Numeracy Teaching for Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Scoping Review

Education providers teach numeracy to undergraduate nursing students using a diverse range of approaches. Proficiency in numeracy skills is critical for patient safety; however, alarmingly, the accuracy rate of calculations by both undergraduate nurses and RNs is reported to be low.

The literature search yielded 1,180 articles published between 1994 and 2022. The assessment of the studies was reported using the PRIMSA extension for Scoping Reviews.

Thirty-nine articles were included in the review. A diverse range of approaches were used to teach numeracy including learning theory, methods of calculation, learning environment, and examination aids.

This review highlights the plethora of approaches for teaching numeracy within undergraduate nursing education. Internationally, there were limited studies on the most effective teaching approaches; therefore, developing a robust evidence-based numeracy framework would be beneficial to guide non-nursing instructors in teaching undergraduate nurses. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(4):218-227.].