Help with a dosage calculation question

Nursing Students Student Assist

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Specializes in Maternal Child.

Hello all,

We got our 1st dosage calculation quiz, and I feel pretty good about most of the questions, but am confused by this one:

Ordered: D5W 1000 mL plus sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) 25.8 mEq at 12 mL per hour IV. NaHCO3 is supplied in a 50-mL ampule containing 44.6 mEq. How many mL of NaHCO3 will be added to the 1000 mL of D5W?

How I ended up doing it:

25.8 mEq x 50 mL/44.6 mEq = 28.92 mL

Is this right? I appreciated any input on this one.

Thank you!

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

That's what I got!

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Specializes in Maternal Child.

Thanks! I love how quick everyone is on allnurses!

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The key here is looking at the question and seeing what they're asking. That stuff about the 1000cc and the rate have nothing to do with the question they're asking, which is, how much of that amp of bicarb do you draw up to put in the liter?

So many people haven't yet remembered that this is basic algebra, the stuff you had to pass in high school to get into nursing school-- solve for x stuff. They get all flustered with the other distracting information and agonize how to work it into some extensive equation and get tearful and frustrated when the answer they slaved over is wrong.

The people who construct tests know this, and when they make up the multiple choice distractor answer choices they make a few that used the wrong numbers to weed out the folks who can't think critically well enough to see what the question is. Word to the wise. This is another place where faculty teaches and you should learn, practice, and demonstrate nascent critical-thinking skills.

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Specializes in Maternal Child.

Yes, I noticed that there were quite a few questions that seem to provide extraneous information. I was just hoping that I was "right" that these details were not needed to correctly complete the problem ;)

Here is 1 more if anyone wants to help!

After a total hip replacement, a patient has an order of Toradol 60 mg IVPB every 6 hours over 15 mins. The Toradol is diluted in 25 mL of D5W. The tubing drop factor is 15 gtt/mL. How many gtt/min should be given?

How I did it:

25mL/15 min x 15gtt/mL = 25 gtt/min

My thought was that Toradol 60 mg would not be a part of the equation.

Is this right?

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Yes, I noticed that there were quite a few questions that seem to provide extraneous information. I was just hoping that I was "right" that these details were not needed to correctly complete the problem ;)

Here is 1 more if anyone wants to help!

After a total hip replacement, a patient has an order of Toradol 60 mg IVPB every 6 hours over 15 mins. The Toradol is diluted in 25 mL of D5W. The tubing drop factor is 15 gtt/mL. How many gtt/min should be given?

How I did it:

25mL/15 min x 15gtt/mL = 25 gtt/min

My thought was that Toradol 60 mg would not be a part of the equation.

Is this right?

Yes.. The question asked is how many gtts/min to give 25cc in fifteen minutes. It doesn't matter what's in it.

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Specializes in Maternal Child.

thank you!

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

I like how you actually tried to do the work yourself instead of expecting us to do it for you. You'll learn much better that way.

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Specializes in Maternal Child.

thank you! i agree, i'm here to learn from others, but i won't learn anything relying purely on someone else doing the work for me.

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