Quick Dosage Question

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I have my first math exam today on dosages. On our practice test there is one question that I must be having a brain fart on because for the life of me I cant remember.

D.O is Cleocin 0.6g

O.H is Cleocin Phosphate 900 mg in a 6 ml vial. Now I know that the D.O. is 600 ml but what I getting all cerebral gasy with is the O.H. Would it be 900 mg per 6ml? Or is it 900mg per 1ml. The label doesnt specify. I know I should know this but like I said I'm having a major brain fart. Once I know this, I can figure out the rest of the problem. Thanks a bunch guys and gals!

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Specializes in Home Health.

You have to convert grams to mg. DO is 0.6 g, but OH is 900mg in 6mL vial. I'm going to be brave and try to do this problem. Please forgive me if it is wrong, I just taught myself how to do these calcs this morning. Here goes:

0.6g/1 x 6mL/900mg x 1000mg/1g = 3600mL/900 = 4mL

Good luck on your test!

Lisa

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
You have to convert grams to mg. DO is 0.6 g, but OH is 900mg in 6mL vial. I'm going to be brave and try to do this problem. Please forgive me if it is wrong, I just taught myself how to do these calcs this morning. Here goes:

0.6g/1 x 6mL/900mg x 1000mg/1g = 3600mL/900 = 4mL

Good luck on your test!

Lisa

Agreed. The 6 mL vial contains 900 mg and the resulting amount to give is 4 mL.

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Got to class today early and asked my professor. He clarified that it would be 900mg per 6ml. YAY!!! I figured it out as such and did get the answer 4ml but wasnt confident it was correct. My test went very well. I dont know what I earned yet but I am hopeful I got an A. I hope :rolleyes: Thanks for the replies. You guys rock!!!!!

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I have my first math exam today on dosages. On our practice test there is one question that I must be having a brain fart on because for the life of me I cant remember.

D.O is Cleocin 0.6g

O.H is Cleocin Phosphate 900 mg in a 6 ml vial. Now I know that the D.O. is 600 ml but what I getting all cerebral gasy with is the O.H. Would it be 900 mg per 6ml? Or is it 900mg per 1ml. The label doesnt specify. I know I should know this but like I said I'm having a major brain fart. Once I know this, I can figure out the rest of the problem. Thanks a bunch guys and gals!

Hi there....

I just started nursing school and taught myself Drug Calc. I love formula approach. find quicker....I converted 0.6g to mg which equalled 600mg. Then I used the formula d/h x q = 600/900 x 6 = 3.9 round up to 4.0 ml.

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Specializes in Critcal Care.

There are many ways to do these things, but the way to ensure that you make fewer mistakes is not to convert things in your head before you start the problem. You would want to give some number of ml, so start with that. By using dimensional analysis and putting your conversion into the problem, you make fewer mistakes. I tutor dosage and calc and i have noticed a tremendous difference in test scores in the last year.

ml = 6ml/900mg X 0.6 g/1 X 1000mg/1g = 3600/900 = 4 ml

Grams and milligrams cancel out and the only thing you have left is what you need. No rounding no conversion beforehand. Voila!

I have my first math exam today on dosages. On our practice test there is one question that I must be having a brain fart on because for the life of me I cant remember.

D.O is Cleocin 0.6g

O.H is Cleocin Phosphate 900 mg in a 6 ml vial. Now I know that the D.O. is 600 ml but what I getting all cerebral gasy with is the O.H. Would it be 900 mg per 6ml? Or is it 900mg per 1ml. The label doesnt specify. I know I should know this but like I said I'm having a major brain fart. Once I know this, I can figure out the rest of the problem. Thanks a bunch guys and gals!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
There are many ways to do these things, but the way to ensure that you make fewer mistakes is not to convert things in your head before you start the problem. You would want to give some number of ml, so start with that. By using dimensional analysis and putting your conversion into the problem, you make fewer mistakes. I tutor dosage and calc and i have noticed a tremendous difference in test scores in the last year.

ml = 6ml/900mg X 0.6 g/1 X 1000mg/1g = 3600/900 = 4 ml

Grams and milligrams cancel out and the only thing you have left is what you need. No rounding no conversion beforehand. Voila!

I agree that D.A. is the way to go, that is how we learned! Much fewer mistakes.

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We are taught ratio proportion in a medical measurements and mathematics class that we have to take. They want all the nursing students to learn dosages ONE way so there is less chance for confussion later on. Makes sense to me. Like I said, I knew how to work the problem I just wasnt sure if the medication was 900mg per 6ml or 1ml. I had worked the problem with 6 ml and came up with 4ml. Anyhoo, Thank you all so much for all your input.

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Specializes in Urgent Care.

sorry I can't help, but I love the " cerebral gassy" comment :chuckle

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