Nursing Calculations

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Can anyone recommend any good books for learning Nirsing Calculations?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

Algebra 101.

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I just ordered a book from Amazon called Calculating Drug Dosages by Sandra Luz Martines de Castillo and Maryanne Werner-McCullough. I just started it to brush up before the new semester begins. I sort of got the 'summer slide'.

My program uses an online resource called ATI, which is great. It gives scenarios for the calculations. There are also videos and a tracking system to see what you're doing well on as well as what you need to work on. I'm assuming that this is a service you can pay for as but I'm not sure--like I said, this is a resource that we paid for with our tuition. There's also Coursepoint and PrepU that we use.

If you can't purchase those due to financial constraints there are also websites to do practice problems. Just do a Google search and you'll get websites to look at. Hope this helps.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

Nursing calculations are nothing more than basic algebra. Algebra 101 is exactly how to become proficient & comfortable in nursing calculations.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
Algebra 101.

I disagree. I learned dimensional analysis in Physics class in high school, and the whole "multiply by one" thing made me the Math Problem Queen in nursing school.

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All the drug (nursing) calculations I've ever had to do have required good old basic Algebra 101. Nothing complicated about it and it's easy to learn or review if you need to.

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Specializes in Pediatrics and Nursing Education!.

Ogden is a pretty good text for nursing students getting into Dosages & Calcs.

I have some dosages & calc tutorials on my YouTube channel (as I'm sure there are lots of info on YouTube!)-- check there as well :-)

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I disagree. I learned dimensional analysis in Physics class in high school, and the whole "multiply by one" thing made me the Math Problem Queen in nursing school.

Yes. So much yes. I also learned dimensional analysis in high school chemistry, and it has since served me well as a paramedic and RN. Once you learn the system and it's rules you can use it for any time of med calculation, from simple to complex. No need to remember one formula for drip rates, another for how long the IV bag will last, etc etc.

I have taught paramedic students for years and it is the only system I teach them. I have had nursing school drop outs, paramedic program dropouts/repeats, and college grads all tell me they have no idea why someone didn't teach them this system before.

Google "dimensional analysis for drug calculations" and devote 1-2 hrs to learning the system. You'll be set for life

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Dosage Calculations for Dummies or Made Incredibly Easy. Both books saved me with Peds calculations and Dimensional Analysis (though I still only use that when I have to I much prefer formula).

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Thanks!

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Specializes in Med-Tele; ED; ICU.
Nursing calculations are nothing more than basic algebra. Algebra 101 is exactly how to become proficient & comfortable in nursing calculations.

Actually, pre-algebra... 6th grade covered it for my kid.

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Specializes in Critical care.

Calculate with confidence is the book my school told us to get. To be perfectly honest though, I never cracked it open. Dimensional analysis is super easy once you know how to do it. You just figure out what you need to end with and plug and chug until you get to it. I had to do it a lot with my previous degree/career.

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