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How do nurses solve drug calculation problems?
1University of Greenwich, Avery Hill Campus, Eltham, London, SE9 2UG, United Kingdom. k.wright@gre.ac.uk
Nurse Education Today
|May 19, 2012
Summary
Senior nurses use diverse strategies for drug calculations, focusing more on understanding the problem than solving it. Nurse educators should ensure calculation questions reflect real clinical scenarios.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Education
- Cognitive Psychology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Accurate drug calculations are critical for patient safety in nursing.
- Understanding the cognitive processes behind drug calculation is essential for effective teaching.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cognitive strategies senior nurses employ when solving written drug calculation problems.
- To identify the key cognitive steps involved in nurse-led drug dosage calculations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized verbal protocol methodology with eight senior nurses in an educational setting.
- Employed verbal protocol analysis to examine the cognitive processes during problem-solving.
Main Results:
- Nurses employed a variety of strategies beyond the standard nursing formula.
- Cognitive processes revealed a significant emphasis on problem representation over direct calculation.
- A majority of cognitive steps were dedicated to interpreting and structuring the problem.
Conclusions:
- Nurse educators must prioritize teaching problem representation skills for drug calculations.
- Assessment questions for drug calculations should closely mirror authentic clinical practice scenarios.
- Improving problem representation can enhance nurses' accuracy in medication dosage calculations.
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