An exploration into the most effective way to teach drug calculation skills to nursing students

Wright, Kerri

doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2005.04.004

Cited by 51 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We can only speculate that perhaps due to processes such as knowledge decay, any prolonged amount of time without mathematical calculation exposure can result in a deterioration in performance. [2,3,[5][6][7][8][9][10] Without further qualitative feedback World J Emerg Med, Vol 3, No 3, 2012 from the students, the reasons behind such poor performance are unclear. Interestingly 62% (n=57) of students believed that they did not have any drug calculation issues , which is supported by the results found in the study by Hubble et al [3] where 63.5% of the practising qualifi ed paramedics in the United States who participated in a survey believed that drug calculations were 'not stressful at all'.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[2][3][4] Results from the studies varied with mean scores ranging from 39.8% to 65% accuracy. [2][3][4] Studies [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] from many medical disciplines investigating mathematical competence suggest issues such as skills decay, the presence of equipment that automatically performs the calculations, length of time in the job, poor mathematical education during primary and secondary schooling, and pressures associated with caring for the patient during high-pressure or stressful situations as possible reasons for poor calculation performance.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The fi nal type is computational errors involve miscalculation of simple functions such as multiplication, division, subtraction or addition. [9][10][11][12][13][14] In Victoria, Australia, the fi nal two years of secondary schooling form the graduation requisites of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). During the VCE there are three levels of mathematics in each of the final two years of secondary schooling.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Undergraduate paramedic students cannot do drug calculations

Eastwood

Boyle

Williams

2012

World Journal of Emergency Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Undergraduate paramedic students cannot do drug calculations

Eastwood

Boyle

Williams

2012

World Journal of Emergency Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The inability to perform accurate calculations may result in a compromise of patient safety which may lead to an under-dosing, overdosing, or a major adverse event such as death.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drug calculation ability of qualified paramedics: A pilot study

Boyle¹,

Eastwood²

2018

World Journal of Emergency Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND:The inability of paramedics to perform accurate calculations may result in a compromise of patient safety which may result from under or over dosing of drugs, incorrect joules for defi brillation, or a major adverse event such as death. The objective of this study was to identify the drug calculation and mathematical ability of qualifi ed operational paramedics. METHODS:The study used a cross-sectional design with a paper-based calculation questionnaire. Twenty paramedics enrolled in an intensive care paramedic course were eligible to participate in the study. The questionnaire consisted of demographic, drug calculation (seven questions), and mathematical (fi ve) questions. Students were given no notice of the impending study and use of a calculator was not permitted. RESULTS:All eligible students participated in the study. The average time employed as a paramedic was 7.25 years, SD 2.5 years, range four years to twelve years. Four (20%) students got all 12 questions correct, and fi ve (41.6%) got 50% or less. The average score was 8.6 (71.7%) correct, SD 2.8 correct, range 3 to 12 correct questions. There were eight (40%) conceptual errors, 12 (60%) arithmetical errors, and fi ve (25%) computational errors. CONCLUSION:The results from this study supports similar international studies where paramedic's ability to undertake mathematical and drug calculations without a calculator varies, with some results highlighting the paramedics mathematical skills as a potential risk to patient safety. These results highlight the need for regular continuing mathematical and drug calculation practice and education to ensure a lower error rate.

show abstract

“…Students accept the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) (Green et al, 2006, Wright, 2005, however some limitations have been found. Farrell et al (2007) found that although student nurses were happy to participate in an online unit in clinical communication having a computer at home, rather than having to rely on university equipment, not only made this easier, but also have a positive effect on their grade.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surfing or still drowning? Student nurses’ Internet skills

Bond

2010

Nurse Education Today

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryA study into student nurses' ability to use the Internet was published in Nurse Education Today in 2004. This paper repeats the research with a cohort of students starting their pre-registration programme in a UK university in 2007.In 2004 students were reported as having poor internet skills, and as not being frequent users of the Internet. In this study students were found to have significantly better ability to carry out basic tasks and significantly higher levels of internet use. Their ability to apply these skills to more complex information literacy tasks however had not increased, with more than half of all students saying they found far too much irrelevant information when searching for specific information on the internet. The earlier study found that skills and age were not related, which appears to still be the case.The need for these skills is increasing as education, lifelong learning, and patient information are all increasingly drawing on the developing Internet. Nurse education however is not integrating the skill and knowledge base essential to support this into preregistration programmes, and the evidence suggests that this will not happen without active management.

show abstract

An exploration into the most effective way to teach drug calculation skills to nursing students

Cited by 51 publications

References 11 publications

Undergraduate paramedic students cannot do drug calculations

Undergraduate paramedic students cannot do drug calculations

Drug calculation ability of qualified paramedics: A pilot study

Surfing or still drowning? Student nurses’ Internet skills

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About