The Mediating Effect of Drug Calculation Confidence in the Relationship between Interest in Medication and Drug Calculation Competency

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the mediating effect of confidence for drug calculation in the relationship between interest in medication and drug calculation competency using learning style. Methods: Participants in this study were 421 nursing students from Busan and Kyungnam province. The scales of learning style, interest in medication, importance of perception, confidence for drug calculation, and drug calculation competency for nursing students were used in this study. Descriptive statistics, $X^2$ -test, t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression were used for data analysis. Results: Learning styles of the participants were diverger 19.0%, accommodator 30.9%, converger 21.1%, and assimilator 29.0%. The drug dose calculation competency of participants was relatively low with a mean score 66.73. There were significant positive correlations among drug dose calculation competency, interest in medication (r=.31, p<.001), and confidence for drug calculation (r=.44, p<.001). Confidence for drug calculation was a moderator between interests in medication and drug calculation competency. Conclusion: Based on the result of this study, confidence for drug calculation promoting strategy such as medication reconciliation and various learning technology for improving drug calculation competency are needed.