Drud Calculations!!

Re: Drud Calculations!!

helennorth — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:29:05 GMT

Lots of practice. Make up (or get someone else to) some calculations for you to do, and do the calculations every time you give a drug even if the vet has said how much to give, it will become second nature.

The most improtant thing is the dose in mg given (saying you gave 0.5mls means nothing). So weight in kg x mg per kg dose required gives you the dose in mg to be given. Then to find the amount in mls needed all you have to do is divide it by mg in a ml of the drug you are giving.

A vial of augmenting contains 600mg so if you put 6mls water in it it becomes 100mg in ml. Zinacef 750mg with 7.5mls water becomes 100mg in ml or with 10mls water 75mg in a ml, etc etc

I was and still am rubbish at maths but once can put something into practice like drug calculations it does all become clear !

Re: Drud Calculations!!

Fiona Leathers — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:54:06 GMT

hahahahaha if you'd seen me at school then maths was my worse ever subject - it wasn't until I became a nurse that maths clicked into place!!

Re: Drud Calculations!!

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:15:30 GMT

[quote user="Bouncyfi"]

I hate it when I get students who write in their portfolios -

0.5 x 32 = 16

for drug calculations. I always send it back marked "0.5 what??? elephants, bananas???" or something equally witty!

Students need to be taught that no number should be without a unit of measurement. Whether they work it out by mgs or mls, as long as they know how to work it out and end up with the right answer!

[/quote]

ewww check out the math teacher......lol

I know what you mean though

Re: Drud Calculations!!

Fiona Leathers — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:53:09 GMT

I hate it when I get students who write in their portfolios -

0.5 x 32 = 16

for drug calculations. I always send it back marked "0.5 what??? elephants, bananas???" or something equally witty!

Students need to be taught that no number should be without a unit of measurement. Whether they work it out by mgs or mls, as long as they know how to work it out and end up with the right answer!

Re: Drud Calculations!!

Nick Shackleton — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:59:15 GMT

I could try but all ours are mg/kg its been drummed into me.

Re: Drud Calculations!!

Cat Woman — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:57:15 GMT

[quote user="Nick Shackleton"] Not sure on the doses ml/kg as we work in mg/kg[/quote]

So do we! But I bet you know some regularly used drug doses in ml/kg off the top of your head?!

Re: Drud Calculations!!

Nick Shackleton — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:02:42 GMT

If you want to do drug calculations properly you should do it as follows.

mg/kg x bw = total mg req

mg req divided by mg/ml = mls req

[quote user="Cat Woman"]

[quote user="little demona"]Metacam = BW x 0.04[/quote]

I might be wrong, but I believe that is the dose for dogs only. Cats is 0.06ml/kg.

[/quote]

with regards to this I would say that if your patient is already on treatment you should halve the amount of metacam fiven. Not sure on the doses ml/kg as we work in mg/kg

Re: Drud Calculations!!

Cat Woman — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:40:46 GMT

[quote user="little demona"]Metacam = BW x 0.04[/quote]

I might be wrong, but I believe that is the dose for dogs only. Cats is 0.06ml/kg.

Re: Drud Calculations!!

Nick Shackleton — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:18:33 GMT

this book is great at getting to grips with calculations

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Calculations-Veterinary-Nurses-Margaret-Moore/dp/0632054980/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244733503&sr=8-1

Re: Drud Calculations!!

Anneke Kuipers — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:06:50 GMT

hiya

what I've done very recently is I bought a tiny calculator and on the inside of the cover I put a piece of paper with the most used drug dosages

for instance:
ACP = Body Weight x 0.025
Vetergesic = BW x 0.07
Amox = BW x 0.05
Amox LA = BW x 0.1
Metacam = BW x 0.04

Have a look in the formulary as that where the vets get the dosages from. Do keep in mind that in the formulary it is mg/kg and not ml/kg! (good thing I checked with a vet silly me.... )