Do you need basic math skills to become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)? In a word: 鈥淵es!鈥�
While it鈥檚 true programs, pumps and calculators may do most of the math work for LPNs day-to-day, if you need to treat patients at the scene of an accident or the equipment is down because of a power glitch, you鈥檒l be expected to accurately do required to ensure the health and safety of patients.
All nursing revolves around a few basic math skills 鈥� adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals, fractions and whole numbers, and converting numbers from the English system to a metric one, among them. As Americans, we think in terms of pounds, ounces and inches. Not so in the medical field, where measurements are based upon the metric system and a nurse鈥檚 conversions skills come into play.
Those skills are especially important when a nurse is told to 750 mg of medication every four hours, but the tablets are 250 milligrams each. Perhaps you must give a patient 7.5 mg, but the vial says 鈥�5 mg per cc.鈥� Or, you have to calculate the number of drops to administer per minute if ordered to 鈥済ive 500 mg over 30 minutes鈥� through an I-V drip. Simple enough鈥f you know your math! If not, your patient鈥檚 safety could be in jeopardy.
Nurses also may be called upon to calculate a patient鈥檚 intake and output, body mass index, glycemic index, ovulation dates or due date if the patient is a pregnant woman. These are all cases in which good math skills are required.
You don鈥檛 need to be a math major, but nursing does involve a degree of basic mathematical skill. If you鈥檙e not dissuaded from considering a nursing career鈥hether as a practical, or vocational, nurse or an RN 鈥� congratulations! The medical field needs you.
Fortis Colleges and Institutes are part of a strong network of recognized nursing programs. Why not check out 聽to see if you鈥檙e a match for each other? As a nurse, you鈥檒l feel gratified by helping people in need of quality medical care鈥nd your math skills won鈥檛 be a forgotten subject. They just may play a big part in your success.