Dosage Calculations

I am a first year nursing student and I have a lot of stress over the dosage calculations exam that is coming up in Dec. I was wondering if anyone has any hints or websites that could help me prepare....

[Genista, BSN, RN]

Here's a webpage w/ some drug calc practice problems: http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/8517/Quiz/quiz.htm

Other than that, I would say "practice makes perfect." Do you have a basic drug calculations text book? If not, try picking one up at the local college bookstore or ordering one. They have lots of sample problems, examples, etc. The more you do it, the easier it gets (just like anything in nursing!) ;-) Good luck w/ your upcoming test.

[mnyapala]

can somebody please help me with Pharmacology.Im first year and they have combined pathophysiology and pharmacology.does somebody know the easy way out.its a 5 credit and really lots of work.Any suggestions please the exam is soon coming up.help

[dave1117]

is realy kind of easy when you finally understand it. I bought the book and taught myself and challenged out the course.

The book we use is "Clinical Calculations MAde Easy" by Gloria Craig. They sell it on line at Barnes & Noble.

If you start at page one and go right through the whole book you will have it down pat. They start with basic multiplying and dividing fractions and decimals and move up from one component problems to multiple component problems and drip rates by the end of the book. I did it and I definatley lost some brain cells in the late '70's , so I am sure you can do it also.

Good luck and happy studying. dave :wink2:

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

can somebody please help me with Pharmacology.Im first year and they have combined pathophysiology and pharmacology.does somebody know the easy way out.its a 5 credit and really lots of work.Any suggestions please the exam is soon coming up.help

What do you mean by 'easy way out'? What is it you want to know?

[dave1117]

I missed that.

Easy way out...

nothing I have found about nursing scholl has an easy way out that does not include a lot of hard work...

[SJW]

I agree with the poster who said to sit down with the math book you got for your classes. We used Calculate with Confidence, and it, too, started with the basics and went through drip rates, etc. I was always afraid of math in high school ( a LONG time ago!) but was determined not to let that fear stop me from succeeding in nursing school. A small group of us got our books early, met once a week for a month this summer and started going through the math book. I did every problem on every page through chapter 10 before school ever started and was glad I did, because the first assignment was Chapters 1 - 16! Anyway, we had our first math test last week and got the test back today and I got 100%!

That's the first 100 I can ever remember getting in math.

You can do it! Just get your hands on a book that starts with the very basics and work your way through it. Our books gave several ways to do each problem so you can figure out the way you like to do it the best, or the way that makes the most sense to you and use that. I know everyone says, "If I can do it, anyone can, but it's really true! If you put some time and effort in on it, you can learn it. And when you get done, you'll wonder why you were so stressed out about it! Really!!

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

The only easy way out of any test that I have taken was to really study and know the subject. Pharm isn't something that you can BS through. Remember, you will have to remember this info for the big test later on, so it is best to learn it correctly now.

[sydie]

I taught myself over the summer as well as soon as I got the book list. We use Dosage Calculations by Pickar and I love it.

We will be having our first semester math test next week. If I would have waited until starting NS to have started on the math I would be in big trouble. All of my time right now is focused on Fluids & Electrolytes for our 2nd test a week from Monday. I highly recommend you sit down and just learn it...from step 1!

Good luck...as you can see from many of the posters, it can be done with some hard work and dedication.

[truern]

can somebody please help me with Pharmacology.Im first year and they have combined pathophysiology and pharmacology.does somebody know the easy way out.its a 5 credit and really lots of work.Any suggestions please the exam is soon coming up.help

You'll have to pass drug calc tests every semester of nursing school just to progress to the next semester. There is NO "easy way out".

Not to mention when you're in clinical calculating IV drip rates, etc.

And then there's the NCLEX...not to mention actual practice.

[mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP]

I taught myself over the summer as well as soon as I got the book list. We use Dosage Calculations by Pickar and I love it.

We will be having our first semester math test next week. If I would have waited until starting NS to have started on the math I would be in big trouble. All of my time right now is focused on Fluids & Electrolytes for our 2nd test a week from Monday. I highly recommend you sit down and just learn it...from step 1!

Good luck...as you can see from many of the posters, it can be done with some hard work and dedication.

Our 1st semester we used a CD by Castillo (also comes with a book). That was probably the ONLY way I learned drug calcs. This CD is a step by step tutorial for every section. It explains the basics with practice problems along the way. Each unit has 2 module tests. It gets progressivly harder as you go. It was awesome. Whenever I don't understand...I pull this CD back out and review.

We now use this book and its OK. We test on a chapter out of this book every week at clinical. I think I might like this book a bit better if I could get the CD to work on a computer :-)

For me it's just practice, practice, practice.

[crb613, BSN, RN]

http://www-isu.indstate.edu/mary/n205.htm This site has math & alot of other useful info. I alos used Calc. with Confidence & it is very good!