Strengthening Numerical Skills and Medication Calculation Abilities of Nursing Students

Strengthening Numerical Skills and Medication Calculation Abilities of Nursing Students Through Peer Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This experimental study aims to evaluate the effect of peer-assisted education on nursing students' numerical and drug calculation skills. A randomized controlled pretest-posttest design will be conducted with 55 first-year nursing students (27 in the experimental group and 28 in the control group). The experimental group will participate in a three-week peer education program focusing on numerical problem-solving and medication dosage calculations, led by trained mentor students.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Nursing; Student
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Peer-supported medication calculation training

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 55
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Ankara
    • Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey (Türkiye), 06510
      • Lokman Hekim University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Students who were registered for the Fundamentals of Nursing course for the first time
• Students who agreed to participate in the research voluntarily

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students who graduated from a Health Vocational High School
• Students who had previous training in the health field
• Students who had previously taken a Fundamentals of Nursing course
• Students diagnosed with a psychiatric illness
• Students who were regularly taking psychiatric medications
• Students who did not attend the theoretical sessions of the course

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Group; Peer-supported medication calculation training program	Other: Peer-supported medication calculation training; The intervention consisted of a peer-supported education program on medication dosage calculation, implemented over three weeks with five 60-minute sessions. In Week 1, four mentor students-senior nursing students with prior training in medication calculations and a GPA above 3.0-received refresher instruction from the course instructor. The training covered decimals, percentages, unit conversions, weight-based and non-weight-based dose calculations, and infusion pump adjustments, followed by sample problem-solving activities. The intervention group was divided into four subgroups, each consisting of 7-8 students, and each was assigned a consistent mentor. Each session included 30 minutes of individual and peer problem-solving followed by 30 minutes of guided mentoring. The course instructor provided supervision and feedback throughout the sessions. During Weeks 2 and 3, students practiced numerical and medication dosage calculations through peer-supported exercises.
No Intervention: Control Group; Participants who received traditional lecture-based instruction

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Medication Calculation Ability	Medication Calculation Ability Assessment Form (Pre-Test, Post-Test): The pre-test consisted of eight questions. The posttest consisted of twenty questions, including additional questions similar to those in the pretest. The questions covered the following categories: Dosage calculation for solid and liquid oral medications (3 questions in the pretest, 8 questions in the posttest),; Dosage calculation for injections (3 questions in the pretest, 7 questions in the posttest),; Calculation of percentage solutions and intravenous fluids (2 questions in the pretest, 5 questions in the posttest). Each correct answer was scored; the participants' correct answers were averaged to convert the score into a percentage. Thus, a medication calculation skill score ranging from 0% to 100% was obtained for each participant.	They were evaluated before the intervention and after 3 weeks of intervention.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Numerical Skills	Numerical Skills Assessment Form (Pre-Test, Post-Test): The pre-test consisted of five questions. The post-test consisted of 10 questions, including additional questions similar to those in the pre-test. The questions covered basic numerical skills, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percentage calculations, and unit conversions. Each correct answer was scored, and the percentage score was converted by averaging the number of correct answers. Thus, a numerical skill score ranging from 0% to 100% was obtained for each participant.	They were evaluated both before and after the 3-week intervention.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Lokman Hekim University
• Investigators: Study Director: Beratiye Oner, Lokman Hekim University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 15, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 15, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): June 20, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 25, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 5, 2025
• First Posted (Estimated): December 9, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): December 9, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 5, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Nursing education; peer education; Medication calculation; Numerical skills
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2024146

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No