UGH nursing school blues

[acgal]

There is a policy at my particular nursing program that we have a dosage test the first week (not real dosage; just basic algebra - they call it a dosage test for some reason though). It is a pass/fail method, meaning if we get one question wrong, you fail the whole thing. We get two attempts, and if we fail both then we are kicked out.

I managed to get one question wrong. It was a silly mistake. The question was that a child drank 4 oz out of a 12 oz bottle and was the question was asking what fraction of the bottle remained.

I, however, just saw the 4 out of 12. 4/12 reduced to 1/3. I put 1/3.

The answer however was 2/3. There was 8 oz left, so 8/12 reduced is 2/3.

ARG.

I wanted to just cry.

So... the reason for this long dissertation?

Does anyone know where I can find practice problems like this? I'm extremely confident that I can do the rest of the algebra - I got that right. I just don't want a word problem like that to trip me up and ruin my chances for me.

Any ideas and help would be much appreciated!!

Sorry for the long note.

Arianna

[5860TomCat]

I would go to your local book store. Look up algebra or go to nursing section and get a Math for meds book. Buy a math practice book with formal conversions for ml, L, oz etc....

The reason for the pass or fail is that if you screw up basic math and give the wrong dosage to a child or even a dose you could have serious health consequences, even death. And yes in the real would you have to calculate it out your self, though it never hurts to get a 2nd or 3rd nurse to check your calculations if necessary.

At the school I attended. MATH for Meds was a class you took. You took a Math test each week and you had to get a 90% or better. By the end of the semester IF you did not have a 90% or better average you FAILED. If you had a 90% average you were allowed to take the final. Which you also had to receive a certain percentage on to pass the class.

It seems sill when it is just math problems. But when the question is something like this:

The patient is light weight, has an allergy to morphine, but is narcotic sensitive and in severe pain. The doctors have ordered 0.5mg of Diluadid (a strong narcotic) for the patient. The vial comes in 2 mg per 1ml vial. How much do you draw up and give to the patient.

Answer: 1/4 or 0.25ml of Dilaudid.

If you were to give the patient to much you could sedate them, cause them respiratory distress, and cause complications to there recovery.

I once knew a new graduate you gave a patient oral 15mg oxycodone (narcotic) and the patient's pain was not reduced... so a half an hour later when the nurse gave the patient his nightly sleeping medication she also gave him IV morphine.

This nurse failed to realize that oral medications can take 30 minutes, just to work and that the sleeping medication also had some narcotics in it.

This person ended up in respitory distress (I came on night shift and found respirations up to 30 a minute and blood pressure very low and the patient completely disorienated. we had to call a rapid responce and start oxygen and give Narcan.

I know math is a pain in the Ass, but it is very important in your job as a future nurse

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Go onto http://www.interactmath.com/ and follow the directions to download the necessary drivers to run the math programs after you "Enter". Once in the site you are asked to choose a math text (this is a companion website that gives you unlimited practice problems that go with each math textbook). My recommendation is to choose any one of the books by author Martin-Gay, probably Pre-Algebra or Algebra I. You will first see a page of drop down menus for chapters, sections, and objectives contained within the textbook you chose. By expanding the chapters menu, you can see how the chapters of the book are organized. Pick one. The appropriate sections and objectives for that particular chapter will appear as well as a list of Exercises that are links to the problems within that chapter. Click on an Exercise link and you will be taken to that particular problem. It takes some time to become familiar with using this program. When you go to a problem (exercise) screen you will find active buttons on all sides of the screen that you need to check out and learn what they do for you. Buttons at the top allow you to go back and forth between the previous and next math problem so you don't have to keep going back to that first page with all the drop down menus. As you progress through the problems they become more advanced and increase in difficulty. You can ask the program to show you the step-by-step solution for every single problem it presents to you by clicking on a button on the right side of the page that says "Help Me Solve This". A button below it, "View an Example", will show you a sample problem of the same type already solved in a step-by-step fashion. You can also print out a step-by-step solution using the "Print" button. You have three tries to get the correct response or answer that the program seeks. Once either occurs a new button appears at the bottom of the page: "Similar Exercise". Clicking on this button will bring up another problem of the same type exactly like the one you just solved, but with different numbers. All the same buttons on the right side will still work and you can still ask for step-by-step help if you still need it. That is another great feature about this program. Buttons on the left help you to enter things like fractions, radicals and powers. Play around with them to see how they work. I could not find a Help button or a set of instructions to help in using the program, so you are kind of left on your own to play around with the buttons on the left side to figure out how they work for you.

Good luck on your next attempt. Don't turn your paper in until you have reviewed each problem a second time.

[Dianacabana]

One question? REALLY? huh.

Well, I really liked Math for Meds (Curren) which did a lot of very good basic math in the early chapters. Also, what about a TEAS exam study guide? That would be of help to you also, I think.

Wishing you the best! You CAN do it.

Diane