Math and I don't mix, should I consider something else?

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I'm 21 years old and in CNA courses, and I've met the pre-reqs for my LPN, but in order to do the LPN to RN program I will have to get all the way to statistics from where I am now which is intermediate algerbra.

I am feeling pretty discouraged, I can get through math, it just takes me so much longer than everyone else and I'm guessing it will be at least another year before I can get all the way to statistics.

Has anyone else struggled with math? Is there a point where you should just give in to your poor math skills and choose a different route?

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If you can do it but you are just slow that suggests to me that you can do it, but you need to memorize, bluntly, your times tables.

You're smart enough. Now memorize and practice. Do questions just like you do NCLEX questions when you're studying for the boards.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Case Management.

I am, not to be conceited, quite intelligent, but math is from another planet. I hate math classes, but I manage to retain enough of it to pass a class, then it is gone forever. I can do my times tables with a little thought, but any algebra I have had is all gone.:banghead:

If I can do it ( over 24 years ago), then you can do it!!!! You will have to study hard and keep some copious notes :typing so you can remember the formulas until you take boards. Once you're out on the floor working, you can consult with your fellow nurses and/or call the pharmacy for any med doses you need to figure out.:D

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Thank you guys so much. I'm not even that far into my schooling yet and already I am gettinf pretty stressed! I feel really fortunate to have found a place where people understand. Everyone in my math class seems so on top if it...and I just sit there wanting to cry, lol. Good thing it's finals week. :D

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Hi,

I too have been where you are today...feeling overwhelmed at even the thought of math! I even thought maybe nursing wasn't for me because of all the math involved, but I was dedicated to become a nurse...somehow...someway.

I started out in pre algebra, to algebra to stats. As long as you write down everything your professor writes down on the board, you will always have an example to look back to when your doing your homework.

I know that they give out lots of homework but you really need to do every single math problem they have given you to do. Plus some! If you do the homework it will help you understand how to go about solving them. Just take it a one step at a time and you will do fine! Try not to think about algebra or stats right now and just focus on pre algebra.

Another thing to think about is that stats is nothing like algebra...so if you hate algebra you may like stats, cause it is just probability.

Anyway...don'k know if I was able to help or not but good luck to you and YOU CAN DO THIS!!

:D

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Specializes in Coronary Rehab Unit.

At the risk of being tarred and feathered, here.....I wish we had more math in my school .... numbers/math are cut and dried - there is only one right answer, compared to many extremely, exTREMEly ambiguous questions in many classes .... more pharmacology math, please ;)

But, seriously, though .... if you apply yourself, math can be mastered. It's not necessarily "harder," it's just "different" than other subjects. Perhaps find someone who can tutor you ??? You definitely can do it...... oh, and by the way - statistics aren't as bad as algebra, as I see it :) Hang in there !!!

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

I agree algebra was worse than stats. The actual math you need for nursing isn't really hard at all, imo. Find a way to get through the gen ed stuff!

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I'm 21 years old and in CNA courses, and I've met the pre-reqs for my LPN, but in order to do the LPN to RN program I will have to get all the way to statistics from where I am now which is intermediate algerbra.

I am feeling pretty discouraged, I can get through math, it just takes me so much longer than everyone else and I'm guessing it will be at least another year before I can get all the way to statistics.

Has anyone else struggled with math? Is there a point where you should just give in to your poor math skills and choose a different route?

I will start this out by saying I am NO math genius. I have learning disabilities when it comes to math and in High School was pulled out of all my math and science classes and told to avoid them in the future.

Flash forward a few decades or so and I'm in a BS RN program minoring in chemistry! Math more complicated than dosage calculations still takes me a VERY long time to do....but at the end I come up with the right answer.

Math is very do-able.....Here's the thing to remember...math is a skill, not as much a subject. The only way to learn a skill is practice, practice, practice (BTW this is why math classes have sooooo much homework). The more you do it....the better you'll be at it, just like any other skill.

Now there are some skills in life that come easier to you than others (watching me trying to hit a baseball with a bat is a said and sorry experience)...so with the skills that don't come easy the answer is a tutor (to make sure you're practicing right :) ) and even more practice, practice, practice.

I wish you the BEST!

Peace,

CuriousMe

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For what it's worth, I had to study for stats more like a lecture test than a math test. It was important to know definitions instead of just numbers. Good luck!

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For what it's worth, I had to study for stats more like a lecture test than a math test. It was important to know definitions instead of just numbers. Good luck!

I agree Stat's was much more of lecture class than a math class.

Peace,

CuriousMe

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Specializes in PN Student.

Nobody could say the M word around without me crying-

I am an A student and almost failed out because of my math phobia

I am now tutoring some students from another class

You can do it

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Nobody could say the M word around without me crying-

I am an A student and almost failed out because of my math phobia

I am now tutoring some students from another class

You can do it

I'm the opposite. I am a math wiz, and have wondered many times this semester if I should back out of nursing and get some sort of math degree. As another PP said, I like math, its black and white. The ambiguous questions in nursing have me all turned upside down.

When I do math, if its right, its right. I have also learned, not just how to do problems forward, but how to do them backward to check my math in most cases. Even the tougher math, with a little tweaking, can be manipulated to rework from another angle to verify your answer.

Other than a group assignment, I never got below a 97 in my last Algebra class, even when the class average was a 60 something. (teacher always checked the class average every test with his nifty little mind numbing calculator...never figured out exactly why...I think he just REALLY loved his calculator)

But I digress. Never lower than a 97 on ANYTHING in math, and never higher than a 93 in Nursing classes... even if I study for a week straight, a good 20+ hours.

So my counterquestion is... if I love math, should I get out of nursing? :banghead:

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