Nurse students' medication competence--an integrative review of the associated factors

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this review was to identify factors associated with nurse students' medication competence.

Background: Registered nurses play an important role in safe and effective medication management. Previous nursing literature has highlighted deficiencies in nurse students' medication competence, yet little is known about specific factors which are associated with their medication competence.

Method: Integrative literature review.

Results: Nineteen articles met the selection criteria for this review. The main competence area the reviewed articles focused on was medication calculation skills of nurse students. However, a total of twelve factors were identified to be associated with nurse students' medication competence. They constitute three main categories: factors associated with individual nurse students' particular circumstances, the clinical learning environment, and the educational institution. Individual factors such as students' attitudes towards mathematics and their self-confidence seem to be associated most strongly with medication competence.

Conclusion: First, based on this review, the focus in medication competence research has been strongly on nurse students' medication calculation skills. Therefore, in future research and practice, attention needs to be paid to other competency areas as well, such as medication administration and patient medication education skills. Second, overall, only a limited amount of research exists that explores what factors are associated with medication competence.