Dosage Calculation Competency Exam Guidelines

General Information

  1. The mandatory exam will be administered by each clinical course, spaced at least one week apart.
  2. All students will take the dosage calculation competency (DCC) exam each semester. It will be leveled for the current clinical nursing course being taken by the student.
  3. The exam will be administered via ExamSoft. Use of department approved calculator is allowed.
  4. Each teaching team will write and approve the DCC for their course.
  5. There will be three different versions of each leveled exam. Exam order should be rotated each semester.
  6. Three scheduled opportunities will be provided to students to take and pass the exam with a score of 100%. No makeup opportunities will be available.
  7. If a score of 100% is not achieved after 3 DCC exam offerings, the student “does not meet standards” for this clinical competency. Two points will be deducted from the raw score of the student’s final theory grade in the course.
  8. Students requiring special accommodations may use the same process for the DCC exams as they use for exams in their other courses.
  9. The DCC will be identified as a clinical skill in each course outline.
  10. Each course is responsible for recording DCC exam grades on the course gradebook.
  11. Students repeating a third semester course in the 100 section must take the exam early prior to the end of the 100 section course. Dates and times will be arranged by the course faculty and the student.
  12. Faculty will check student MCC approved calculator before and after the exam.
  13. All Dosage Calculation Competency Exams will be proctored.

Competency Content

  1. Exams will consist of 10 questions.
  2. Questions will address math and dosage calculation abilities. No pharmacology, nursing implications or 2 part answers are to be used.
  3. Question design will include only information needed to calculate the answer.
  4. No word problems will be included.
  5. The third semester competency will be a combination of NUR 111, 112, 211, and 212 content.
  6. Answer must include number and label.
  7. Fifty minutes will be allowed for each exam.