Calculation question

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Hello. I have a problem similar to this. I have changed the values. How do I go about approaching this calculation? Your help is appreciated.

A client who weighs 98 lb is to receive Intropin at the rate of 6 mcg/kg/min. A nurse mixes 400 mg of Intropin in 500 mL of intravenous solution. how many milliliters per hour should the nurse set the infusion pump to deliver?

Thank you.

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Specializes in NICU.

Please try working this out on your own first and then posting your thoughts here for review.

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Coffee Nurse, I've tried to answer the question and I am not getting it. That is why I posted it here. Not looking for anyone to do the problem for me, that is why I changed the values.

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I got exactly that type of question on NLCEX exam yesterday, and was not able to do it.

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Specializes in NICU.
Hello. I have a problem similar to this. I have changed the values. How do I go about approaching this calculation? Your help is appreciated.

A client who weighs 98 lb is to receive Intropin at the rate of 6 mcg/kg/min. A nurse mixes 400 mg of Intropin in 500 mL of intravenous solution. how many milliliters per hour should the nurse set the infusion pump to deliver?

Thank you.

Start by figuring out the patient's dose per minute by converting his weight to kilos (mcg/min). Calculate his hourly dose based on that (mcg/hr). Figure out your concentration in mcg/mL and use that to calculate mL/hr.

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This is how our teachers taught us to do critical drips.

You have to begin by converting the lbs to kg. 98lb/2.2 kg = 44.545454 kg.

Then you take the kgx60xvolume/concentration, you must convert the mg to mcg.

44.54x60x500/400000 = 3.3405 and the multiply by the mcg 3.3405x6mcg = 20.043; 20 ml/hr.

Forumula = kg x 60 x volume/concentration x mcg

I hope this helps!

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OK, or similarly

your kg: 44.54 x6 = 267.24 mcg

calc that to your hour: 267.24 mcg/1 minute (to) ? mcg/60 minutes (cross multiply) =16,020 mcg

then your concentration: 500/400,000 (to) ?ml/16,020 (cross multiply) = 20.025 (rounds to 20ml)

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Specializes in LTC.
I got exactly that type of question on NLCEX exam yesterday, and was not able to do it.

You do mean RN boards right? I'm in LPN school. We've had pharm and never had a problem like this...

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

No. Here's how you do it.

98 lbs converts to 44.5 kg. (you round off the kg)

44.5 x 6 mcg = 267mcg/min or 16020mcg/hr.

16020mcg =16.02 mg/hr

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.
You do mean RN boards right? I'm in LPN school. We've had pharm and never had a problem like this...

Really? I am a PN (in Canada) and this is a beginner calc question for us.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
You do mean RN boards right? I'm in LPN school. We've had pharm and never had a problem like this...

I am in RN school, but after year one we can take a class in the summer and sit for LPN boards if we want. I am in my first year and we do problems like this all the time. Not in pharm class though, in fact we never had math problems in Pharm now that I think about it. We have a dosage calc exam we have to pass at 100% each new unit and we have math problems on all our other exams, med/surge peds/ ob.

How far are you in LPN program? I thought LPN's needed to know how to do IV stuff also?

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THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE ANSWERED!!!

I am glad I was not the only person searching for the steps to solve this problem and or problems like it. Glad it helped more people than myself.

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