Clinical Nursing Calculations, Third Edition can be used as a primary text for a dosage calculations course or as a supplemental text for a nursing course/program or pharmacology course. It also can be used by practicing nurses. This text is intended to appeal to faculty who teach online or in the classroom, have a strong clinical background, and want to apply math concepts to clinical practice. Content can be integrated into a medical-surgical curriculum, and clinical instructors can use content for remediation or assigned clinical exercises. Students will enjoy and benefit from the features that distinguish Clinical Nursing Calculations from other dosage calculation texts, such as:

• The CASE approach, a step-by-step process of performing dosage calculations
• A tabled side-by-side comparison of three methods of dosage calculation (ratio-proportion, formula method, dimensional analysis) for each calculation
• A case study that opens and closes each chapter
• Color coding of values and labels to appeal to visual learners
• Advantages of each approach presented:
  • Ratio-proportion promotes critical thinking.
  • Formula method is a shortcut tactic useful for individuals who easily grasp math.
  • Dimensional analysis is most useful when multiple conversions are required.

CASE is an acronym for a four-step calculation process, developed by the authors, that will prompt the student to methodically proceed with calculations:

• Convert
• Approximate
• Solve
• Evaluate

First, the student must determine if it is necessary to convert the ordered dose and the supplied dose to like units of measurement. After converting, the student can approximate the amount to administer. The approximation step promotes confidence in the answer if the approximated value is close to the solved value. To solve the dosage calculation, the student uses one of three methods of dosage calculations: ratio-proportion, formula method, or dimensional analysis. In the evaluate step, the student compares the solved value to the approximated value and checks the answer by repeating the calculation, replacing the unknown (x) with the solved value. The Approximate and Evaluate steps promote critical thinking that is vital to safe medication administration.

Numerous pedagogical features are included in every chapter. An outline, followed by Learning Outcomes and Key Terms (with page numbers for locating them within the chapter), begins every chapter. When defined in the text, the key terms are in bold. Expanding on the CASE acronym, each chapter includes a case study: opening with a Case Consideration in which a clinical issue is presented that includes a dosage error or potential error (relevant to the chapter material) and then concluding with a Case Closure in which the clinical issue is explained and resolved.

Learning Activities are inserted after each new concept is taught. Many of these activities are designed to be used with an audience response system in the classroom or to facilitate student engagement during independent learning. Because many students have difficulty remembering when and how far to round, Rounding Rules are emphasized as a key feature. Warnings and Clinical Clues provide helpful tips that apply to clinical practice. Chapter Summaries provide a quick reference to chapter material and are organized by learning outcomes. Each chapter concludes with 50 questions that can be assigned as homework or that students can use for practice. Homework is followed by a feature called Illuminations: Clinical Judgment Queries. These are critical thinking questions written in a format similar to items on the National Council Licensing Exam (NCLEX). All questions are referenced to learning outcomes, allowing students and faculty to select questions by outcome for practice or homework.

General features throughout the text include:

• Expanded clinical content, including nutrition and insulin pen calculations
• Legal implications of medication administration
• Exercises targeting safe practice with high-alert medications
• Examples given in eMAR and electronic health record format
• Information from The Joint Commission and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices regarding safe medication administration

Faculty and students will appreciate the use of current medications presented with large readable labels in this text. Realistic dosages, practical clinical application, and case studies should assist students and nurses to perform clinical calculations with competence.

What's new in the Third Edition?

• The lighthouse on the text cover is a symbol of strength, safety, and illumination. Strength is a quality that enables students to overcome obstacles. We hope that our students refer to this text as The Lighthouse Text and that it will empower them to overcome challenges associated with clinical calculations.
• Four new features to illuminate the pathway to safety, that is, safe medication administration, have been added:
  • Illuminations: Clinical Judgment Queries—Added to these NCLEX-style questions that promote critical thinking are NGN (NCLEX Next Generation) items. These rigorous items make a perfect assignment for small group work in a classroom or clinical setting!
  • Illuminations: Calculations Quick Guide—This a concise reference of key math skills covered throughout the text to include metric conversions, basic dosage calculations, computations requiring reconstitution, basic and critical care IV calculations, safe dosage determination, and implementation of a weight-based heparin protocol. This reference is located in the back of the text, before the back cover, to provide convenient access.
  • Illuminations: Video Calculation Clips—These short video clips, accessible via the Navigate platform, demonstrate the aforementioned clinical calculation skills.
  • Illuminations: Mastery Assessments—Added to the Navigate platform are a set of 14 ­questions per chapter, 4 of which are NCLEX-style items. These brief assessments will aid the student in determining and, ultimately, achieving mastery of the most important information in each chapter!
• The key terms listed on the first page of each chapter now have page numbers next to them to facilitate their location within the chapter.
• Key features, i.e., Rounding Rules and Clinical Clues, are numbered within each chapter to facilitate reference and location within the text.
• New assessments, containing six to seven questions per chapter, are accessible. Questions are tagged with Learning Outcomes. Answers are available for faculty only.
  • 50-question midterm exam (on Chapters 1–8)
  • 100-question comprehensive final exam (on Chapters 1–15)
• Information on safe medication administration has been updated in accordance with the guidelines promulgated by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices.