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Table 3 Calculation exercises attempted and those answered correctly in the sample analyzed

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

Year

Type of calculation required by the exercise

Total n exercises reviewed

Exercises attempted, n (%)

Answered correctly, n (%)a

1

Dose concentration and the corresponding infusion rate

95

88 (92.6)

27 (28.4)

2

Unit equivalences (theoretical)

69

69 (100)

8 (11.6)b

2

Basic dose calculation

138

129 (93.4)

117 (84.2)

2

Unit conversion

69

57 (82.6)

41 (59.4)

2

Total infusion time, taking into account the maximum flow rate

69

53 (76.8)

23 (33.3)

2

Dose calculation involving a percentage

69

53 (76.8)

48 (69.6)

2

Dose according to patient’s weight

69

56 (81.1)

44 (63.8)

2

Drug concentration over time (mg/min)

69

43 (62.3)

31 (44.9)

2

Volume of diluent, taking into account the maximum concentration

69

38 (55.1)

2 (2.9)

2

Infusion rate

69

38 (55.1)

10 (14.5)

3

Maintain prescribed dose for different concentration and infusion rate

57

50 (87.7)

17 (29.8)

3

IV dose based on patient’s weight and with unit conversion, plus calculation of infusion rate

64

64 (100)

21 (32.8)

3

Oral dose based on patient’s weight

64

64 (100)

45 (70.3)

3

IV dose based on patient’s weight and with unit conversion, plus calculation of infusion rate and concentration

64

61 (95.3)

21 (32.8)

Total

1034

863 (83.5)

455 (52.7)

  1. aThe % of correct answers is calculated based on the total number of exercises reviewed, including those left blank (n = 1034). bStudents who correctly answered all the unit equivalence (theory) questions. All exercises were contextualized, with the exception of unit equivalences