What this book owns, borrows, and refuses
Three equal vertical bands split by heavy rules: a solid-filled OWNS header, a soft-tinted BORROWS header, and an outlined DOES NOT COVER header over light diagonal hatch, with a legend ribbon of severity swatches beneath.
The scope contract
| OWNS | BORROWS | DOES NOT COVER |
|---|---|---|
| Unit conversion and the metric ladder | Drug names used only as vehicles for arithmetic → BOOK 05 · P4 | Drug classes, suffixes, mechanisms, adverse effects, antidotes, the high-alert list → BOOK 05 · P3 |
| Pounds to kilograms | Any therapeutic band a titration protocol references → BOOK 07 · P6 | Reference ranges, critical values, electrolytes, arterial blood gases, therapeutic levels → BOOK 07 · P6 |
| Desired over have | Weight and vital-sign context inside exhibits → BOOK 15 · P11 | IV site selection, dressing intervals, catheter complications, infiltration → BOOK 15 · P11 |
| Ratio and proportion | Priority framing on the unfolding case → BOOK 03 · P5 | Central line infection prevention → BOOK 04 · P9 |
| Dimensional analysis | Item type structure and response furniture → BOOK 02 · P4 | How NGN item types work → BOOK 02 · P4 |
| Weight-based dosing | Pediatric growth and development context → BOOK 13 · P8 | Pediatric dosing principles as a topic → BOOK 13 · P8 |
| Pediatric safe-dose range checking | ||
| Body surface area by Mosteller | ||
| Reconstitution and displacement volume | ||
| Flow rate in mL/hr | ||
| Drip factor and gtt/min | ||
| Infusion time and volume remaining | ||
| Titration, heparin and insulin drips | ||
| Units-per-hour problems | ||
| Exam rounding and significant figures | ||
| The four-part self-check |
Each borrow prints a pointer chip. It never prints the borrowed content.
The rounding contract
- mL/hr: round to a whole number.
- gtt/min: round to a whole number, always. A fractional drop does not exist.
- Injectable and oral liquid volumes: round to tenths. Below one milliliter, round to hundredths.
- Body surface area: round to hundredths before you multiply by anything.
- Tablets: round to a half only when the tablet is scored. Otherwise a whole tablet.
- Round once, at the end. Never round an intermediate value and then round the result again.
Two conventions this book adds
Every numeral carries its unit in a column to its right, so a bare number never travels alone. Every setup is printed before its answer, so a reader can audit the reasoning and not just the digit.
Watch outno ISMP Do-Not-Use abbreviation appears anywhere in this book. Unsafe numeral forms are described in words. Only the safe form is ever typeset.
Margin noteread the contract, then never wonder which book again.
Takeawayarithmetic lives here; pharmacology and reference ranges live next door.