According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing is a field which is expected to generate over 587,000 new jobs by 2016, the most of any occupation. Nursing is a rewarding career. Becoming a nurse requires a caring personality, proper education and training. It also requires math skills. The use of math is prominent in nursing to evaluate a patient's health, administer medications and determine what options are best for each individual.
Vitals
Vital signs monitor the most basic life functions. Nurses use math to evaluate a person's vitals each day. According to the University of Virginia Health System, there are four main vital signs which are routinely monitored by health care providers: temperature, pulse rate, rate of breathing and blood pressure. Temperatures often have to be converted from Fahrenheit to Celsius and blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate have to fall within certain parameters.
Monitoring Growth
Nurses must measure growth. A nurse at a pediatrician's office will weigh and measure a child during each well visit. Once she has the child's information, it is plotted on a chart to determine whether the child falls into a healthy weight and height for his age. Monitoring growth is an important part of a child's development.
Likewise, a nurse who works with an OB/GYN will work with the doctor to monitor the growth of the unborn child in the womb. Ultrasounds are taken at different points in the pregnancy to evaluate if the size and dimensions of the baby and organs correlate with a healthy baby's size.
Medications
Nurses use math for administering medicine. Nurses will calculate how much medicine to give a specific person based on weight or age. For example, if a patient should receive 2 tsp. per 100 lbs. of weight, the nurse will need to calculate the exact amount to be administered if his patient weighs 150 pounds. In this case, 150 divided by 100 is 1.5 doses of 2 tsp. The nurse would then simplify that and understand that the patient needs 3 tsp. of medicine, based on the weight of 150 pounds. Likewise, when setting an IV dose, the nurse must follow a doctor's orders and use the necessary math to deliver the correct medication.
To avoid overdoses, nurses also must know calculate how long the particular medicine will remain in the patient's system.
Risk Analysis
Statistics are often used in medical practice to determine whether a person should attempt specific treatment. Doctors and nurses work directly with patients, evaluating all factors and developing the best plan for each person.
For example, a particular patient, based on age and condition, may or may not be a good candidate for a particular surgery. Based on statistics of success and failures, nurses and doctors can lead a patient to the best treatment options. If the success rate for a woman over age 50 is only 65 percent, doctors and nurses would most likely discourage the patient from this treatment. However, if 95 percent of women who take part in this treatment are cured, then the treatment will be highly recommended.
Similarly, statistics may be used when determining what medication to prescribe. With different rates of success, the probability of whether a particular medicine is a good choice can be determined.
Statistics are obtained from measuring how much success or failure has occurred out of all trials. As keeping track of every person who tries every treatment is not feasible, a test population is used to determine the statistics.
Additional Uses
According to Math Central, numbers aid a nurse in understanding her patient's condition and can also serve as warning signs to infection, illness or disease. For example, white blood cell counts provide insight to serious illness if the count does not fall within the normal range.
According to Math Central, nurses will have to use dimensional analysis, which means conversions to convert from pounds to grams, liters to milliliters and decimals to fractions.
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