Paramedical / Nursing Technical Knowledge: Safe Practice Basics
What this section tests
Paramedical / Nursing Technical Knowledge examines trade skills used by BSF paramedical staff - nursing assistants, pharmacists, lab technicians and radiographers. Expect fundamentals of nursing, anatomy and physiology, vital signs, first aid and CPR, infection control and sterilisation, drug routes and dosage calculation, community health programmes, and basic medical terminology.
Core rules
- Normal adult vitals: pulse 60–100/min, respiration 12–20/min, blood pressure about 120/80 mmHg, oral temperature 36.5–37.5 C.
- Adult CPR: compression rate 100–120/min, depth 5–6 cm, ratio 30 compressions to 2 breaths.
- Drug calculation: dose required = (desired dose / stock strength) x stock volume; convert all units to mg or mL first.
- IV flow rate: drops/min = (volume in mL x drop factor) / time in minutes.
- Sterilisation vs disinfection: sterilisation destroys all microorganisms including spores; disinfection reduces pathogens on inanimate surfaces. An antiseptic is for skin, a disinfectant for surfaces.
- Abbreviations: OD once daily, BD twice daily, TDS three times daily, SOS when required, IM intramuscular, IV intravenous.
Worked example
Order: 1,000 mL normal saline over 8 hours with a giving set of 15 drops/mL. Find the drip rate. Reasoning: 8 hours = 8 x 60 = 480 minutes. Drops per minute = (1000 x 15) / 480 = 15,000 / 480 = 31.25, rounded to 31 drops per minute. Confirm the time is in minutes and the drop factor matches the set in use.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing mg with mcg, or mg with mL, in dosage sums.
- Confusing sterilisation with disinfection, or antiseptic with disinfectant.
- Assuming an antibiotic will control a viral fever.
- Misremembering a normal range, which makes a stable patient look critical.