Abstract:

Medical mathematics is a critical and essential component of nursing education to increase patient safety in clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a literature review of medication mathematics competency and confidence in undergraduate nursing students. A current literature review will help understand why Canadian Bachelor of Nursing students may be experiencing difficulties with medication mathematics. Identification of specific mathematical topics nursing students experience difficulty with, will help guide nursing mathematical resources to assist with increasing overall understanding, to decrease the incidence of medication calculation errors. This article examines how nursing students’ mathematical confidence and previous mathematical experience impact their ability to correctly perform medication calculations in undergraduate nursing programs. Mathematical results, and common errors were highlighted to assist with understanding the areas of mathematics nursing students are having trouble with, and how this impacts their ability to perform medication calculations. The research consistently identifies mathematical knowledge deficits amongst nursing students where conceptual, procedural, unit, and clinically implausible errors are frequently made resulting in incorrect dosages. Several recommendations were examined focusing on increased preadmission mathematical requirements and increased mathematics education throughout nursing curricula.

Keywords:

Nursing, Education, Medical, Mathematics.