dimensional analysis saved my life

Nursing Students General Students

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hi everyone!

i would say this is one of the happiest days of my life as a nursing student! its the 2nd week of school ,2nd sem of nursing school and with all the confusion of who is going to be our instructor for clinical(got changed 3x),to what hospital were going to have our clinical at,what unit.etc! omg what a a week!

at first we thought we would be taking our drug calc on tuesday (last week) then instructor said.oh i got an email and clinical coordinator said its going to be on friday.got moved to tuesday(earlier today)finally! i studied like ive never studied before because failing is not an option! i failed last sem and now i am a semester behind because of that drug calc! but! i am sooooo happy i passed my drug calc test and got 20/20! :D:nurse:

dimensional analysis saved me! it applied to every problem and using this method, you get to see which units cancel out and what you are looking for!!!!!!!!i took a class in college of san mateo,studied the practice exam in our syllabus, went over the book(calculate with confidence,and another book) and did a lot of practice problems.whew! i feel very relieved,blessed,happy because now i can at least focus on med surg..so happppppy!;)

as a little treat,i ate with my bf and bought myself a grey crackle nail polish (i know,i know its not really allowed in nursing school but,ill take it off before next tuesday because tuesday is clinical day)..lol!:lol2:

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Congrats Nursingstudent88! Sounds like you did great. What is Dimensional Analysis? Do you have a web site that shows it?

I'd really like to check it out :)

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Specializes in ICU Surgical Trauma.
Congrats Nursingstudent88! Sounds like you did great. What is Dimensional Analysis? Do you have a web site that shows it?

I'd really like to check it out :)

Dimension analysis is amazing!! it's a must know for dosage calculations. It actually a fairly new method and many seasoned nurses are not sure about it because they learned a different method. But it's very easy to learn... good luck on you dosage calculations!

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Congrats on the test! I learned dimensional analysis (unit-factor method) in chemistry - it was a little awkward at first, but with practice, it is a "fail proof" way to calculate dosages with the proper units. The units of the dosages and rates guide the problem set-up, and the desired result is also examined before setting up the problem, which I think is helpful, and cuts down on silly mistakes. I plan on using it for dosage calc tests!

Check it: http://www.alysion.org/dimensional/fun.htm

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Congrats! I never got the grasp of it in chemistry, don't know why, but our school offers a toolbox class, and the teacher does it in there and i totally got it. I can't do dosage calculations any other way!*L*

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We had to take a a dimensional analysis class before we could even be admitted to our nursing program. I agree that it makes everything a heck of a lot easier and I don't think its difficult at all!!! Good job!!! Very happy for you. :)

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thank you everyone!:lol2: dimensional analysis is a method for dosage calculation where you cancel out similar and units and you arrive at the answer,example:

100 ml of d5w to infuse over 8hrs. Set calibration is 20gtts/mL/what is the drop rate?

you know you are looking for (drops per milliliter) so you write everything in fraction form,its easier that way!

gtts/mL= 20 gtts/1mL x 100mL/8hrs x 1hr/60 mins.see how mL and hrs cancel out each other?you are left with gtts /min!

answer is 4gtts/min!

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I learned this also over the summer and it is really a breeze!!

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Specializes in Nursing Student (LPN).

Dimensional Analys- can someone solve this?

"Pt. to recieve 1.2 gm of med. q12 hrs. The vial contains 1.5 gm/ml. How many mg of medication will the nurse administer each day?"

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Specializes in School Nursing.

I agree- it's the only fail safe way to do dosage calculations. If you ask me, that was the ONLY thing I took from Chemistry that benefits me now.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

Khan Academy is the best online tutor out there.

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Specializes in ER.
Dimensional Analys- can someone solve this?

"Pt. to recieve 1.2 gm of med. q12 hrs. The vial contains 1.5 gm/ml. How many mg of medication will the nurse administer each day?"

mg/day= 1000mg/1g x 1.2g/12 hours x 24 hours/1 day = 2400 mg/day

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