How does chemistry relate to the nursing profession?

thepianist: How does chemistry relate to the nursing profession?
I was in my chemistry class today and some fellow classmates and I were talking about how we don’t need chemistry for a nursing major. But all the lectures about acids/bases buffers, solutions, dilutions and all that stuff is closely related to the fundamentals of nursing. Am I right?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Bryan
Definitely. If you can’t dilute meds properly you could give the wrong dose, give it too fast or slow, or even cause direct injuries with some meds. And a basic understanding of pH is fundamental to understanding blood chemistry.

Answer by ceddog86
I think that there are two important ways in which chemistry applies to nursing. First, for the mixing and preparation of drugs and electrolyte solutions which are used for rehydration. Second, and I would say more importantly, you need to know some chemistry in order to get very far in biology. One of the most important concepts in cell biology is the diffusion of molecules across the cell membrane. This is really a chemistry problem! The of examples is endless. I firmly believe that learning the chemistry for chemistry’s sake ultimately gives people interested in biological systems a better and fuller understanding of the processes at work. To use the osmosis/diffusion example again, I first learned this in high school biology, with no chemistry under my belt, and I was willing to accept it, but it’s more meaningful now that I know a great deal more about ions, polarity, solutions, intramolecular forces, etc.