The contributors to dosage calculation ability and its applicability to nursing education: An integrative review

Medication errors are a major patient safety issue and account for 1-2 million hospitalizations and between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths annually. Approximately 41 % of all medication errors are due to improper dose calculations. Studies have shown mean scores on the medication dosage calculation test for nursing students range from 35 to 71 %. Despite new technology created to aid in dosage calculations, the issue is still prevalent among nurses. It is critical that the elements contributing to the nurses' ability to complete dosage calculations be determined so that calculation curriculum in nursing schools can be updated to better prepare students for practice. An integrative review was completed using the databases of PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase to answer the research question: What contributors impact nurses' and nursing students' ability to complete dosage calculations? Four articles met the specified inclusion criteria and were used for this review. The three most common contributing themes among the review sample included mathematical medication calculation ability, medication calculation frequencies, and dosage calculation education. Results from this review can inform the issue of dosage calculations and highlight the need for further research regarding the medication administration competencies taught in undergraduate nursing studies.