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) |