title: A whole-of-curriculum approach to improving nursing students' applied numeracy skills.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nursing students often perform poorly on numeracy tests. Whilst one-off interventions have been trialled with limited success, a whole-of-curriculum approach may provide a better means of improving applied numeracy skills.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study is to assess the efficacy of a whole-of-curriculum approach in improving nursing students' applied numeracy skills.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two cycles of assessment, implementation and evaluation of strategies were conducted following a high fail rate in the final applied numeracy examination in a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) programme. Strategies included an early diagnostic assessment followed by referral to remediation, setting the pass mark at 100% for each of six applied numeracy examinations across the programme, and employing a specialist mathematics teacher to provide consistent numeracy teaching.
  
  
  METHODS
  The setting of the study is one Australian university.
  
  
  METHODS
  1035 second and third year nursing students enrolled in four clinical nursing courses (CNC III, CNC IV, CNC V and CNC VI) were included.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on the percentage of students who obtained 100% in their applied numeracy examination in up to two attempts were collected from CNCs III, IV, V and VI between 2008 and 2011. A four by two χ(2) contingency table was used to determine if the differences in the proportion of students achieving 100% across two examination attempts in each CNC were significantly different between 2008 and 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percentage of students who obtained 100% correct answers on the applied numeracy examinations was significantly higher in 2011 than in 2008 in CNC III (χ(2)=272, 3; p<0.001), IV (χ(2)=94.7, 3; p<0.001) and VI (χ(2)=76.3, 3; p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A whole-of-curriculum approach to developing applied numeracy skills in BN students resulted in a substantial improvement in these skills over four years.
authors.affiliation: Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore 2480, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: tvandemo@scu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Thea F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: van de Mortel
authors.affiliation: Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore 2480, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Leeann P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Whitehair
authors.affiliation: Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore 2480, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Pauletta M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Irwin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D054796:Drug Dosage Calculations; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics / Q000592:standards*; D013338:Students, Nursing
keywords: Applied numeracy; Curriculum; Medication administration; Nursing students; Quality enhancement