This paper examines the practical role of mathematics in both nursing practice and everyday life. It discusses how nurses rely on arithmetic, ratios, proportions, and statistics for tasks ranging from calculating medication dosages to evaluating research findings. The paper traces the use of health statistics in nursing back to Florence Nightingale and emphasizes the importance of evidence-based practice. It also explores how mathematical literacy applies outside the clinical setting — in cooking, home improvement, reading food labels, and making sound financial decisions — arguing that a weak grasp of math can lead to costly errors in both professional and personal contexts.
Nurses use math on a daily basis. On a very basic level, simple arithmetic is required to keep track of supplies, patients, hours worked, and other logistical matters. Math is used to add up a patient's caloric needs, to compare a patient's lab readings — such as cholesterol — to those of the general population, and to assess patients overall in light of different demographic groups and lifestyle practices. For example, a young, healthy adult male will require more calories to support his activities than a sedentary one. Expected vital data such as blood pressure and cholesterol will vary depending on the patient's age, gender, health, and demographic status.
Mathematics can truly be a matter of life and death. One of the most important ways in which nurses use math on a daily basis is when calculating how much of a particular medication to give a patient. "Nurses and other allied health professionals must understand medications and their administration to patients. Although the doctor and pharmacist play key roles, the nurse or other professional gives the medication to the patient and must be accurate in dosage" (Baiyasi, 2001). The use of ratios and proportions is essential to calculating dosage. For example, a nurse may be faced with the following problem: "Suppose a drug comes in tablets of 150 mg. The dosage ordered is 375 mg. How many tablets are needed?" (Baiyasi, 2001).
"Nurses evaluate research data and population health statistics"
"Math literacy guides cooking, finance, and daily decisions"
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