The Impact of Taking Math Courses on Nursing Students? Skills to Calculate Drug Dosages: A Comparative Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study evaluated the impact of taking math courses on nursing students' skills to calculate drug dosages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two different groups of undergraduate nursing students constituted the sample of this comparative descriptive study. The first group was composed of 66 students who attended a fundamentals of nursing course. The second group was composed of 70 students who attended a fundamentals of nursing course and a basic mathematics course after a change in the nursing curriculum. Data were collected using a personal information form and a drug dosage calculation skills test (DDCST).RESULTS: Those students who attended the math course obtained significantly higher scores on the DDCST compared to those who did not attend the math course. Students who did not like math or had a lower cumulative grade point average received lower scores on DDCST. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that departments of nursing may cooperate with the faculty of education and include basic mathematics courses in the curricula of nursing departments to increase the abilities of nursing students to calculate drug dosages. New strategies may be developed to improve the mathematical skills of nursing students.