math question

lake girl · May 10, 2010

Don't hate. People are flipping out over an assumption. We are taught not to assume. This test question was for a entry test for the nursing program(not homework). This question was not given an answer by me, because an answer would lead to an assumption by others who read it. If you did not want to answer it, which you didn't, why do you care if that question is there at all? How did that affect you at all? You have been so scarred by the bullying in your field, it is showing big time. I hope I find a place to work where this lateral violence does not exist. God bless you (anyway) and all that helped. Wow, first do no harm??? Thank you for the kindness of some here, it really lessened the blows. Happy Mothers day, jezze.

lake girl · May 10, 2010

5ml per tsp so give 5 ml

Thank you so much, I worked it with the extra info. I was taught dimentional analysis and kind of wish I had used another method as I have been learning. I felt no one would mind if I asked this question. I have a big test coming and just don't want to miss a trick question. You seconded my friends answer, and just wanted to double check. Thanks again. :up:

kanzi monkey · May 10, 2010

Orders shouldn't be written in tsps, tbsps, mL, etc without clarifying what the dose is. The question was missing information (how many units the pt was supposed to get). A nurse would be right to question that order, as would a student, as would a pharmacist. Now, if it's just common knowledge that there is only one concentration on the market, an experienced person might not care to clarify the order, which is fine (even if not technically correct). But if this is the case, then the question shouldn't have even mentioned how many units were in the bottle. All that tells you is that you have a poorly written order.

Technically the question asked you how many mL you need in order to give one tsp, which is easy to answer if you know the converstion or are able to look it up. However, as the question is about administering medicine to a person, you are absolutely right to question it since it it tells you the DRUG is measured in units--and you don't know what the DOSE is (which is one of the 5 rights of medication admin). Since you might assume that your answer will be what you would ultimately give to the pt, then you would wonder why the question seems to be missing important information. I'm not sure why people are so upset about this as it's a perfectly reasonable question.

rreynolds40 · May 10, 2010

For 34 years I ran a business in an extremely cutthroat industry. If ever there was a nasty comment, I've heard it. I'm now retired from all that and for Act II I have an enjoyable career in nursing. To those few who chose to berate a nursing student over a math question I have a request. Please leave. There is no room for attitudes in this career field.

rreynolds40 · May 10, 2010

Good job K. monkey!! I agree. If those orders showed up in my pt's chart, the doc would get a phone call. There are some important things to be learned from this post and you suggested the best one. If the orders are not clear, you had better make the phone call.

RN1982 · May 10, 2010

Question;
Dosage to give NILSTAT SUSPENSION 1tsp. PO. Dosage avavliable; NILSTAT 100,000 units/ml in 60 ml bottle. How many ml do you give?
answer? anyone?

If you are going to post anymore questions on this board regarding how to do medication math or any other homework, then I want to see your work FIRST. This is not an unreasonable request. Do not expect a lot of members here to be thrilled with you asking for help without showing any sort of work that you did on your own. If you are going to be a nurse, I expect you to think and find the answer yourself and if you need help, then ask but don't just outright expect us here to give you the answer...

cb_rn · May 10, 2010

Orders shouldn't be written in tsps, tbsps, mL, etc without clarifying what the dose is. The question was missing information (how many units the pt was supposed to get). A nurse would be right to question that order, as would a student, as would a pharmacist. Now, if it's just common knowledge that there is only one concentration on the market, an experienced person might not care to clarify the order, which is fine (even if not technically correct). But if this is the case, then the question shouldn't have even mentioned how many units were in the bottle. All that tells you is that you have a poorly written order.
Technically the question asked you how many mL you need in order to give one tsp, which is easy to answer if you know the converstion or are able to look it up. However, as the question is about administering medicine to a person, you are absolutely right to question it since it it tells you the DRUG is measured in units--and you don't know what the DOSE is (which is one of the 5 rights of medication admin). Since you might assume that your answer will be what you would ultimately give to the pt, then you would wonder why the question seems to be missing important information. I'm not sure why people are so upset about this as it's a perfectly reasonable question.

I don't think anyone is upset, at least I'm not.

The problem isn't even an order. It doesn't give a time either...not daily, tid, or stat.

My point was only the question is obviously written to throw extra information in that you do not need in order to ascertain if you are able to recognize this is unnessary because a tsp is still 5 ml no matter how many units of medication are in it. The OP stated it was on an entrance nursing exam so I doubt they were looking for a non numerical answer. I believe the grader wants to see that the test taker can see past information not needed to solve the problem. It was a common practice in my drug calculation course.

Clarification would be appropriate in a clinical setting but this is not a clinical setting, it is a calculation.

Is the general consensus that the test taker should have written out "I do not have enough information, I will call the physician for clarification" ? I'm sorry, I must politely disagree.

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