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Maths & numeracy: Nursing and Midwifery

“The vast majority of calculations are likely to be relatively straightforward, and you will probably need to perform complex calculations only infrequently.

Robert Lapham and Heather Agar, Drug Calculations for Nurses: A Step-by-step Approach

This page has some guidance specifically for Nursing students to help with basic maths and drug calculations


Maths for healthcare professionals

thumbnail of document

You can download this comprehensive document specifically looking at Maths for Healthcare Professionals.

The guide covers:

  • Fractions
  • Decimals
  • Ratio
  • Percentages
  • BMI
  • Averages
  • Unit Conversion
  • Dosage Calculations

Click on the link above or the image to download the PDF.


Dosage calculation videos

Video 1

An example of a dosage calculation where the units involved are the same.

Slides from the video can be download here: Dosage Calculations 1 PowerPoint

Video 2

A second standard example.

Slides from the video can be download here: Dosage Calculations 2 PowerPoint

Video 3

An example where the units are different (g/mg) and need to be unified.

Slides from the video can be download here: Dosage Calculations 3 PowerPoint

Video 4

A second example where the dosage units need to be unified.

Slides from the video can be download here: Dosage Calculations 4 PowerPoint

Video 5

A first example where the patient is to be given medication in tablet form.

Slides from the video can be download here: Dosage Calculations 5 PowerPoint

Video 6

A second example for a prescription in tablet form.

Slides from the video can be download here: Dosage Calculations 6 PowerPoint

Books and eBooks from our collection


Recommended books and eBooks from our collection


Links to some external resources