Which calculations do child branch student nurses find most difficult in the classroom setting?

The purpose of this study was to attempt to identify the types of calculations that cause most concern for student nurses. A Solomon Four Group Testing system, using the pre-test, intervention and post-test experimental design was used. Student nurses studying on the child branch programme were recruited. Each participant was part of a cohort of students who were exposed to a variety of calculation tests in the classroom setting, without the use of a calculator, and were allocated to receive an intervention in the form of an interactive lecture or a calculation workbook, or assigned to the control cohort who received no intervention. The cohorts then received a post-intervention calculation test. The data collected was analysed and revealed that certain identified themed questions resulted in a significant and worrying failure rate. Also emerging from the data, it was clear that identified interventions resulted in substantial improvements in subsequent scores of the students.