Math!

Fox · Mar 23, 2003

Do anybody know any good websites for math?

P_RN, ADN, RN · Mar 23, 2003

try math.com

Fundamentals: learned bathing, bed making, filling ice pitchers, emptying urinals (and learning the difference between the two, gave pills, gave shots, learned the instructor wanted our shoelaces painted w/ white shoe polish too

labs:

chemistry I think we made aspirin,

microbiology: looked at stuff under a microscope and tried to identify all the things that wiggled

anatomy:examined dead cat

pediatrics:went to day care center, nursery, clinic

OB: did OB stuff

Med Surg: did med surg stuff.

Professional Nursing seminar: heck if I remember...I did make an A though

RNonsense · Mar 23, 2003

"anatomy:examined dead cat"

Heather would have liked that! :)

As to math...we do all our own calculations too. One of the most frustrating is having to do narcan!!!

CraftyLPN · Mar 23, 2003

Algebra!! I am so baad at math...LOL!! LIl trick that my instructor taught me.."Start with what you know"...That helped alot!!

Anaclaire · Mar 23, 2003

I was very math challenged from first grade all the way through high school... received my share of Cs, Ds and even one F my sophmore year of high school! It made me feel sooooo awful!!! I think I had some sort of mental block or something.

The math part of the education was what scared me from going to nursing school. After talking with several nurses, I gained enough confidence to give nursing a try. Thankfully my school had a very good instructor for teaching "Drugs and Solutions/Nursing Math" and I actually aced the class!!! No one was more surprised than me!!!!!!!!!!

If you truly want to be a nurse, don't let the math thing keep you from giving it a try. It's just basic math and algebra... not like trig, or calculus!!! Some BSN programs require "Statistics" as part of their curriculum for being able to do well in "Research" class, but that's about as hard as the math gets.... from what I hear...

Good luck with whatever you decide!!!

LauraF, RN, ASN, CNA, LPN, RN · Mar 23, 2003

I love math. We used to have to take these dosage calculation tests and had to get 100% to continue on in the program. I used to get with some of the other students and help them. One even came up after the test and gave me a hug, because she had gone from 48% to 100%

I guess what I'm saying is find someone to help you be it a math tutor or someone in your class who is doing really well. We all worked together in our class. To show you how well we worked together. I had a brand new '88 cavelier 2-door. We would pile 5 grown adults in that car 3 days a week for clinicals. Unfortunately we grew apart after class. But working together we all got straight A's.

jenn234 · Mar 23, 2003

Originally posted by Anaclaire
I was very math challenged from first grade all the way through high school... received my share of Cs, Ds and even one F my sophmore year of high school! It made me feel sooooo awful!!! I think I had some sort of mental block or something.

The math part of the education was what scared me from going to nursing school. After talking with several nurses, I gained enough confidence to give nursing a try. Thankfully my school had a very good instructor for teaching "Drugs and Solutions/Nursing Math" and I actually aced the class!!! No one was more surprised than me!!!!!!!!!!

If you truly want to be a nurse, don't let the math thing keep you from giving it a try. It's just basic math and algebra... not like trig, or calculus!!! Some BSN programs require "Statistics" as part of their curriculum for being able to do well in "Research" class, but that's about as hard as the math gets.... from what I hear...

Good luck with whatever you decide!!!

Thank you so much for saying that. I'm in grade 11 and just got my first F...in math. Your post cheered me up. I've got a tutor and gone from 30% to 44% in the past week, so I'm hoping that's a good sign.

(Sorry to butt in, I know this isn't my thread... lol.)

Katnip, RN · Mar 23, 2003

I too am severely math challenged. But somehow I managed to pass my dosage calc tests with 100%. Once you've got the basic formulas down for dosages, drips and conversions, it's not so bad. Just keep practicing and it'll be ok. All my instructors say they tote cheat sheets around with them. And on the floor, it really is ok to use a calculator. It cuts down on human error.

panda_181 · Mar 23, 2003

If you want to see what kind of stuff you'd be doing, you can buy Math Med books...where it's just medication calculations that will help you prepare. We had to buy them in nursing school to help us study for the tests...

Amanda :)

Nurse2bSandy · Mar 23, 2003

Math-challenged nurse to be here. Don't let math anxiety sway your decision to become a nurse. I was a crummy math person in high school and it kept me afraid of fulfilling my nursing dream for many years... I have had 3 algebra classes so far... had to get my skills up to the right level... and have made 2 B's and 1 A. Right now I am in a survey of math class and am getting an A! STill have math for med and stats to go... but I know that I can do those.

Like others have said... ask around for good instructors (I've had one instructor that is a hoot and makes math fun, and one that gives lots of bonus points... got my A with her and cried that I actually got an A in math! I've used those two instructors for all my math so far.) Get hooked in with students that do get it and form study groups. Remember that for most math classes you just need a C to continue (Not math for meds, though)... giving myself permission to get a C took some of the pressure off of me and allowed me to mess up at times. I didn't expect perfection and then give up when I wasn't perfect. You can always take the class again... not the best option, but just not passing a class is not a reason to give up a dream. In my last math class I was not getting it and told myself that if I had to take it again it wouldn't be the end of the world or my dream. I finished with a B... thanks to those bonus points from in class work.. but had a better attitude about math knowing that sometimes you needs to repeat something to really get it.

stbrid · Mar 20, 2005

For my math class I have to write a paper "How I Will Use Math in My Chosen Profession" which is nursing. Could you please throw me some examples? Thank you!!!

LauraF, RN, ASN, CNA, LPN, RN · Mar 20, 2005

For my math class I have to write a paper "How I Will Use Math in My Chosen Profession" which is nursing. Could you please throw me some examples? Thank you!!!

You need to be very fluent in your math to calculate how much medicine you give to your client. You may have a vial of pencillin and you have to give 1 gram and the label says it is 500mg/5cc so you need to figure out how much you need to give. Also you need to be able to figure out the maximium safe dose for your client, as well as being able to make sure the dose is therapeutic. Hope this is examples of what you are looking for.