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

Drug calculations are an essential skill for nurses. Nurses need to be able to perform them accurately to calculate correct dosages of drugs to administer to patients. Incorrect calculations can cause drug errors and potential harm to patients (Department of Health (DOH), 2000; O'Shea, 1999). For student nurses therefore learning how to calculate drug dosages is an important skill that they need to be taught during their nurse training. This paper describes an action research project undertaken to explore the most effective way of teaching drug calculations to a group if 2nd year diploma and degree pre registration nurses. The evaluation of this project has demonstrated that a three stage approach to drug calculation appears to be an effective teaching strategy. These stages involve addressing mathematical concepts, teaching drug calculation formulae and then practising these skills in a clinical setting.