Help....Calculations...

jerryh55 · Aug 29, 2005

http://www.indstate.edu/mary/tutorial.htm See if this helps you any. Was from another thread

Be Safe

Jerry

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Aug 29, 2005

The instructor who gave the exam is completely mean to me...so I didn't want to ask her too many questions. . .I can't even ask her a question without her being rude and mean to me.. .Also, I do not have a calculation book...and I was wondering if anyone could give me a website or example of a pediatric calculations....and what do you all do with answers when they need to be rounded?

Just reading your message brought a couple of things to my mind. You have got to get over the effect this instructor has on you emotionally. What are you going to do if a doctor treats you the same way? Second, you can ask her a question, but you have to ask the right way. I'm not defending her treatment of you, but I'm sure that in her own way she is trying to be helpful, believe it or not.

Suck it up. Forget that you think she is mean. Go to her and tell her you know you are having a real problem with drug calculations. Can she recommend a book, a website, another student who is really good at it, or some other resource that you can go to to help you with this. This is the kind of response that she's looking for from you. Nursing school is not only a place to learn nursing, but also to learn to be assertive and more importantly, where to go to start getting answers to your questions. No one is going to give you the answers to the questions you have been asking because you won't learn anything by that.

Get a calculation book. It sounds like you know you need one, so do it.

I can't help you with any websites on this business of rounding off pediatric dosages--it's not my field. I am a mathematics student, however, and in math anything 5 or above is rounded "up" and anything 4 or below is left "as is".

As a nurse you will be expected to take the bull by the horns and get some action going when you have a problem to solve. You can't sit on problems hoping they will go away. You are going to have to put some effort into this calculation problem you are having or nursing school is going to be history. I hope you understand that.

truern · Aug 29, 2005

Were you figuring pediatric doses in this exam??

JustAnuthaGirl · Aug 30, 2005

Just reading your message brought a couple of things to my mind. You have got to get over the effect this instructor has on you emotionally. What are you going to do if a doctor treats you the same way? Second, you can ask her a question, but you have to ask the right way. I'm not defending her treatment of you, but I'm sure that in her own way she is trying to be helpful, believe it or not.
Suck it up. Forget that you think she is mean. Go to her and tell her you know you are having a real problem with drug calculations. Can she recommend a book, a website, another student who is really good at it, or some other resource that you can go to to help you with this. This is the kind of response that she's looking for from you. Nursing school is not only a place to learn nursing, but also to learn to be assertive and more importantly, where to go to start getting answers to your questions. No one is going to give you the answers to the questions you have been asking because you won't learn anything by that.
Get a calculation book. It sounds like you know you need one, so do it.
I can't help you with any websites on this business of rounding off pediatric dosages--it's not my field. I am a mathematics student, however, and in math anything 5 or above is rounded "up" and anything 4 or below is left "as is".
As a nurse you will be expected to take the bull by the horns and get some action going when you have a problem to solve. You can't sit on problems hoping they will go away. You are going to have to put some effort into this calculation problem you are having or nursing school is going to be history. I hope you understand that.

I completely understand what you are saying, and maybe if I wasn't rushing, I wouldn't have sounded as if I sit back and wait. I have always been one to ask questions and get resources from instructors that will help me in what I am trying to accomplish. I did not go out and buy a calculations book because I still have my pharm notes, text, and study guide. I have taken calculation tests for the past three semesters (and only missing one problem which had to do with fluid drams?), and this is the first one I did not pass (but it was a pretest), so I feel nervous. I am more nervous because when I went to the instructor to point out that one question was not complete, I was told to assume it was 1 ml....and I have NEVER been told to assume anything when dealing with calculating a medication. Also, our Pharm instructor told us to never round up when doing peds...but other instructors have let us round up. So whe I took that test, I was not sure what to do.

I know in the future I will have to deal with all kinds of people while working in the field of nursing.....hell...I have to deal with them now as a matter of fact.

I posted this for advice, not a hand to hold....so I am sorry if I sounded that way. I always make posts about advice....and only because I know in my heart I am not the only one who goes through a situation....there is always a road that has been walked on by someone other than me.

Also, I have sucked it up, and I can not get over the effect she has on me...until the day I graduate. She did not treat me respectfully since day one of nursing school because I had a nose ring. I no longer have it, but I am the same person. I was making A's and B's in my concepts class (that she taught the first semester of nursing school) on articles AND projects....until she learned my name. From the day that woman called me by name, whenever I see her and ask her anything, she rolls her eyes gives me a half answer.

I had an issue last semester while going to attend clinicals, and the next day, before I could even get all of the facts, she had a letter typed up for me to withdraw from the nursing program....no questions asked. I said no, I wanted to resolve the problem, and I did. A month later, she came up to me yelling "Why didn't you withdraw?!?!" I told her everything was straight, and she looked so angry.

Not trying to change my post into personal issues....but please know I am not a cry baby, and I really have nothing to suck up. I know what it is going to take for me to get through nursing school....but I was wondering if anyone had any advice for PEDIATRIC CALCULATIONS...since the peds instructor is only there on Wednesday (the day I take the exam)

Thanks....for the website and wishes Jerry.

JustAnuthaGirl · Aug 30, 2005

Were you figuring pediatric doses in this exam??

Yes...and I do know how to round....but I wasn't sure if I would round up when giving the medication to a child....and still don't know to be honest. I have not found it in any book...I was just following what our Pharm instructor taught us.

truern · Aug 30, 2005

Okay, well in Peds I learned to wait until the very last equation to round up. So if you're figuriing something like mg/kg/day and the med comes in something other than mg that you may have to convert, don't round the weight and don't round the med....wait until the LAST thing and round then. You know you can't give 36.6 something drops, so you'd *have* to round that.

You really do need to invest in a good meds calc book, though.

Have you started doing IV calcutions yet??

JustAnuthaGirl · Aug 30, 2005

Okay, well in Peds I learned to wait until the very last equation to round up. So if you're figuriing something like mg/kg/day and the med comes in something other than mg that you may have to convert, don't round the weight and don't round the med....wait until the LAST thing and round then. You know you can't give 36.6 something drops, so you'd *have* to round that.
You really do need to invest in a good meds calc book, though.
Have you started doing IV calucations yet??

Yes....that's mostly what is on our exams now. Do you have a suggestions on a good one? So far, I have only seen two...Pharmacology Reviews and Rationales, and one called Drug Calculations.

And thanks for the help.

truern · Aug 30, 2005

I used Math for Meds by Curren and Munday.....and every practice test I could find online :)

It takes repetition...doing the problems over and over until it's second nature.

hardcorae · Aug 30, 2005

So far, I have only seen two...Pharmacology Reviews and Rationales, and one called Drug Calculations.

My school uses Dimensional Analysis for Meds by Anna Curren. I'm not sure if your school teaches Dimensional Analysis or not, but if you're permitted to use DA, this is a great book.