Jim,
Nice to hear from you. Yes it’s probably more nuanced than I said: certainly body weights in kg would be normal and I have used this in my questions
(but have added one where a patient quotes weight in stones and lbs so this needs a conversion to kg).
However, I was told (in no uncertain terms!) when writing my questions some time ago that milli and micro should not be abbreviated in the usual SI way.
If you do find out, please let the sigma community know. In the meantime, I’d err on the side of caution and state both in full.
Apparently this issue gets even more crucial for mental health drugs which can be very powerful even in very small quantities (so I didn’t do any of
those questions).
Best wishes,
Martin
Martin,
The nurses we see DO use abbreviations. On worksheets I see amounts in kg (usually for litres of water) g, mg and mcg for micro-grammes. I understand
why mg should never be used in nursing since it is too easily confused with mg (especially with my handwriting) and in any case a font foul up could push it back to mg.
I would have thought that, at a glance, mg and mcg would register as different – maybe as much as milligram and microgram. Is there a reference/directive in the NHS to never abbreviate milligram and microgram? Perhaps I should discuss with our nursing staff.
Thanks,
Jim.
Dr J H Tabor, Co-Director of
sigma,
Frederick Lanchester Library,
Coventry University, Coventry, CV1 5FB.
Tel 02477 657595
From: The sigma network for cross-university mathematics and statistics support <[log in to unmask]>
On Behalf Of Martin Greenhow
Sent: 13 December 2018 11:59
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: On-line Numeracy initial assessment?
Dear All,
Just a word of warning about writing questions for nurses and using random parameters … make sure you don’t kill anyone! When I was writing my nursing
questions in maths e.g. I worked closely with a SL in nursing to make sure the clinical practice was correct. Mostly the questions are about proportionality, so easy to code with randoms, but you have to make sure that the drug dosages are realistic
and also know things like “children don’t get that drug” and “syringe drivers only come in 15 or 20 drops per minute, not 17” … so I had to take out a lot of possible randomisation.
Feedback is another issue: how far do you go in explaining things? Nurses tend to use God-given formulae and just substitute the numbers in … could be
a reason why mistakes happen. So my feedback explained why the calculation works the way it does instead. Others may have different views on this.
Don’t use abbreviations for micro and milli ever … nurses are not allowed to do so but have to write it out in full.
Whey I said “make sure you don’t kill anyone!” above, I wasn’t joking either … 25% of medical litigation cases involve calculation errors and patients
do die. So if you are due a hospital visit, take your calculator along too!
Best wishes,
Martin
From: The
sigma network for cross-university mathematics and statistics support [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Lois Rollings
Sent: 12 December 2018 11:21
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: On-line Numeracy initial assessment?
Hi Mohamed,
I’m assuming you probably wouldn’t want questions specific to drug calculations for your initial assessment.
I have used Numbas and would recommend it for your purpose. Writing the kind of questions you are likely to need should not be difficult – and you can
randomise the numbers in the questions so that the student will see slightly different questions each time. You can also add feedback for each question – where you can put links, for instance to Mathcentre leaflets or web pages.
As an example, the QTS-Written Questions Quiz on this page was written using Numbas.
https://unihub.mdx.ac.uk/study/writing-numeracy/online-resources/maths-stats-and-numeracy/education-students
Best wishes
Lois
From: The sigma network for cross-university mathematics and statistics support <[log in to unmask]>
On Behalf Of Mehbali, Mohamed
Sent: 12 December 2018 10:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: On-line Numeracy initial assessment?
Dear All
We are, at LSBU, in the middle of preparing the documentation for Gateway 1 of the new Nursing Midwifery Council approval processes.
We are no longer testing numeracy and literacy skills as part of the recruitment process. However, the NMC requires us to do some sort of feedback to students about their numeracy skills.
Do you know any online numeracy quiz software that could provide helpful feedback to students about their numeracy level? Or any on-line Numeracy level 2 initial assessment?
Students would need individual feedback. Any suggestions you can give would be gratefully received.
Preferably any on-line application, which does not need us to provide applicants/offer holders with usernames and passwords.
Best wishes
Mohamed Mehbali
SFHEA, PGCE, MSc (Res), BSc (Hons)
Learning Development Advisor - Mathematics
Skills for Learning | Centre for Research Informed Teaching
London South Bank University | 103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
t: +44 (0)20 7815 6411 | e:
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