Drug Calculations for Nurses A Step by Step Approach, 3rd edition

✍ Scribed by Robert Lapham, Heather Agar

• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 265
• Edition: 3
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This handy pocket-sized book will help you to perform drug calculations with confidence and competence. Chapter have been completely updated to include community practice settings, and a whole new section has been added on pharmacology and medicines so that you will understand the context in which you are making drug calculations.The fully revised third edition begins with advice on using calculators, basic math skills, and how to estimate answers. It then progresses onto basic pharmokinetics and therapeutics, explanations of units and drug strengths, and finally step-by-step drug calculations. The book is top and tailed with a pre-test and a revision test so that you can can be confident about the skills you've acquired.

✦ Table of Contents

Book title......Page 4
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 11
How to use this book......Page 12
Basics......Page 13
Drug strengths or concentrations......Page 15
Dosage calculations......Page 16
Infusion rate calculations......Page 17
Answers......Page 18
Part I: Mathematics......Page 20
The 'ONE unit' rule......Page 22
Checking your answer: does it seem reasonable?......Page 24
Putting it all together......Page 25
Minimizing errors......Page 26
Objectives......Page 28
Arithmetic symbols......Page 30
Basic maths......Page 31
Rules of arithmetic......Page 41
Fractions and decimals......Page 44
Roman numerals......Page 54
Powers or exponentials......Page 55
Using a calculator......Page 57
Estimating answers......Page 61
Objectives......Page 67
Per cent and percentages......Page 68
Converting decimals to percentages and vice versa......Page 69
Calculations involving percentages......Page 70
Drug calculations involving percentages......Page 73
How to use the percentage key on your calculator......Page 74
4 Units and equivalences......Page 78
SI units......Page 79
Prefixes used in clinical medicine......Page 80
Equivalences......Page 81
Conversion from one unit to another......Page 82
Guide to writing units......Page 87
5 Drug strengths or concentrations......Page 90
Introduction......Page 91
Percentage concentration......Page 92
mg/mL concentrations......Page 94
'1 in …' concentrations or ratio strengths......Page 96
Drugs expressed in units......Page 98
6 Dosage calculations......Page 100
Calculating the number of tablets or capsules required......Page 101
Dosages based on patient parameters......Page 102
Ways of expressing doses......Page 105
Calculating drug dosages......Page 106
Displacement values or volumes......Page 110
7 Moles and millimoles......Page 113
What are moles and millimoles?......Page 114
Millimoles and micromoles......Page 116
Calculations involving moles and millimoles......Page 117
Molar solutions and molarity......Page 120
8 Infusion rate calculations......Page 125
Drip rate calculations (drops/min)......Page 126
Conversion of dosages to mL/hour......Page 128
Conversion of mL/hour back to a dose......Page 133
Calculating the length of time for IV infusions......Page 136
9 Action and administration medicines......Page 139
Introduction......Page 140
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics......Page 141
Administration of medicines......Page 149
Promoting the safer use of injectable medicines......Page 156
10 Infusion devices......Page 159
Pumped systems......Page 160
Infusion device classification......Page 164
11 Children and medicines......Page 166
Drug handling in children......Page 167
Routes of administration of drugs......Page 170
Practical implications......Page 171
Useful reference books......Page 175
Approximate values useful in the calculation of doses in children......Page 176
Calculating dosages......Page 177
12 The elderly and medicines......Page 178
Drug handling in the elderly......Page 179
Specific problems in the elderly......Page 181
General principles......Page 182
Introduction......Page 184
Summary of product characteristics (SPC)......Page 185
Basics......Page 194
Units and equivalences......Page 195
Dosage calculations......Page 196
Moles and millimoles......Page 197
Infusion rate calculations......Page 198
Answers to revision test......Page 199
Answers to problems set in chapters......Page 202
4. Units and equivalences......Page 203
5. Drug strengths or concentrations......Page 206
6. Dosage calculations......Page 207
7. Moles and millimoles......Page 214
8. Infusion rate calculations......Page 220
9. Action and administration of medicines......Page 234
Appendices......Page 235
1 Body surface area (BSA) estimates......Page 236
2 Weight conversion tables......Page 240
3 Height conversion tables......Page 242
4 Calculation of Body Mass Index (BMI)......Page 244
5 Estimation of renal function......Page 251
6 Abbreviations used in prescriptions......Page 253
B......Page 256
D......Page 257
E......Page 258
H......Page 259
L......Page 260
M......Page 261
P......Page 262
R......Page 263
T......Page 264
W......Page 265