dosage calc

WDWpixieRN, RN · Dec 7, 2006

Which conversion factors? Metrics? Or ?!?!

iluvdiddy · Dec 7, 2006

all the conversions!! I can't seem to get them into my head!! some of them are not hard to remember like 1g+1000mg or 1mg=1000mcg but when it comes to minims and all those others I get confused..... HELP

WDWpixieRN, RN · Dec 7, 2006

Well, we haven't used too much beside L, mL, g, mg, mcg, and conversions with teaspoon, tablespoons, cups, etc....but it's just memorization for me...and believe me, for an old gal of 50 who wasn't exposed to this until I hit chemistry 2 summers ago, it wasn't easy!! I didn't understand metrics at all, never mind WHAT they were....

I had to go to a local math tutoring place and pay to get it straightened out in my gray head!! I still have a hard time visualizing the amounts these are -- I can ballpark a teaspoon or a cup without measuring, but a mg or a mL?!?! Ha....still working on that!!

Good luck....maybe someone else will come up with some good ways to help you memorize!

NaomieRN · Dec 7, 2006

Print a sheet with all the ones you cannot remember and stick in your refrigerator door. That way, you will see each time you getting something out of the fridge.

augigi, CNS · Dec 7, 2006

It's pretty easy if you get familiar with the metric system naming.

Milli = one thousandth.

So: 1 millilitre = 1 litre/1000

1 milligram = 1 gram/1000

Micro = one millionth

So: 1 microgram= 1 gram/1 000 000

Kilo = thousand times

So: 1 kg = 1 gram X 1000

Just remember in these examples that litre or gram is your base unit, and the milli/micro etc refer to a proportion of the base unit.

This site explains = Commonly used metric system units, symbols, and prefixes

I think you have to memorise to some degree, but at least if you know what the names mean, you should have a head start.

Eirene, ASN, RN · Dec 7, 2006

An easy way to remember is to get a medicine cup and memorize it. That's how I learned.

Remember that Tylenol and ASA are always 65mg= gr 1. That always gets people on the exams.

I memorized minums and gtt's at the same time. For some reason, the gtt's were easier to remember.

Good luck!

iluvdiddy · Dec 7, 2006

Thanks for the reply!! I guess I will have to just memorize them somehow. I can do the dosage calc with no problems at all..but when I have to convert I get freaked out!! Thanks again :monkeydance:

chenoaspirit, ASN, RN · Dec 10, 2006

make a straight lin. In the middle put the unit such as gram or liter, etc. Then place the mili, micro, cent, etc on thatline accordingly. Then all you do is move the decimal points.

example: kilo, hecto, deka, UNIT, deci, centi milli

Now how many centimeters in 2 meters. Place 2 in the UNIT place and move the decimal over to centi, which would be 2 places. There would be 200 centimeters in 2 meters. Make sense?

The prefex has the same meaning no matter which unit (meter, gram, or liter) the prefix is attached to. Which ones are you having the most problems with?