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Discussion

Help !!

I just got a thing for orientation and in the packet it said we would have to take a 25 question Math test. I am so nervous because I am not terrific at Math but not horrible either. One part said Order 100mg colace on hand 120mg/5mL. How many mL's would you give? How would you convert this problem? Do you think they will fail you out right away if you don't do well? Thanks for your help!

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I just got a thing for orientation and in the packet it said we would have to take a 25 question Math test. I am so nervous because I am not terrific at Math but not horrible either. One part said Order 100mg colace on hand 120mg/5mL. How many mL's would you give? How would you convert this problem? Do you think they will fail you out right away if you don't do well? Thanks for your help!

Don't freak out yet!! You can do this!

The problem would be dose desired/dose on hand X ml.

100/120 x 5mL = 4.16 answer 4.2 mL

I don't think they will fail you. Usually you get another chance for the math tests. They might just want to see where everyone is at. There are tons of good websites with dosage calc quizzes that might help. Just google dosage calc help or something like that.

Good luck!

I just got a thing for orientation and in the packet it said we would have to take a 25 question Math test. I am so nervous because I am not terrific at Math but not horrible either. One part said Order 100mg colace on hand 120mg/5mL. How many mL's would you give? How would you convert this problem? Do you think they will fail you out right away if you don't do well? Thanks for your help!

Don't freak out yet!! You can do this!

The problem would be dose desired/dose on hand X ml.

100/120 x 5mL = 4.16 answer 4.2 mL

I don't think they will fail you. Usually you get another chance for the math tests. They might just want to see where everyone is at. There are tons of good websites with dosage calc quizzes that might help. Just google dosage calc help or something like that.

Good luck!

Hmmm... not sure how I posted that twice. Maybe I am the one I should be telling not to freak out! :rolleyes:

  • Author

Thanks so much for your help! I thought it might be something along those lines but I wanted to double check! Thanks again!

You are welcome! Glad to help!!

  • Experts

there are several really good drug calculation tutorials listed on post #3 of this sticky thread that you should bookmark and begin to work through:

unless your nursing program has informed you that they fail students out of the program for not doing well on math tests then i don't think that flunking out for that is something you need to worry about. ask about it on monday to make sure.

  • Author

Thanks so much for the info! I am just so nervous

  • Experts

I get it. You all read too many of the bad scenarios on the forums. Not all schools boot you out for doing bad on tests. They usually give you a heads up before they do something that drastic and you students all know it before it happens. It doesn't hit you out of the blue.

Take a couple of deep breaths and relax. This is not rocket science. Focus. Start working your way through this tutorial (I like this one)

Keep in mind that proficiency (skill, mastery) in doing any kind of math depends on experience in actually working problems. Drug calculation problems are those dreaded word problems that no one ever liked in math classes. They fit one basic formula for drug problems: dose desired divided by the dose on hand to give you the amount to give, or similar type wording. That is only 3 elements you have to satisfy to complete every problem and one of them is always going to be the answer to the question and two of them is given information. For school some instructors get creative and might make you turn cartwheels to come up with that dose desired or dose on hand before you can proceed with getting the answer to the problem. Some might make you work backwards giving you telling you the amount to give and ask you to figure out what the dose was. But, math is one of the most logical disciplines there is. On the job you'll never have to do anything more than determine the amount you have to give based on the dose on hand that you have and the dose that is desired.

  • Author

Thank you. I am just getting so nervous. It took me a few years to get in and now I feel like I don't want to dissapoint myself. I know this might sound silly but do you always have to do the math out in your head for exams or are calculators allowed?

  • Experts

I don't know because I'm not in school anymore. When I was in school we didn't have calculators (tells you how old I am!). I do this problems on paper. Many of them I can do quickly on a calculator, but I write them on paper by dimensional analysis so I can show the work for everyone to see. When you can see the work, you are more likely to catch a mistake. Because I often know more than one way to work problems I'll work them 2 ways to see if I get the same answers just to check myself. Or I'll take the answer, rework the problem and try to get one of the givens.

I found dimensional analysis really helpful for dosage calc exams. It is also called the "railroad track" method. It puts all the components out there so you can see them.

I also asked my teacher to help me after class so that I could get the hang of the calculations. I was really bad at math in highschool but now I can usually breeze through the questions

GL on your test!!

At our school we can't use calculators on math tests, and really, they're not needed, because it always comes down to simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division once you have the logic of the problem set up, and dimensional analysis is by far the easiest and most foolproof way to do that.

We are allowed to use calculators on general tests, because we're not being tested specifically on math, and it allows for saving those few seconds per problem that can be so critical when there are lots of questions to answer in a short amount of time.

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