Calculation Skills for Nurses

Claire Boyd is Practice Development Trainer in the Learning and Research Centre at North Bristol Healthcare Trust. She develops, designs, delivers and evaluates learning programmes and contributes in ensuring effective clinical governance. She organises the transition training program for student nurses and support of these nurses in clinical areas.

PREFACE vii INTRODUCTION ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiii LATIN ABBREVIATIONS xv THE 24-HOUR CLOCK xvii Part 1: Diagnosis 1 1 CALCULATIONS REVISION 3 2 CALCULATIONS SELF-ASSESSMENT 23 Part 2: Understanding Nursing Calculations 27 3 METRIC UNITS AND CONVERSIONS 29 4 TABLETS AND CAPSULES 33 5 LIQUIDS AND INJECTABLES 39 6 SYRINGES AND MENISCUS 47 7 DISPLACEMENT VALUES 57 8 DOSAGES ACCORDING TO BODY WEIGHT 63 9 DRIP RATES 67 10 DRIP-RATE DURATION 73 11 SYRINGE DRIVERS AND PUMPS 77 12 PAEDIATRIC NURSING 85 Part 3: Putting It All Into Practice 97 13 FLUID CHARTS 99 14 MALNUTRITION UNIVERSAL SCREENING TOOL (MUST) ASSESSMENT 105 15 EARLY WARNING SCORE (EWS) ASSESSMENT 109 16 WATERLOW ASSESSMENT 115 17 PRESCRIPTION CHARTS 119 18 LOOKING AT BUDGETS 125 19 INTERPRETING DATA 129 20 EMPLOYMENT SERVICES 135 21 BODY MASS INDEX 139 Part 4: Testing Your Knowledge 143 22 KNOWLEDGE TESTS 145 ANSWERS TO ACTIVITY QUESTIONS 153 Part 5: Appendices 163 APPENDIX 1: FLUID CHART 165 APPENDIX 2: MALNUTRITION UNIVERSAL SCREENING TOOL 169 APPENDIX 3: BRISTOL OBSERVATION CHART 177 APPENDIX 4: WATERLOW PRESSURE ULCER PREVENTION/TREATMENT POLICY 179 APPENDIX 5: CONVERSION TABLES 181 BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 INDEX 185