A NEEDS ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPORTANCE OF DOSAGE CALCULATIONS IN NURSING

The purpose of this study was to identify whether drug dosage calculations constitute an important skill that is required for the practice of the registered nurse in the acute care setting. In order to answer this question, a needs assessment was conducted using a questionnaire survey. Three groups of nurses, specifically involving the areas of direct care, staff development, and nursing education, were asked to respond to these questionnaires. After field-testing, a questionnaire was mailed directly to each school of nursing (n = 31) and to the staff development department of each hospital (n = 121) in one state. Direct care nurses from six hospitals also participated. A nursing administrator in each of the six hospitals distributed, collected, and returned questionnaires for the direct care group. The overall results were that a large number (123; 80.9%) of the directly mailed questionnaires were completed and returned. The response rate from the direct care nurses was not as high. They returned 163 questionnaires, 57% of the 285 that were mailed. Chi square analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between the utilization of calculation skills by the direct care nurses and the skills that were taught and expected by the educators and staff developers. Each group strongly agreed that drug dosage calculation skills are important and should be taught in basic nursing programs. The chi square analysis gave no evidence that opinions as to the importance of calculation skills were related to group membership. When asked about specific skills, the groups agreed that eleven skills should be taught. Those skills included solving drip rate problems and calculating the amount of a solution needed to administer a prescribed dosage. The nurses were also questioned as to the feasibility of presenting a continuing education offering that updated calculation skills. The results did not indicate that large numbers of nurses would attend such an offering