Authors

  1. Nelan, Philip MBA, MSN, RN-BC, CHPN, CNE, CNE-cl

Article Content

Important concepts of the nursing curriculum are medication safety and dosage calculations. Nurse educators cannot stress enough the importance and necessity of confidence in dosage calculations to prevent medication errors and harm to patients. One practice that can be applied to a lecture class is to start each class with a medication problem. As students arrive, either online or in-person, there is always a medication problem on the PowerPoint, either displayed on the classroom screen or on the computer. Instructors can select a medication that corresponds to the lecture content, which includes a dosage calculation and specific questions about the drug, for example, Name of the drug? Classification? Uses? Side effects? Interactions of the drug with other medications? Education for patients who take this medication? The use of this teaching technique helps students learn medications and at the same time dosage calculation. At the class break, a student or students are selected to teach the math problem to the class, and the medication questions are discussed as a class. Students appreciate the opportunity to practice dosage calculations, which helps decrease anxiety in clinical practice and on examinations. Students can create their own medication review guides during the nursing program and use these as a study guide in preparation for the NCLEX-RN.