How good at math do I need to be?

mandrews · Jul 24, 2005

Good Luck Angelbaby!! The math is so different from anything I had ever done before. You will have to study and practice if you are not good in math. At my school I had to take a math test to get in called the NET. It was more algebra and not med calculations) Conversions were hard for me at first. I found out after I took the class that the school offered a four day refresher in the summer that I could have taken before hand to prepare me for the test and they were given a math book that the rest of us bought after school started. The book would have prepared me for the entrance test. Every semester we had a math course and had to make 90% on the test. You were given two chances to pass before you had to leave the program for a year.

Hope this helps,

melissa :Melody:

Spearfisher · Jul 24, 2005

If you can pass Algerbra you can definitely do the math needed in nursing. Med. calc. is way more simple than abstract math formulas that you can't figure out the use for.

Good luck.

versatile_kat · Jul 24, 2005

Hello, I am contemplating a change of direction in my life. Currently in grad school for natural resources management but I'm prompted to really seriously consider my earning power, since I am now single. I've always liked the idea of being a surgical nurse, but a cardiac care nurse I know suggested I consider CRNA. Since my undergrad is bio and chem (loved, loved, loved all my bio courses and o-chem was a trial but I think that was due to the instructor. Biochem, however, was really, really interesting), I'm less unnerved by the potential coursework as a CRNA student, but the math skills required? Anyone with advice or perspective
If it helps, my undergrad GPA was a 3.2, and my GRE (verbal, quant, analytical) 1900.

The math is not hard, everything else is. I'm not too sure how far along in your current career you are, but becoming a CRNA will still take about 6 or 7 years for you (2 for the BSN, at least a year in the ICU and another 2.5-3 years to get the master's).

Good luck.

Angie_Baby · Jul 25, 2005

Could you elaborate on what constitutes "everything else" LOL!

I've tried this grad school thing in resource management before now and I think I've relieved myself of any vestiges of this being a fruitful endeavor. I'd kind of like to deal with problems that have solutions, you know? Actually be able to complete something and move on to the next thing. Since I am at the beginning of a two year M.S. degree, my thinking is I may just as well redirect myself now, since I'm not getting any younger - and 6 or 7 years will pass regardless of how I make my livelihood.

QUOTE=versatile_kat]The math is not hard, everything else is. I'm not too sure how far along in your current career you are, but becoming a CRNA will still take about 6 or 7 years for you (2 for the BSN, at least a year in the ICU and another 2.5-3 years to get the master's).

Good luck.

Athlein1 · Jul 25, 2005

The "everything else" is the amount of work you have to put in, and the stuff you have to put up with, in order to get through a nurse anesthesia program. It is no cakewalk, and the math is the least of it. Read the FAQs at the top of the page, and then scroll through the old threads for awhile.

We get lots of posts just like yours - people who are not in the nursing field who are suddenly attracted to nurse anesthesia because they are considering their "earning power", as you say. There is so much more to this field than the paycheck. Take the time to shadow a CRNA, and decide if nursing is right for you, before you embark on a change of career plans that will take you at least 7-8 years to complete.

CseMgr1, ASN, RN · Jul 25, 2005

All you will need to know is ratio and proportion. I basically suck at Math, but was fortunate enough to have a nursing instructor who knew how to teach it. Our daily homework in Pharmacology consisted of at least 50 conversion problems in which we had to show our work the long way, and I have never forgotten it. Good luck! :)

Curious1alwys, BSN, RN · Jul 25, 2005

Oh, hey, if you've had biochem and all the other chem's.........you'll have no trouble with the calcs. It is very basic and it is all in the setup. Since you did all those calcs for chem you will pretty much know right off how to set it up. I took chem like you did and I was off and running on calculating the question without even having to be shown. Of course, I had to practice since I took chem and algebra over 10 years ago!!!:stone By far, I think the patho part of nursing and figuring out what is all happening at once in the body is the hardest part...

Good Luck in whatever you decide!:)

Hello, I am contemplating a change of direction in my life. Currently in grad school for natural resources management but I'm prompted to really seriously consider my earning power, since I am now single. I've always liked the idea of being a surgical nurse, but a cardiac care nurse I know suggested I consider CRNA. Since my undergrad is bio and chem (loved, loved, loved all my bio courses and o-chem was a trial but I think that was due to the instructor. Biochem, however, was really, really interesting), I'm less unnerved by the potential coursework as a CRNA student, but the math skills required? Anyone with advice or perspective
If it helps, my undergrad GPA was a 3.2, and my GRE (verbal, quant, analytical) 1900.

Angie_Baby · Jul 25, 2005

I would LOVE to shadow someone, but every time I have asked, I get the response that HIPPA will not permit someone like me to do just that. It's divinely frustrating! How am I supposed to "do my homework", so to speak, and really check things out, unless I can spend a day or two "on the job". If any of you have suggestions, I would most appreciate it.

I spent two years doing molecular bench work in biotech where most of what I did was conversions (or stoichiometry, if you want to be particular about it :) ), so that's good to know. The PI for whom I worked was a drill sergeant about learning to do it right, but bless her because I got really fast at it.

And please don't think I am being glib or presumptuous with my mention of "earning power", but I have been on the verge of applying to a nursing program for the last three years, and some recent events have just made me want to finally push forward with this; this is not a decision I just made yesterday, in other words, but one that's been building for some time.