title: Nurse students' medication competence--an integrative review of the associated factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: University of Turku, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nursing Science, Finland. virsul@utu.fi
authors.forename: Virpi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sulosaari
authors.forename: Satu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kajander
authors.forename: Maija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hupli
authors.forename: Risto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huupponen
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leino-Kilpi
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D054796:Drug Dosage Calculations; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000451:nursing*; D006801:Humans; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D013338:Students, Nursing