Patient weighs 170 pounds who requires a dopamine drip. Need calculation help!

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I have this due on Tuesday which is my first day back. I feel as though I have forgotten all of my calculations. Here is the problem and how I did it. Please tell me if I did it correct or where I went wrong.

Pt. weighs 170 pounds who requires a dopamine drip for a failing kidney. Protocol dictates that you start the drip at 5mcg/kg/min. You want to mix a drip that contains 400 mg of dopamine in your 250 ml bag of normal saline. How many ml/hr will you infuse?

170/2.2=77.27=77.3 kg

77.3 kg* 5mcg/min*60 min= 23190mcg/min=.057 round to .1*250ml=25ml/hr

400000mcg 400000 mcg

Not sure if I did any of this correct. Help.

Specializes in MICU.

You're welcome

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

my favorite site....DosageHelp.com - Helping Nursing Students Learn Dosage Calculations

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Good day, b747girl5:

Generally you don't want to round until the end to avoid mistakes.

Thank you.

Specializes in Emergency.

Unless stated otherwise, you should do as pmabraham said and round only at the end.

I did this

170lbs = 77.3 kg

5mcg/kg/min= 3865mcg/min

which converts to 0.3865 mg/min

then

400 mg/ 250 ml = 0.3865 mg/x ml

and cross multiply

x = 0.24 ml/ min

multiply by 60 to get 1 hour

14.493 rounded to 14.5 ml/hr

The answer is 14.5ml/hr.

400mg=400,000 mcg

170 lbs=77.3 kg

(77.3 kg * 5 mcg/kg/min=387 mcg/min)

(387 mcg/min * 60 min/hr=23,220 mcg/hr)

(250 ml/400,000 mcg * 23,200 mcg/hr)=14.5 ml/hr

Hope the break down helps.

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