Can I still be a good nurse if I'm bad at math?

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Hello everyone! I will have all my pre-nursing school classes completed this Fall semester. I have order the study guide for the PAX-RN exam and I am very nervous about the math section! I am horrible at math. I can do the basics, but anything beyond that is so confusing to me. Does anyone have any tips on studying for this test or any tips to get better in math? Also, can I still be a good nurse if I struggle in math? Thank you guys! :)

Thank you everyone for your input. I will study up on math!

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Please don't let fear of math stop you! I had an amazing lpn instructor who taught us dimensional analysis for meds...sounded intimidating but actually a very simple formula to figure dosage calculations correctly. Can be self taught I bought myself a used book on Amazon for extra practice .

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Specializes in Nephrology Home Therapies, Wound Care, Foot Care..

See the TEAS test thread that's running

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I was SOOO bad at math to begin with and I did fine on my PAX-RN got accepted RN school on my first try. I would suggest finding a math tutor to brush up on fractions, decimals, and basic algebra. Best wishes to you!!

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
First, stop the self-talk about being horrible at math! Change that up with "I'm not great at math RIGHT NOW but am going to take steps to get good at it!"

A tutor is probably your best bet- get regular help AND practice every single day.

It really is like riding a bike. If the first time you rode a bike you fell off (like most of us did) - would you spend the rest of your life saying "I'm horrible at bike riding!"? Of course not! You got back on, tried again, practiced and got good at it. Same principle!

Best wishes!

Funny, I very recently heard a motivational speaker addressing some kids; he is a 7-time world champion triathlete, who was also cut from 7 athletic teams as a kid. He had the kids do this exercise, where they write down their "I can't" or "I'm bad at" statements on a piece of paper, then crumple up and throw them on the floor. Instead of saying to yourself "I'm bad at math," you say "I am open and interested in learning math. I am becoming good at math by working hard." :yes:

Nursing school math isn't too terrible to be honest. It's single-variable algebra at its hardest. I've heard good things about Khan academy, or even look on You Tube for nursing math tutorials.

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Specializes in ICU, trauma.

I still use my fingers to count :x3:

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Math in Nursing school is easy...once you learn it and get comfortable with doing it. If I were you, I'd familiarize myself with how to do dosage calculations for adults and pediatrics. Calculating heparin can be slightly challenging also but you have to learn it so I would learn those things aforementioned before even entering nursing school that way you'll have a one up because trust and believe there are so many other challenging concepts in nursing that you'll need to focus on.

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Most of the stuff on the TEAS was pretty easy. I did not do as well on it because while I was studying I noticed when I graded what I had done almost all of my mistakes were because I hurried and made dumb errors. When it came time to take the real test I took my time, and and ran out of time with about 5 questions left! That sucked. I still got into nursing school, but if I had to do it over again I would do better at time management; the math part of it was easy.

The English part of the TEAS was kind of funny because while doing google searches for the grammar questions they wanted me to know I kept coming up with "School House Rock'. I relearned some of it with "Consumption Junction, what's your function!"

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Thank you all soooo much! :x3:

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A friend of mine who is a nurse says you will never get one of these bizarro problems like you find in textbooks where they say convert 5 lbs. of Keflex into tablets, etc. Actually, when I started my chemistry class, we had to do lots of dosage conversions and I really struggled with it, but I just opened my textbook to find a crazy problem and I realized none of them were crazy to me anymore because I worked hard to learn how to do them. Using conversion factors, understanding the algebra behind them, and my husband Sal Khan (and my real husband, too, who in an algebra whiz!) made it easy for me. You can do this.

☎ Sent from my rotary phone ☎

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