An Evaluation of the Drug Calculation Skills of Registered Nurses in the Critical Care Department at a Tertiary Hospital in KSA

Adel Musbah Awajeh*, Marwan Ra

Abstract

Background: Mathematical skills are essential for nurses to ensure the accuracy of drug dose before performing medication administration and also important in prevent medication errors. Objective: This study are to evaluate the drug calculation skills of critical care department (CCD) registered nurses at King Saud Medical City. A Convenience sample size of 220 CCD nurses 200 completed questionnaire and drug calculation competency skill test. Method: A cross-sectional survey with drug calculation competency test for CCD nurses. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Result: According to data analysis, 13.9% of participant nurses were unable to get score >80% on drug calculation test. Average score on the skill test exam was 86.1%(SD=0.50). The Largest proportions of incorrect answers were in vasopressors dose calculation. Conclusion: This article highlighted drug calculation errors were significant in critical care nurses. The common causes of medication errors according to surveyed nurse’s feedback related to frequently changing medication orders, nurses suffer from workload.