Desperately need help with dosage calculations

Brainyheart · May 27, 2006

Hi, Helpseeker,

My best advice would be to get yourself a copy of Anna Curren's "Dimensional Analysis for Meds." It is one of the clearest and most useful tools for learning med calc that I have EVER seen. You can also Google "Nursing math" or "Math help for nursing students." I have seen a few good things on the web, but Curren is a sure bet. Good luck! Keep trying and don't give up!

Beary-nice · May 27, 2006

My main advice I can give and I had to learn this the hard way is never change an answer on a test unless you are 110% sure that you made a mistake. A professor of mine who was also my advisor at the state college I went to convinced me of this and it hasn't failed me. I think you may also find a few threads in regards to good books and websites for help with the dosage calc. Good luck!

RN_N_DA_MAKN · May 27, 2006

You can also try http://www.maagnursing.com for help with dosage calculations. The site explains everything in an easy to understand and follow format and provides excellent tutorials and quizzes for free.

I'm currently in my 3rd semester, and I've developed some serious test anxiety since beginning nursing school. Each time we take a dosage calculations test, I pretend that each question is an actual order in the hospital that I am about to administer and not a "test" question in school. I made a 100% on 2 out of 3 test!!

Good luck!!

RunnerRN, BSN, RN · May 27, 2006

The best advice I have for you is to write down every conversion factor (1 tsp = 5 ml, 1 oz = 30 ml, etc) and then take another piece of paper and just write the english measurement (1 tsp = x, 1 oz = x). Fill this page in over and over again until you are completely confident in yourself with conversions.

Then go back to your math book (I hope they're teaching you from a book) and do all the practice problems. I had a terrible time with chemistry math, which is very similar to nursing dimensional analysis math. But once I worked with it some and figured out a few tricks, it got easier. Best trick I learned was you always start your conversion with what your looking for.

Example: The doctor orders 12.5 mg of phenergan. The medication is supplied as 25 mg in 1 ml. How much do you draw up?

I realize this is a very simple example (and you probably think I'm an idiot for using it) but you can't do the complicated ones until you get the simple ones. I found that if I started off that simple - understanding where to begin - it all fell into place, because you can focus on what to do next by looking at what you have to cross out to get to your end numbers. (In other words, you know what you're looking for from the beginning)

I hope this helps a little. Feel free to pm me for other help....Good luck!

HM2VikingRN, RN · May 27, 2006

My main advice I can give and I had to learn this the hard way is never change an answer on a test unless you are 110% sure that you made a mistake. A professor of mine who was also my advisor at the state college I went to convinced me of this and it hasn't failed me. I think you may also find a few threads in regards to good books and websites for help with the dosage calc. Good luck!

Absolutely right. There is a book called blink by malcolm gladwell that talks about the power of thinking and not thinking. Basically the idea of blink is that often your brain recognizes "right vs not right" before the rest of your cognitive processes catch up. I think your professor gave you very good guidance.

HM2VikingRN, RN · May 27, 2006

You can also try www.maagnursing.com for help with dosage calculations. The site explains everything in an easy to understand and follow format and provides excellent tutorials and quizzes for free.
I'm currently in my 3rd semester, and I've developed some serious test anxiety since beginning nursing school. Each time we take a dosage calculations test, I pretend that each question is an actual order in the hospital that I am about to administer and not a "test" question in school. I made a 100% on 2 out of 3 test!!
Good luck!!

Good practice for measure twice cut once or do it right the first time:idea: I think this strategy helps you put patient safety first!.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 27, 2006

Perhaps learning some meditation and relaxation techniques will help you. You have to learn to get your emotions in check during tests. I don't know what to suggest to you except perhaps some breathing exercises. I have done meditation for many years and part of that is simple muscle relaxation that takes about 2 minutes to perform. Also, you need to find other memory techniques beside straight memorization to help you remember your conversion factors. That way when your memory fails you, you have a backup such as a mneumonic or a word story to help you out. Something else you can do is to write down the conversion factors and see if there is some way to put them together in a table that is easy for you to recreate on paper without even thinking about the what all the numbers mean. This is how we were taught to always be able to know the correct sine, cosine, tangent and their inverse functions of 30/60, 45 and 90 degree angles in trigonometry, no thinking involved.