The Techno-Numerate Nurse: Results of a Study Exploring Nursing Student and Nurse Perceptions of Workplace Mathematics and Technology Demands

Jarvis, Daniel H.; Kozuskanich, Andrea; Law, Barbi; McCullough, Karey D.

doi:10.17483/2368-6669.1024

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 67 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…[6,10,13,16,37,44] This study is the first to measure math anxiety levels in Canadian nursing students, though the presence of math anxiety in Canadian nursing students and practicing nurses has been noted. [36] While the average math anxiety level reported in the study was only mild (1.5 out of a possible 4), math anxiety significantly reduced performance on the medication dose calculation test (see Table 2) in our students. It is not surprising that math anxiety is a key factor because students feel the burden of correctly calculating doses to prevent harm.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

“…It is not surprising that math anxiety is a key factor because students feel the burden of correctly calculating doses to prevent harm. [8,25,36] Math anxiety may also be associated with the paper-and-pencil test situation, which is not similar to the clinical situation, [28] or if passing the test is linked to a significant outcome such as graduation [39] or progression to the next clinical course. Lower self-efficacy is also associated with increased anxiety and reduced ability to accurately perform medication dose calculations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The development of a dedicated Math for Nursing course can provide more in-depth opportunities for learning and reduce math anxiety; when asked, nurses would have preferred to have a dedicated course like this during their education. [36] This course should include the consistent use of one formula for students. [16,33,51] The development of an in-course math buddy program, which would include compressed students as peer mentors for collaborative students, could help to reduce math anxiety and improve the ability of students to succeed on a medication dose calculation test.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…much of the mathematics needed for practice is actually based on Grades 5-9 mathematics content, yet requires the lucid application of these skills to more complex formulas, and often under stressful conditions". [36] This aptly illustrates the issues: nursing students do not remember the basic arithmetic skills required, such as multiplication tables, and feel lost without the security of a calculator, leading to the cycle of math anxiety, reduced self-efficacy, and lack of success. [10] Math anxiety refers to feelings of apprehension and tension experienced by a person that interfere with performance on math-related tasks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[10,13,37] Nursing students with low self-efficacy and higher math anxiety have consistently been reported to experience reduced performance on medication dose calculation tests. [7,10,16,38] Nursing students who report anxiety believe it to be related to an understanding of the real world consequences of performing incorrect dosage calculations in a clinical setting; [25,28,36] "as future nurses, students are acutely aware of their responsibility and accountability in drug calculation and the importance of checking answers and getting the calculations right". [8] In a test situation, the more significant the consequence of failure, the greater the level of math anxiety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The relationship between math personality, math anxiety, test preparation strategy and medication dose calculations in first year nursing students

Osahor

Woodend

Mackie

2019

JNEP

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The objectives of this study were twofold: (1) To determine the predictors of performance on a medication dose calculation test in first year baccalaureate nursing students. The variables studied were: level of math anxiety; math personality; arithmetic ability; program of study; age; and the number of strategies used to prepare for a medication dose calculation test. (2) To determine the factors that affect math anxiety. The variables studied were: arithmetic ability, program of study, math personality, the number of test preparation strategies used and age. Participants consisted of a convenience sample (n = 163) from the first year of a Canadian baccalaureate nursing program. Participants completed a mathematics test, which served as a baseline measure of arithmetic ability. They also completed a series of online questionnaires on math anxiety and math personality, age and program of study (compressed program vs. collaborative program). Participants then completed a medication dose calculation test after which they were asked how many different strategies that they had used in preparation for the test. Performance on the medication dose calculation test was regressed on arithmetic ability, mathematics anxiety, program of study, mathematics personality, the number of test preparation strategies and age. Math anxiety was regressed on pretest score, program of study, math personality, the number of test preparation strategies used and age. The variables found to predict performance on the medication dose calculation test were anxiety and program of study. Of the predictors investigated, only the “Inchworm” math personality and number of test preparation strategies used by students significantly predicted anxiety. Strategies to improve nursing students’ ability to perform dosage calculations should incorporate anxiety-reducing tactics as anxiety was found to be a key predictor of performance on the medication dose calculation test. These strategies should focus on supporting students who possess an “inchworm” math personality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The relationship between math personality, math anxiety, test preparation strategy and medication dose calculations in first year nursing students

Osahor

Woodend

Mackie

2019

JNEP

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Expressive writing interventions for pre-service teachers’ mathematics anxiety

Brewster¹,

Miller²

2022

INT ELECT J MATH ED

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Many pre-service teachers suffer from mathematics anxiety, which hinders their mathematics learning. This can cause a deficit in their mathematics content knowledge, which must be addressed to become effective mathematics teachers. The present study explored whether positive expressive writing was better at mitigating pre-service teachers' mathematics anxiety than general expressive writing. Expressive writing is emotional writing, which was shown to be successful in medical fields to reduce anxiety and more recently in the field of education. In contrast, research on positive expressive writing has recently shown beneficial results for treating test anxiety. Therefore, the potential for positive expressive writing in reducing mathematics anxiety was examined in this mixed methods study involving 27 pre-service teachers enrolled in a hybrid (i.e., half of the instructional time was in-person, while the other half was online) mathematics for teachers course. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three writing groups (positive expressive, expressive, and neutral) and completed pre-and post-measures of mathematics anxiety using the abbreviated mathematics anxiety rating scale at time 1 (beginning of course), time 2 (mid-term examination), and time 3 (final examination). In addition, participants completed a measure of their mathematics ability at the beginning of the course and then proceeded to engage in the three types of writing at the beginning of each of the nine consecutive classes. Although results did not show a significant difference between the three writing groups (positive, expressive, and neutral) and mathematics anxiety, there was a significant relationship between pre-service teachers' mathematical ability and measure of mathematics anxiety taken at the mid-term examination. This strong negative relationship demonstrated that pre-service teachers with low mathematics ability have high mathematics anxiety. Valuable insights were gained into mathematics anxiety effects on pre-service teachers, as well as contextual factors in terms of writing.

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Reflections on mathematics ability, anxiety, and interventions

Brewster

Miller

2023

INT ELECT J MATH ED

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Competency in mathematics is needed to respond to the vast employment opportunities available in the STEM sectors. These employment opportunities all require basic foundational mathematics skills, yet there is a shortfall of mathematics abilities due, in-part, to mathematics anxiety. Mathematics anxiety can surface as fear and avoidance of mathematics and has been linked to low mathematics performance and ability (Ashcraft, 2002; Luttenberger et al., 2018). This thought paper (Snell, n.d.), paper begins with a synthesis of research on mathematics anxiety including the known causal factors: cognitive/affective, social, and genetic as well as the recently proposed causal factor, missed opportunity (Brewster & Miller, 2020). Missed opportunity refers to cases where an individual who is capable academically to comprehend mathematics but has missed the opportunity to learn basic foundational skills in mathematics. Missing the opportunity to learn foundational concepts in mathematics places great stress, which can result in feelings of anxiety. Next, a synthesis of interventions for mathematics anxiety such as mindfulness exercises (Brunyé et al., 2013) and expressive writing (Brewster & Miller, 2022; Park et al., 2014) are discussed, which led to the realization that interventions are more complex than previously reported given that other factors can affect interventions such as duration of writing, quality of instruction, or additional stressors causing anxiety, including test anxiety. Knowing the causal factors influencing an individual’s mathematics anxiety may prove beneficial to designing more focused and influential interventions.

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The Techno-Numerate Nurse: Results of a Study Exploring Nursing Student and Nurse Perceptions of Workplace Mathematics and Technology Demands

Cited by 4 publications

References 67 publications

The relationship between math personality, math anxiety, test preparation strategy and medication dose calculations in first year nursing students

The relationship between math personality, math anxiety, test preparation strategy and medication dose calculations in first year nursing students

Expressive writing interventions for pre-service teachers’ mathematics anxiety

Reflections on mathematics ability, anxiety, and interventions

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