The Triangle Technique: a new evidence-based educational tool for pediatric medication calculations

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Medical Calculations
• Pediatric Pharmacology

Background:

• Nursing students frequently experience math anxiety, hindering their confidence in performing essential calculations.
• Accurate medication calculation is critical in nursing practice, particularly in pediatrics.
• Traditional methods may not adequately address diverse learning styles or math anxiety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate the efficacy of the Triangle Technique as an educational tool for pediatric medication calculations.
• To address math anxiety and improve calculation accuracy among nursing students.
• To provide nurse educators with an evidence-based, engaging teaching method.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Triangle Technique, a graphic model integrating visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles.
• A pilot study was conducted to assess the tool's impact on nursing students' ability to calculate pediatric medication dosages.
• Pearson's product-moment correlation was used to analyze the data.

Main Results:

• Students demonstrated statistically significant improvement in calculating accurate pediatric therapeutic dosage ranges after using the Triangle Technique.
• The educational intervention positively impacted students' calculation proficiency.
• The technique's effectiveness was supported by quantitative analysis.

Conclusions:

• The Triangle Technique is an effective educational intervention for enhancing nursing students' pediatric medication calculation skills.
• This novel tool helps mitigate math anxiety and improves accuracy in a critical nursing competency.
• The Triangle Technique offers a valuable, evidence-based approach for nurse educators to improve student learning outcomes.