My eldest brother has just started the prescribing course, he is a practice Nurse and informs me that there is now a maths test which 100% pass is required. This does seem a rather high pass rate, having said that I have no idea what the questions are.

They haven't brought it in yet, but plan to. I'm glad I didn't do one! There will also be a pharmacology test with 80% pass rate.

Pharmacology I can understand.

7x table very important!

Maths is important no doubt, but does seem rather offensive to give this to people who have already satified entry requirments into training, which usually includes GCSE Maths or equivalent numeracy.

I don't think it is actually maths, more arithmetic, and most errors I see, and make (then correct,) are not arithmetical, rather a misunderstanding of how many days February possesses this year and when the Easter holidays are.

Item in the press this week (Nursing Standard I think) showing doctors makng far more errors when prescribing for diabetes than specialist nurse prescribers, resulting in an extra 6 days in hospital per error, each costing £5000. Is anyone testing their ability to fill in prescribing forms correctly.?

wot about speling tests?
heather

For us mupppets, we have the emis system that bongs loudly if you spell a drug wrong and knows it's seven times tables.
I hope I don't hear of people wearing sandals and flip flops so they can cheat in the exam.

Prsonally I no no problem with spelling. always did it well. Its bl**dy typong I can't do!

Er - whats wrong with using a calculator?????? They are everywhere now i/c phones and watches???

Bill,
That would be cheating and if there was a nuclear attack and all these things were wiped out we'd need to be able to add up.

The post-nuclear-armageddon calculator famine was not something I had worried about until now, thank you Simon. I suppose in that event we will have to ration all medicines, that is when the local dealer's set of balances will be really useful, maybe we should be asking where to obtain them and how reliable they are.

I also believe that the opium poppy is a very hardy plant and thrives in hot, dry conditions on thin soil, which is what my garden looks like now. So perhaps a post global-warming armageddon is what we should be getting our solar-powered calculators ready for?

how do flip flops help you cheat please?
I'm off to keale for a day in september, to be told how to do the supervison bit for a pharmacist specialising in substance misuse prescribing. Hope I don't get tested too.

Judith,
You have extra digits to count with

And if worn with shorts you can write a crib on your thigh to sneak a look at when you can't remember how to spell microsomal enzyme system.

I took my exam on Monday, two hours of non-stop writing and how my hand hurt! The most I use a pen for nowadays is my signature and correcting student spellng mistakes, especially those who can't spell microsomal enzyme system.

Jim,
I remember that, not used to writing hardly at all these days.
Hope you've passed and sure you will have done.