Lost 1/4 of our class to the math test in block 3!!

Nursing Students General Students

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I'm still in shock. The school is in shock. There were about 27 of us when we took our first math test during orientation for block three. Only five of us passed it. You get three chances, so on the second run, 12 people failed. They did the third run last Sat (I go to school fri/sat) and 6 people failed!! I"ve been in NS for over a year with these people! I'm just in shock, good friends now gone. One of the girls was due to get married next month, she has a Bachelors degree in accounting and failed it! One of our teachers just couldn't believe it, said it's never happened before. Just needed to vent!

Specializes in Ortho, Neuro, Detox, Tele.

Our first attempt is next Tues and I've got a feeling at least 10% of us won't make it....math is what they all say weakness is, and you have to follow ALL the rounding/labeling/calculation rules...one slip, you fail....of course, that's a good thing, but we do get 4 chances. If you can't pass, you probably shouldn't be in the program right now.

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Family Practice.

Sounds like the teacher is alot of the problem. I thoroughly believe that if you have a good teacher, anyone can be taught anything. I was a high school drop out and eventually went back to graduate. I was convinced I was stupid when I started college, but soon came to find out that if a teacher is good, you can be taught anything they are teaching. I worked in a hospital pharmacy for 14 years before going to nursing school. Let me tell you if I had to learn math from my pharmacology teacher and not from my experiences in pharmacy, I would of failed. They give you the book and off you go and best of luck. I ended up tutoring my class on shortcuts of math/dosing calculations because they were almost all lost. There is quite a few ways to do any type of calculations, so if you are just shown the most simple formula you're more likely to catch on and pass. Considering wrong dosing is just a high area of error in nursing you think they would do what they need to do to make sure people get it. Just because these people failed this test doesn't neccessarily mean they are dumb, but maybe they had a poor teacher.

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This nation does poorly teaching math. I imagine that these students received an inferior education long before nursing school.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

The math used in nursing school is very basic math - not rocket science. The basic principles should have been learned by sixth grade. If they are failing it as adults, there is more to it than one poor teacher.

Yet, in many classes, there is a high failure rate. There was in mine.

Part of it is lack of practice. I balance my check book by hand. If you practice math, it becomes second nature. Too many people use calculators for even the simplest math, and then find that they cannot do it on the own.

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The math used in nursing school is very basic math - not rocket science. The basic principles should have been learned by sixth grade. If they are failing it as adults, there is more to it than one poor teacher.

Yet, in many classes, there is a high failure rate. There was in mine.

Part of it is lack of practice. I balance my check book by hand. If you practice math, it becomes second nature. Too many people use calculators for even the simplest math, and then find that they cannot do it on the own.

I'm from the pre-calculator age and am more comfortable cross-multiplying, and adding in columns. I find calculators tedious and cumbersome. I agree, these days math students don't get enough practice doing math in their heads.

Basic math ability is inherited, imo. I have a son who is a math genius and it was evident before he was two years old. His kindergarten teacher put on his report card that he could count to 9,999 . He inherited it from his father's family, they were very mathematical. His paternal grandmother was math major, the only woman in her university math program back in the 1930's. He's 21 and making $40,000 a year as a computer programmer. (sorry about the blatent boasting)

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Are these tests for MED math or general math ?

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Specializes in Diabetes ED, (CDE), CCU, Pulmonary/HIV.

Many people are afraid of math of any kind, and the fear sabotages their success. Pharmacology math is basic arithmetic with a little algebra thrown in. Stay calm, relax, and it will flow!

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Are these tests for MED math or general math ?

Calculations, dosages, conversions, some things like that. A lot of people failed the second test because the tubing drip rate wasn't given, they should've just known from the name of it, I guess. I was lucky enough to pass on the first try, but I've always been pretty good at math. At our school if you don't have it rounded to the right spot (10ths instead of 100ths for example) then you fail, it has to be perfect! We didn't really have a math class to teach us the calculations. You could take one if you wanted to, but it wasn't required.

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Specializes in ER, Med/Surg.

We don't have a math "class" to prepare us for the tests. We didn't get one minute of preparation this semester for the test.

There were some discrepancies on the test this time, kicked a few people but after further review the test was found flawed and some answers nulled.

Pat

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Specializes in Cardiac/Telemetry.

Yikes. We get one repeat of the math calculation test at the beginning of each semester and we have to have a score or 90% or above to pass it.

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Specializes in Urgent Care.

I am in 3rd semester, and this semester a group of LPN's bridged in to our program. I am not sure why, but very few passed the first math exam. We'll see what happens in the next 2 weeks.

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Family Practice.

You guys talk as if nursing math is so simple. I don't know about you but I do have to think about mcg/kg/hr. When doing a dopamine or dobutamine drip rate according to kg/hr, it is challenging and can discourage a student who has not develped this as second nature. Yes there are the basics, but anyone in critical care knows that it can be complicating initially. I guess for some of us nursing calculations were not something we learned in 6th grade.

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