The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2002a) reports that one of the most common examples of professional misconduct relates to the failure to administer medicines safely. In educating child-branch nurses, we have a duty to enhance students' calculation skills so that they are safe and can provide the best possible care to children. This paper presents a framework for numeracy within a child-branch curriculum, describing a practical approach to developing students' skills in the mathematical calculations they are likely to encounter in clinical practice. A pass mark of 70 per cent in relevant numeracy tests is considered too low for child branch students. Early identification of mathematical ability and provision of relevant tutorial support will ensure that the majority of students achieve the required standard.