Nurses' Pharmacology Knowledge Analysis

This assignment critically examines the article 'Nurses’ knowledge of pharmacology behind drugs they commonly administer' by Ndosi & Newell (2009). The analysis focuses on the importance of the study, its aims and objectives, research design, data collection methods, results, discussion, and suggestions for future research. The student evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the study, particularly regarding its sample size and areas that require further exploration.

Running Head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Nursing assignment
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The assignment deals with the article titled, “Nurses’ knowledge of pharmacology behind
drugs they commonly administer” by Ndosi & Newell (2009). In the context of the article the
assignment discuses the importance of the study, the aims, objectives, research design, data
collection, and results obtained from the study.
Importance of the study
I think that the research is very important not only for Singapore but globally. It is
because of the necessity of supplementary pharmacology education for nurses to gain knowledge
on drugs they commonly administer. Nurses require this knowledge due to changing nature of
the therapeutic regimes, and because they are the front line carers. Lack of pharmacology
knowledge may lead to medication error and adverse consequences (Smeulers et al., 2014).
Therefore, the authors make the strong case for the study.
Title and aims
The title of the article is clear and concise. In 9 words the title gives the readers the idea
about the research being conducted. However, it does not give a hint of the study nature that is
qualitative or quantitative. The aim of the study is clearly stated, which is to determine if the
nurses who administer medicines posses adequate knowledge of pharmacology. Further, the
study aims to identify if the knowledge is related to their education background or experience. In
think the aims and objectives of the study are achieved.

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Study design
The study employed non-experimental causal comparative and correlational design for
this research. The research design is appropriate as this is used for identifying the associations
among the variables. It is useful to determine the existing differences and the consequences of it
among the group of participants (Garber & Hollon, 2015). The first and second hypothesis can
be well addressed with this design. Data is collected through questionnaire and structured
interview method. The instrument selected is justified as it can collect both subjective and
objective data from nurses. It will help in measuring the relation between the variables that is
education, knowledge and experience level. A small sample size of 42 may hamper the study
results (Avery et al., 2014).
Results
The results of the study are clear and convincing as the data is well presented with charts
and bar graphs. The results were statistically significant when measuring the knowledge
differences between the junior and senior nurses. Poor pharmacology knowledge was evident
among the nurses. The results indicated the correlation between the experience and the
knowledge.
Discussion
The study had provided detailed discussion for the results obtained. The justification for
the sample population chosen and the general reason for the low rate of response were also
provided. It is convincing to read how the methodology helped in obtaining desired data. The
author conducted a thorough literature review that well supported that the data obtained on
pharmacology knowledge, Nurses’ experience and pharmacology knowledge, Nurse Grades and

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educational background. The study fails to address the learning trends among the nurse’s and
other areas such as pharmacokinetics, drug dosage calculations.
Further research
The suggestions for further research on this topic are clear and helpful as there is a need
of bigger and better sampling and various methods to further explore this area in Singapore. The
recommendation on use of cluster sampling will omit the limitations of previous study. Further
studies on this topic in Singapore can include the nurse’s drug dosage calculation and
pharmacokinetics.

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References
Avery, C. L., Der, J. S., Whitsel, E. A., & Stürmer, T. (2014). Comparison of study designs used
to detect and characterize pharmacogenomic interactions in non-experimental studies: a
simulation study. Pharmacogenetics and genomics, 24(3), 146.
Garber, J., & Hollon, S. D. (2015). Specificity designs. The Encyclopedia of Clinical
Psychology.
Ndosi, M. E., & Newell, R. (2009). Nurses’ knowledge of pharmacology behind drugs they
commonly administer. Journal of clinical nursing, 18(4), 570-580.
Smeulers, M., Onderwater, A. T., Zwieten, M. C., & Vermeulen, H. (2014). Nurses' experiences
and perspectives on medication safety practices: an explorative qualitative study. Journal
of nursing management, 22(3), 276-285.