Every day math

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I'm a high school senior and I plan on becoming a women's health nurse practitioner. I'm pretty okay with math, I just have a HUGE complex with it. It's my lowest section on the ACT. In any case, I was wondering how much math is involved with every day nursing duties and what math classes you recommend me taking in college.

I really appreciate the feed back. =]

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

I never had the first taste of algebra till I started nursing school. Now I use it frequently. I used a tutor while in nursing school. I recommend you google for nursing math online or go to a bookstore for a math/med book. You might be surprised how much better you are then you think, especially when you can relate the math to a real life situation.

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I put together a Math calculator in Excel and it is now on the hospitals intranet for nurses to use if they are unsure. If anyone is interested, I am more than willing to share. Only thing is, the UK is entirely metric. I remember when I worked in the States in the late 70's, you were using some imperial. I had never heard of drams before I went there! Do you still use that as a measure? And quarts & gills is definately out on my calculator!

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I agree with classicdame. I am in a Mathematical Measurements class after 20 years without a math class. Everything in this class is related to real situations, like if your pt's IV is 2/5 empty and there is 600ml left in the bag, how much was in the bag when it was full? I find it so much more understandable and interesting than x = 2/5x + 600

Why don't you find out what the pre-reqs are for the nursing programs to which you want to apply, that will tell you what to take in college. Good luck! You will do fine.

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Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.

If you can, try and adjust the formulas you learn to something that seems logical to you.

For example:

If you want to know how much of a medication you need to give, I always say

"What you want" x volume

"What you've got"

rather than:

amount required x volume

amount available

Its just easier to remember if you can relate it practically

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Yeah, I've looked up all my prerequisites so I know the math classes I need to take. I was just wondering how prepared I would be given the prerequisites and how much math nurses use.

http://nursing.uams.edu/Recruiting/BSNbrochure.pdf

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