Pharmacy Technician Certified Board Comprehensive Pharmacy Math

By Anne Yen Nguyen

The Ultimate Pharmacy Math Book is primarily designed to assist students to reinforce and strengthen their skills in pharmacy math in order to pass the nationally Certified Pharmacy Technician Board exam, but this may also serve as an excellent refresher guide for new or experience pharmacists. Comprised of sixteen, short chapters, covering all different areas of pharmacy math, this textbook provides instruction and information for all the possible pharmacy math questions found on the Certified Pharmacy Technician Board exam.

The material in this textbook provides a comprehensive review that instructs and covers all aspects of pharmaceutical related mathematical calculations and formulas, such as the conversion of medications from adult to children’s dosages, understanding and utilizing the alligation method to determine ratio and percentage strength for prescriptions, determining the IV flow rate calculations for solutions administered over a period of time, and appropriate temperature conversion for both Fahrenheit and Celsius.

In addition to the more direct aspects, this comprehensive guide also includes other practical pharmacy related information such as how to recognize a valid DEA number and calculate a health care provider’s DEA check digit, or calculating the percentage for markup when selling a prescription drug and monitoring profit for a pharmacy business.

To supplement their study opportunity, students buying this textbook should also plan on attending the corresponding Certified Pharmacy Technician Board preparation classes sponsored by the author (see class schedules through our web site at www.ptcbprep.com). In these classes, our certified instructor(s) will thoroughly review all material in this textbook, as well as providing one-on-one interaction and answering any questions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796043242

Anne Yen Nguyen

Anne Nguyen is a pharmacist in the state of Texas with over twenty years of experience in retail, hospital, and mail order combined. She graduated as cum laude with a bachelor of science in pharmacy from the College of Pharmacy at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Weatherford, Oklahoma, in 1992 and a doctor of pharmacy from Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, in 2010. Ms. Nguyen held positions as a clinical pharmacist at the Dallas Medical Center and a remote order entry pharmacist for most of North Texas hospitals and retail pharmacies. She received a Distinguished Service Award in the North Texas Region of Eckerd Pharmacy in 1999. Her Eckerd Drugstore was a training store for all newly hired pharmacists and student interns. Ms. Nguyen serves as a pharmacist preceptor for the state of Texas since 1993. She is a certified immunizer from AphA, ACLS, and BLS. She is a certified instructor of IV certification classes through University of Houston College of Pharmacy. When she is not teaching one-on-one, she is a coauthor of several books including PTCB Comprehensive Review Manual and 1,001 PTCB Exam Review Questions. She is currently one of a few pioneer pharmacists working as remote order entry from home. Ms. Nguyen also works as a clinical coordinator pharmacist at the Dallas Medical Center hospital, PRN floater for Costco Drugstore, and PRN staff at Super Value Drugstore. With her well-rounded experience in this pharmaceutical industry, she has established a well network of connections with most retail drugstores and hospitals in the Dallas and Fort Worth area.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Anne Yen Nguyen.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2019908594

ISBN:                Hardcover                         978-1-7960-4325-9

                          Softcover                            978-1-7960-4326-6

                          eBook                                 978-1-7960-4324-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The authors and the publisher make no warranties of any kind and shall not be held liable for any special, consequential, or other damages that result in whole or in part from the reader’s use of or reliance on this material. By following the guidelines and instructions contained in this material, the reader willingly assumes all risks incurred in connection with such instructions. Further, none of the products or services described in this manual are warranted or guaranteed by the author or the publisher.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/08/2019

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Chapter 1.  Pharmacy Introduction

Chapter 2.  Pharmacy Technicians’ Duties

Chapter 3.  Basic Mathematics Review

Chapter 4.  Pharmacy Conversion Systems

Chapter 5.  Temperature Conversions

Chapter 6.  Roman Numeral System

Chapter 7.  Drug Enforcement Agency Determination

Chapter 8.  Fractions and Decimals

Chapter 9.  Ratio and Proportion

Chapter 10.  Milliequivalents and Milliosmoles

Chapter 11.  Percentage, Percentage Strength, and Ratio Strength

Chapter 12.  Calculating Dosage

Chapter 13.  Calculating Day Supply

Chapter 14.  Calculating Children’s Dosage

Chapter 15.  Dilution Method

Chapter 16.  Pharmacy Alligations

Chapter 17.  Flow Rate Calculation

Chapter 18.  Commercial Calculations and Terminology

Appendix A.  Patterned Plan of Attack for Questions

Appendix B.  Patterned Plan of Attack for Calculations

Appendix C.  Common Pharmacy Abbreviations

Appendix D.  Common Medical Abbreviations

Answers

References

Acknowledgments

To our families, the time that they have sacrificed so that this edition will become a reality.

To our mentors and advisors, whose vision provided education and motivation that encouraged our professional growth and challenged us to be innovators in our educational endeavors.

To my family, peers, and students who have shared their thoughts regarding the content and format of this text.

In memory of my father, your impact and contribution to my life is the greatest gift I could receive. I would not be enjoying the success and life I have today without your love and support; as well as the courage and vision you had in helping our family escape the communist regime in Vietnam to come to America, so that we would have the opportunity to grow and pursue our own dreams in a free and democratic country..

Preface

This textbook is intended to assist students who wish to become pharmacy technicians, with or without any pharmacy-related experience. To be a pharmacy technician, one needs to be proficient in math. It is necessary in order to accurately mix medications, measure fluids, calculate drug dosages, day supply, pricing, and so forth. Careers in the pharmaceutical industry are consistently in high demand. Becoming a nationally certified pharmacy technician is not that difficult. One would need to pass the National Certified Pharmacy Board exam with a 70 percent in the following areas:

1. Assisting the pharmacist in serving patients

2. Maintaining medication and inventory control systems

3. Participating in the administration and management of pharmacy practice

This book is designed for any student wanting to strengthen their abilities in pharmacy math to pass the National Certified Pharmacy Board exam. Passing the exam depends on the