How to undertake oral medicine dosage calculations.
Why you should read this article: • To refresh your knowledge of the steps involved in safe and effective medicine administration and dosage calculation • To learn about ensuring best practice during medicines administration, such as minimising interruptions • To enhance your knowledge of how to avo...
| Publicado en: | Nursing Standard Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 47 - 52 |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom (The)
Apr2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=192697188&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 192697188 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 00296570 4ER jtl: Nursing Standard issn: 00296570 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 41 iid: 4 pid: 6040 pub: Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom (The) artinfo: ui: 192697188 10.7748/ns.2026.e12636 192697188 ppf: 47 ppct: 5 formats: tig: atl: How to undertake oral medicine dosage calculations. aug: au: Pritchard, Anthony affil: Lecturer in adult nursing, School of Healthcare Sciences, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales sug: subj: Dosage Calculation Methods Dosage Calculation Standards Administration, Oral Standards Medication Errors Prevention and Control Patient Safety Nursing Practice, Evidence-Based Medicine Nursing Care Charting Tablets Capsules Clinical Competence Education, Nursing Drug Compounding ab: Why you should read this article: • To refresh your knowledge of the steps involved in safe and effective medicine administration and dosage calculation • To learn about ensuring best practice during medicines administration, such as minimising interruptions • To enhance your knowledge of how to avoid mathematical and conceptual medication errors. Rationale and key points: Safe and effective medicine administration and dosage calculation are fundamental nursing proficiencies. Medicine dosage calculations must be undertaken with utmost care to ensure patients' safety and that they gain maximum benefit from the prescribed medicine. It is essential, therefore, that nurses can undertake medicine dosage calculations accurately. Nurses undertaking this activity must ensure they have the knowledge and skills to do so and work within their competence level. • Inaccurate medicine dosage calculations are a significant causative factor in medication errors. • Wrong dose medication errors are frequently reported in both adult and children's healthcare settings, with higher rates of overdosing errors compared with underdosing errors. • Causative factors of inaccurate drug calculations include mathematical-related errors, such as inadequate understanding of basic mathematics, and conceptual errors, where the nurse does not evaluate whether the final calculated dosage makes sense or is a safe and realistic amount for the patient within the context of their health status. • Technology-enhanced simulation training, independent double checking, use of calculators, and use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) as an additional verification layer, have been identified as strategies that may reduce medicine dosage calculation errors. Reflective activity: 'How to' articles can help to update your practice and ensure it remains evidence-based. Apply this article to your practice. Reflect on and write a short account of: • How this article might enhance your practice when undertaking oral medicine dosage calculations. • How you could use this information to educate nursing students or your colleagues on the correct methods to achieve accurate medicine dosage calculations. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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