The effectiveness of teaching drug calculation skills on the way of drug performance (change in awareness) of nurses working in special departments

Subject Areas : Psychology of couples

Somayyeh  Talebi ¹ (Corresponding author), Department of Medicine, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran. Tel: [phone], Email: [e-mail] )
Sakineh  Poorhosein Fookolaie ² (Department of Medicine, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran)
Hadi  DarvishKhezri ³ (Thalassemia Research Center (TRC), Hemoglobinopathy Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Science, Mazandaran, Iran)
Kolsom  Akbarnataj Bisheh ⁴ (Assistant Professor of Nursing Department, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran. Email: [e-mail] (Corresponding author))
Homeyra  Akbarzadeh ⁵ (Department of Medicine, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran)
Homeyra  Tahmasebi ⁶ (Department of Medicine, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran)

Received: 2022-05-31 Accepted : 2023-06-01 Published : 2024-06-08

Keywords: nurses' performance, pharmaceutical error, pharmaceutical calculations, teaching pharmaceutical skills,

Abstract :

Abstract: Introduction: drug administration is one of the most important duty of a nurse. Some of the reasons for incomplete implementation of pharmaceutical calculations are poor skill and lack of proper training in pharmaceutical calculations in universities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of drug calculation skills education on the performance of nurses working in the Intensive Care Units. Methods: This study was a semi-experimental type, and the studied population consisted of nurses working in the special departments of Fatemeh Al-Zahra Hospital in Sari city, and 45 people were randomly selected. In this way, the nurses who worked in the special departments in the morning, evening and night shifts during the week in the selected hospital and met the criteria for entering the research were examined in one group before and after the intervention, which lasted for two months. It lasted the data of this research was used through a two-part questionnaire for qualified nurses to measure their skill in pharmaceutical calculations. The first part of the questionnaire included 9 questions about the demographic characteristics of the research units, and the second part included 18 questions related to the cognitive skills of pharmaceutical calculation. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire with a pre-test and post-test design. The data was collected using SPSS software and descriptive statistics (to determine the mean, standard deviation) and inferential (paired t) and Cronbach's alpha. It was examined and analyzed. Results: Mean (standard deviation) and median were equal to 15.6 (± 1.3) and 16 questions, respectively. Paired t-test showed a significant increase in the number of correct answers after the test compared to the number of correct answers before the test (Mean Difference: 5.91, 95% CI = 5.15 - 6.68; p-value: <0.0001). The mean scores obtained from the pre-test increased from 20% to the mean of 100% in the questionnaire after the intervention. Conclusion: The results show that nurses do not have sufficient information and calculational skills of medicine and the authorities are suggested to hold training workshops for them.