NCLEX math rules for putting zero before decimals, etc.?

[aureliey]

Someone who is taking NCLEX soon asked me if the math questions must be answered with a zero (0) in front if it's a decimal point answer, such as 0.5, or .5?

I took it last year, and only had 1 math question and honestly don't remember what it was. I don't know if NCLEX has changed this year or if it has always been the same rules for math questions.

I don't know what to tell my friend. I also don't know if it's required to put down 'ml', or 'mg' after the answer, in the fill-in-the blanks.

I just know that when I did Saunders practice questions, the math answers were given, and I didn't have to think about putting down the 'ml', etc. or the decimal point.

Does anyone know?

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

They would give the student the benefit of the doubt, accepting either .5 or 0.5, but it's a good habit to use leading zeroes (and omitting trailing zeroes) for patient safety purposes.

https://www.ncsbn.org/01_08_04_Alt_Itm.pdf

[aureliey]

They would give the student the benefit of the doubt, accepting either .5 or 0.5, but it's a good habit to use leading zeroes (and omitting trailing zeroes) for patient safety purposes.

https://www.ncsbn.org/01_08_04_Alt_Itm.pdf

Thanks for that link. It was helpful, I'll send it to my friend.

But do most math questions have the unit of measurement already, or do some leave it blank, and must be entered by the student?

I don't remember that from my test.

[MMARN, BSN, RN]

Thanks for that link. It was helpful, I'll send it to my friend.

But do most math questions have the unit of measurement already, or do some leave it blank, and must be entered by the student?

I don't remember that from my test.

I took my NCLEX a few days ago and both of the med calc questions I had, the units were already in the space provided. I just had to put in the answer which had a leading zero. :)

[student076]

please be sure to put the leading zero. in real life, this can really matter. it's also required on the nclex, they won't give you the benefit of the doubt.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices is quite clear on this. Leading zeroes YES, trailing zeroes NO. http://www.ismp.org/tools/errorproneabbreviations.pdf

Our facility has included many of the examples on this list on the back of each page of physician orders on our charts, but it hasn't stopped written errors because people stop paying attention to things they see all the time.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

please be sure to put the leading zero. in real life, this can really matter. it's also required on the nclex, they won't give you the benefit of the doubt.

interesting... the link that i posted to the alternate item faq is still available on the web. i'm assuming that they've published an update if they're now requiring a leading zero, but i can't find a thing.