Final answer:
The ability to perform unit conversions is critical in medicine, particularly for a nurse administering medication. For example, to give 0.2 g of aspirin using 50 mg tablets, 4 tablets are required. This skill also plays a vital role in analyzing clinical trial data.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how many tablets a patient should be given, it is crucial to understand and perform unit conversions accurately. As an example, if a nurse has 50 mg aspirin tablets and needs to administer 0.2 g of aspirin to a patient, the nurse must convert grams to milligrams. Knowing that 0.2 g equals 200 mg, and having 50 mg tablets means dividing 200 mg by 50 mg to find the number of tablets needed. This results in 4 tablets.
In a different scenario outlined by LibreTexts™, if the mass of the medication is given in mg and the dosage is specified as 1 tablet per 75 µg, multiple conversions are required. The nurse would convert from mg to g, then from g to µg, and finally use the conversion factor to determine the number of tablets.
Unit conversion skills are also critical for analyzing clinical trials. For example, determining the efficacy of a new medication in preventing a disease involves comparing results between treatment and control groups. Proper data analysis can lead to significant conclusions about the treatment's success.