afternoon, so you walked uphill both ways?

My Catholic school had a lot of nuns teaching, at least in the early grades. We still got whacked-one of the nuns, I think she had dementia. She taught library skills and locked a boy in the supply closet for the remainder of the class period. I had long, long hair as a little girl and would wear them in braids. I got them yanked by the nun on more than one occasion. I had strict parents so if I went home and told them that I got in trouble in school, I'd get in trouble at home too. My public school friends were always horrified when I'd tell them what went on at our school. :lol2:

In the cafeteria, if you got hot lunch and didn't clean your plate, the nun that oversaw the cafeteria would make you sit down and finish, because of all the unfortunate children who were hungry. I'm not kidding! The catholic schools were allowed to get away with a lot, and many parents didn't call them on it, because many of the parents went to Catholic school too and they survived. I bet teachers in public schools wish they had 1/100th of the disciplinary power those nuns had though! Even though some of those nuns were wacko, I think it primed me in a big way for nursing school. A lot of those instructors are very nunlike in the sense that they use intimidation to teach. Therefore, I work well under fear. Anytime, I had a "tough" instructor, I simply pictured her in a nun's habit!

azhiker96, BSN, RN · Aug 14, 2006

A calculator doesn't insure accuracy. It's easy to enter an incorrect digit, or misplace a decimal, or turn the equation around.
You still have to double check, and have at least a ballpark idea of what the correct answer is, so that you know if the answer you get is reasonable.

:yeahthat: I still chuckle about a convenience store clerk. I bought a cup of coffee and paid with a $10 bill. She entered it wrong in the register and tried to give me almost $19 in change! I had to argue with her. She remembered I gave her a $10 but insisted the register was correct. :lol2:

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Aug 14, 2006

Your sarcasm is appreciated.
I was given a prognosis and I obviously beat it or I wouldn't be sitting here today.
If I ever make it far enough to become a nurse, I'll actually have some compassion too.

Touche'.

I have beat my prognosis, so far by about 23 years, so I generally do not refer to myself as having been "terminally" ill. But I suppose if others wish to, that is to them. But it may confuse others.

DarlinNurseRed · Aug 14, 2006

Very nice examples, Pheebz777. Cheers to you!

tddowney · Aug 14, 2006

Makes me think of something an instructor said when we were beginning to prepare for dosage calc test first semester: once you've reached an answer, LOOK AT IT. Does it make sense? If you're being asked to take whatever med is on hand in tablet form, calculate out how much of it you will need to give to fulfill MD order, does it seem reasonable that the answer would be 48 pills??? Also, pay attention to those pesky decimals : does it make sense you'd give 26 mls of something, or 2.6?
Gotta be able to think :)

48 pills does seem a bit high. Or, 0.0048 pills might also be suspect. :lol2: