Medical Calculations - An Ongoing Challenge

Nursing calculations and formulas are nothing new to our field of work. Those medical calculations challenged nurses decades ago and remain exhausting for us now. Medical dosage equations and solutions for solving math problems can be searched online and a quick result list will prove that you’re not alone in your challenge to calculate. Searching “medical calculations” returns 90,900,000 results in .09 seconds – apparently those of us at Nurses PRN, www.prnhealthservices.com are not the only ones continuing to resolve this challenging component to our job. And believe it or not, the continuation and development of new online resources multiplies exponentially each day. Whether you are considering electrolyte dosing, medical algorithms, a dosage calculator there is information to be found online. Familiarizing yourself with resources available keeps you up-to-date with trends, encourages you to continue your education on this topic and brings medical equation issues to the forefront. For example – given we live in a diverse world with different cultures and styles – we know that the units noted in a patients history can vary. Confusion on these issues can slow down your patient care. Therefore being fluent with online applications can assist you in narrowing down the medical equation you should consider. There’s no question that these resources are constantly updated with new features, equations and enhancements. Familiarity with these resources will you keep up-to-date on this topic… and it’s all at your fingertips. We know these resources reduce the amount of memorization, estimation and calculations. Each quick solution will claim it is the most original and comprehensive solution. However I want to remind you –manually confirming a calculation before use is not optional. Authors of these sites and applications make no claims of the accuracy of the information – they are simply a reference point for you to consider. So let’s not forget the basics. There is no replacement to converting decimal numbers to fractions, converting fractions to decimal numbers… writing percentages as decimal numbers and simplifying complex fractions. Whether I want to revisit it or not, it is imperative that I can still answer medical dosage calculation questions without the use of my iPhone app. “If an IV solution of 0.9% NS has 120 milliliters left in the bag, the infusion rate is 50 drops per minute, and the drop factor is 15 drops per milliliter: how long will it take to complete this infusion?” It is our responsibility as an RN to know how many minutes this will take. Like it or not, sometimes old school methods are the best… and if providing the best patient care is what we strive for, then there’s no replacement for long-hand confirmation of medical calculations.