Conflicting Dosage Calculation Information

ItsThatJenGirl, CNA · Apr 13, 2018

If your instructor says to round, you round.

mrsboots87 · Apr 13, 2018

And some of this will depend on the med. you can't draw up 3.3 units of insulin but you can draw up 3.3 mL of whatever med.

However for school, you literally do the math how the instructor tells you to. If they say round, you round. Never go solely by what a book says since it's the instructor who grades and passes you.

beekee · Apr 13, 2018

The instructions for the exam said to round. I fail to see what your book or a past instructor said has to do with it. Would I try to fight it? Sure, it won't hurt. But, don't expect much.

zynnnie · Apr 14, 2018

I know , it is heartbreaking for me to think I will sit out two Quarter(six months) because I didn't round from 333.3 to 333. I pray they temper justice with Mercy cos the punshiment outlays the crime.

Guest219794 · Apr 14, 2018

It sounds like you didn't read the instructions.

KrCmommy522, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2018

It sounds like you didn't read the instructions.

Agreed. You knew that you had to pass the test to be able to continue in your program. So, with that, it seems like you would realize the importance of reading and following the instructions. As other posters said, it doesn't matter what past instructors or your book says. What matters is what the instructions on the test you were taking at that moment said, and they said to round. You need to be able to read and follow instructions. So, it does seem the punishment might fit the crime. It's unfortunate that failing the class will hold you back 2 quarters, but you knew what would happen if you failed the test and didn't follow instructions.

bugya90, ASN, BSN, LVN, RN · Apr 14, 2018

Depends on the drug too. Some drugs you can give 0.3 of something and some you can't. You can't have a fraction of a drop if it is an IV calculation and you can't give a fraction of a unit of insulin, but you can give a fraction of a pill (you can cut a pill within reason) or fraction of a mL. If you're instructor is telling you to round it may be because if the drug that is on the test question.

This is where you need to use critical thinking and apply it to your test questions. These types of questions do come up on NCLEX (I had 1 on my LPN and 1 on my RN NCLEX).

ChazzW · Apr 14, 2018

I am so sorry this happened to you. With that said, Nursing is about having sufficient knowledge and following instructions/procedures/policies. Anytime, an instructor gives instructions, you follow them. Anytime, a clinical instructor tells you how to do something, you do it. This following instructions will set you up well when you are working in the Nursing field with your RN credentials. There is always several ways a task could be done, but an RN must follow the policies of employer they work for. As an RN with close to 4 years experience, I can attest to this. Trust me, it is imperative, you as a Nursing student always follow instructions.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Apr 14, 2018

As an instructor (which I am), I would let you move on. The instructions in the book and by YOUR instructor (but not the other one) were conflicting.

Be professional in your email appeal to your instructor, lay out your case, DO NOT WHINE. DO NOT use the word "unfair," which is what a 13th grader would say. Just the facts.

Good luck.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Apr 14, 2018

The instructions for the exam said to round. I fail to see what your book or a past instructor said has to do with it.

It does matter. With students who are rule-driven in their development toward becoming a nurse, inconsistency confuses them. Also, content in an earlier class is used to build upon knowledge in subsequent classes. Expectations from previous instructors are carried to subsequent classes by students.

The number in the dosage calculation was correct. To round or not to round was inconsistent between instructors and in instructional materials. It matters.

KrCmommy522, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2018

It does matter. With students who are rule-driven in their development toward becoming a nurse, inconsistency confuses them. Also, content in an earlier class is used to build upon knowledge in subsequent classes. Expectations from previous instructors are carried to subsequent classes by students.
The number in the dosage calculation was correct. To round or not to round was inconsistent between instructors and in instructional materials. It matters.

But it does matter - even for a rule-driven student (or, one could say especially for a rule driven student). There was no inconsistency. Yes, the book said you can round or leave as decimal (so it would leave it up to the instructor to say what they wanted students to do, and this instructor said to round). A PAST instructor said not to round, but the CURRENT instructor said to round. You go with the rules of the CURRENT instructor - who stated on the exam in the instructions to round and apparently stated to the class to round. It is just like being at one hospital that has a policy to do something one way and going to another hospital that has a policy to do something a different way. You follow the rules/instructions/policies of wherever you CURRENTLY are, not those of where you were in the past. If you are rule-driven, and you are told my one instructor to round, and then take another class with a different instructor to round, you are going to follow the rules of the current instructor. Again, just like if you were at a hospital that said do something one way and went to a different hospital that said something another way, you would go with the current hospital you are employed at.