Professor: Dr Mary Bennett  ROUNDING FOR THE MATH TEST General Rules RULE NUMBER ONE - DON'T ROUND UNLESS YOU HAVE TO:  You should always carry at least two decimal places throughout the entire problem. When you HAVE to round ONLY ROUND AT THE END, and then round to the largest number of decimal places possible to really measure in the clinical setting For instance, you can't measure 0.9 gtt, so you would round it up to 1 gtt When giving an injection, if the answer is 1.67 cc, you know that you should use a 3 cc syringe. Because the smallest unit of measurement on a 3 cc syringe is 1/10 of a cc , you would need to round the answer to 1.7 cc. However, when giving small amounts of medication (less than 1 cc) you would use a 1 cc syringe, which measures in 1/100 of a cc. So if the answer comes out as 0.87cc, you should not round it, because it is possible to measure 0.87 cc in a one cc syringe. This requires some judgment and familiarity with units on syringes and medication administration cups. If you are not familiar with syringe sizes and measurements, go to the 2nd floor nursing lab for review. Ask Peg Myers for a 1 cc syringe, 3 cc syringe, 5 cc syringe, oral syringe, and a medication administration cup. Review the measurements possible when working with each type of device. You will be expected to know the correct size of syringe to use when giving a dose. For instance, you would not choose a 3 cc syringe to give an amount less than 1 cc (use a one cc syringe) or more than 3 cc (use a 5 cc syringe). The goal is to be as accurate as possible, while still working with the tools available to you in the clinical environment. This page created and maintained by Mary Bennett DNSc, RN