Medication calculation skills of graduating nursing students within European context

Abstract

Aim:The aim of this study is to evaluate the medication calculation skills of graduating nursing students in six European countries and analyse the associated factors.Background: Medication calculation skills are fundamental to medication safety, which is a substantial part of patient safety. Previous studies have raised concerns about the medication calculation skills of nurses and nursing students.Design: As part of a broader research project, this study applies a multinational crosssectional survey design with three populations: graduating nursing students, nurse managers and patients. Methods:The students performed two calculations (tablet and fluid) testing medication calculation skills requiring different levels of conceptual understanding and arithmetic. The managers and patients answered one question about the students' medication kills. In total, 1,796 students, 538 managers and 1,327 patients participated the study. The data were analysed statistically. The STROBE guideline for crosssectional studies was applied.Results: Almost all (99%) of the students performed the tablet calculation correctly, and the majority (71%) answered the fluid calculation correctly. Older age, a previous degree in health care and satisfaction with their current degree programme was positively associated with correct fluid calculations. The patients evaluated the students' medication skills higher than the nurse managers did and the evaluations were not systematically aligned with the calculation skills tested. Conclusions:Nursing students have the skills to perform simple medication calculations, but a significant number of students have difficulties with calculations involving multiple operations and a higher level of conceptual understanding. Due to the variation in students' medication calculation skills and the unalignment between the | 549 ELONEN Et aL.

Effects of Dimensional Analysis on Infusible Medication Calculation Skills Among Nursing Students in an Intensive Care Unit

“…16 This is rendered as a key component in the safe and accurate prescription and administration of drugs and is a prerequisite for accurate drug calculations. 17 Correct drug calculation is a challenge for not only nursing students but also for nurses who face difficulty performing some mathematical and clinical calculations of drugs. 18 According to research, nursing students are prone to failures in drug dose calculations, 15,19 and they experience anxiety when performing mathematical calculations.…”

Adaptive Web-Based Technology Aiming at Improving Learning of Medication Calculation Skills for Nursing Students

“…Mastery of medication calculation skills is one of the tasks nursing students should achieve during their education [12]. Outcome measures, however, indicate that for many students, accurate medication calculations are challenging to both learn and master [13][14][15]. For example, in a European study including six countries, the authors found that even simple calculation tasks were challenging to master correctly for nursing students [15].…”

“…Outcome measures, however, indicate that for many students, accurate medication calculations are challenging to both learn and master [13][14][15]. For example, in a European study including six countries, the authors found that even simple calculation tasks were challenging to master correctly for nursing students [15]. Medication calculation skills should be acknowledged as a well-defined competency in nursing education curricula and continuing education programs [6,12,16].…”

Where do nursing students make mistakes when calculating drug doses? A retrospective study

“…Research focusing on nursing students suggests they often have poor drug calculation skills, due especially to difficulties with understanding mathematical principles [ 4 ]. Accordingly, although they are usually able to perform simple calculations, they struggle with tasks involving multiple steps and which require a higher level of conceptual knowledge [ 5 ]. A further issue concerns the extent to which nursing students are aware of their errors.…”

“…Another issue to consider, and one highlighted in a recent comparative study of six European countries [ 5 ], concerns cross-national differences in medication education regulations and practices and the competences that graduating nurses are expected to have acquired. For instance, some professional bodies such as the UK Nursing & Midwifery Council recommend that nurse education institutions should require students to achieve a 100% pass on a health numeracy assessment including calculation of medicines [ 14 ].…”