Math in Nursing: Essential Skills for Patient Care

Nurses require more than just attention to detail and a caring bedside manner. The nursing profession also requires knowledge of mathematics. Knowing formulas and simple calculations allows a nurse to effectively perform their duties from patient care to aiding doctors.

Medication

• Administering medications requires math to calculate correct dosage such as pill size and intravenous fluid amounts.

Data

• The recording of information such as fluid intake and output, times when medication is given and checking vital signs all require math.

Equipment

• Nurses use devices that are both electronic (such as an ECG machine) and analog (such as thermometers and blood pressure cuffs). Simple math is required to achieve accurate results.

Specialties

• While working in the prenatal discipline, nurses need to know how to calculate date of fertilization, expected delivery date and ovulation periods.

Laboratory

• Interpreting lab results such as white blood cell levels involves simple arithmetic, as well as the possibility of converting units for the benefit of doctors and patients.