Teaching medication math

Getting the math right saves lives when it comes to medication dosages, and Joyce Ju, DNP, FNP-BC, CNE, wants to build nursing students’ confidence in their calculations.

Ju, an assistant professor in the Department of Undergraduate Studies at UTHealth Houston, will use a new grant to assess the feasibility of a digital escape room that presents math problems within the context of realistic clinical scenarios. Her project, “Closing the Gap in Medication Safety: Gamified Case-Based Learning for Dosage and Calculation Competency,” is funded through a $5,000 grant from The University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine, MD, Academy of Health Science Education.

Medication errors affect more than 7 million patients annually, and incorrect dosage calculations account for about 41% of such mistakes.

“Nurses play a critical role in medication safety by preventing errors, ensuring accurate dosing, and promoting safe, effective patient outcomes,” Ju said. “Traditional medication math exams often lack clinical context and contribute to high levels of student anxiety, making it difficult for learners to connect mathematical concepts to real-world nursing practice.”

Her approach incorporates unfolding patient case studies in an online escape room format that puts dosage calculations into clinical context. The study will evaluate student attitudes and perceptions of the intervention, and its results will inform larger future studies on improving dosage calculations and reducing math anxiety.

Serving as co-investigators are Ju’s Cizik School of Nursing colleagues Erica Yu, PhD, RN, FNAP, associate dean for undergraduate studies; Kristin K. Ownby PhD, ANP-BC, associate professor; Kennessa Landry, PhD, RN, assistant dean for the Simulation and Clinical Performance Laboratory; and Tess Syndergaard, MS, senior statistician.