Crushing the Numeracy Section of SNBT: A Comprehensive Guide
The Staff Nurse Bridging Theory (SNBT) exam is a crucial milestone for nursing professionals seeking to upgrade their career or expand their skillset. One of the most challenging sections of the SNBT exam is the numeracy section, which assesses your ability to apply mathematical concepts to healthcare scenarios. In this article, we’ll provide you with a comprehensive guide on how to crush the numeracy section of SNBT, including key concepts, practice questions, and strategies to help you succeed.
Understanding the Numeracy Section
The numeracy section of the SNBT exam typically consists of 30-40 multiple-choice questions that test your ability to perform calculations, apply mathematical concepts, and analyze data. The questions often involve real-world healthcare scenarios, making it essential to understand the practical application of mathematical concepts.
Key Concepts to Focus On
Here are some key concepts to focus on when preparing for the numeracy section of the SNBT exam:
- Percentage calculations: You’ll likely encounter questions involving percentage increases, decreases, or calculations. Make sure you can calculate percentages, convert between percentages and decimals, and apply percentage formulas to real-world healthcare scenarios.
- Ratio and proportion: Understanding ratios and proportions is critical in healthcare, where medication dosages, concentrations, and volumes are often expressed as ratios. Practice calculating ratios and proportions to improve your accuracy.
- Units of measurement: Convert between different units of measurement, such as milliliters to liters or grams to milligrams. Be prepared to convert units of measurement in various contexts, including medication administration, fluid calculations, and body mass index (BMI) calculations.
- Fractions and decimals: Healthcare scenarios often involve fractions and decimals when calculating medication dosages, infusion rates, or other clinical measures. Practice converting between fractions and decimals to improve your fluency.
- Statistical calculations: You may encounter questions involving statistical calculations, such as standard deviation, mean, or median. Familiarize yourself with these concepts and practice applying them to healthcare scenarios.
- Fluid calculations: Calculate IV flows, fluid volumes, and blood sugar levels to demonstrate your understanding of fluid calculations.
- Medication calculations: Calculate medication dosages, doses, or volumes to demonstrate your understanding of medication calculations.
Practice Questions to Help You Succeed
Here are some practice questions to help you prepare for the numeracy section of the SNBT exam:
Percentage calculations
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A patient’s weight increases by 5% from 80 kg to 84 kg. Calculate the patient’s new weight in grams.
Answer: 84 kg x 1000g/kg = 84,000g; 5% of 84,000g = 84,000g x 0.05 = 4200g; New weight in grams = 84,000g + 4200g = 88,200g -
A nurse increases the dose of insulin from 2 IU to 2.5 IU. Calculate the percentage increase.
Answer: Percentage increase = (Increased dose – Original dose) / Original dose x 100 = (2.5 IU – 2 IU) / 2 IU x 100 = 25%
Ratio and proportion
- A nurse administers 200 mL of medication to a patient. The nurse needs to administer 100 mcg/mL of a medication. Calculate the total dose administered.
Answer: Total dose = Volume x Concentration = 200 mL x 100 mcg/mL = 20,000 mcg
- A patient’s heart rate is 120 beats per minute (bpm). The patient’s ECG shows a ratio of 3:1 between ventricular and supraventricular beats. Calculate the number of ventricular beats per minute.
Answer: Supraventricular beats per minute = 1/3 of 120 bpm = 40 bpm. Ventricular beats per minute = 120 bpm – 40 bpm = 80 bpm
Units of measurement
- Convert 10 kg to grams.
Answer: 1 kg = 1000g; 10 kg = 10 x 1000g = 10,000g
- Convert 2 mg to milliliters (mL).
Answer: 1 mL = 1 g; 2 mg = 0.002 g; Since 1 g is equal to 1 mL, 0.002g is equal to 0.002mL.
Fractions and decimals
- Convert the fraction 3/4 to decimal format.
Answer: 3/4 = 0.75
- Convert the decimal 2.5 to a fraction.
Answer: 2.5 = 5/2 or 2 1/2
Statistical calculations
- Calculate the mean of the following dataset: 8, 12, 18, 20, 22
Answer: Mean = (8 + 12 + 18 + 20 + 22) / 5 = 18
- Calculate the median of the following dataset: 2, 5, 9, 1, 12
Answer: Median = 5
Fluid calculations
- Calculate the IV flow rate of 500 mL of fluid administered over 6 hours.
Answer: IV flow rate = Volume / Time = 500 mL / 6 hours = 83.3 mL/hour
- Calculate the blood sugar level of a patient who has consumed 15 g of glucose. The patient’s blood sugar level is currently at 90 mg/dL. Assume the glucose has a molecular weight of 180 g/mol and a molar extinction coefficient of 12.5 M-1cm-1.
Answer: First, convert the amount of glucose consumed to moles: moles = mass / molecular weight = 15 g / 180 g/mol = 0.0833 mol
Next, calculate the concentration of glucose in the blood: concentration = moles / (time x volume) = 0.0833 mol / (1 hour x 5 L) = 0.0167 M
Finally, use Beer’s Law to calculate the absorbance of glucose in the blood: absorbance = extinction coefficient x concentration = 12.5 M-1cm-1 x 0.0167 M = 0.2083
Since the glucose concentration is 90 mg/dL and the glucose has a molecular weight of 180 g/mol, we can calculate the glucose concentration in moles per liter: moles/L = mg/dL / (molecular weight x 1000) = 0.0009 moles/L
Now, use the absorption coefficient to calculate the absorbance: absorbance = 0.0005 L / 0.0005 = 1. This indicates a very weak interaction between glucose and light.
