calculation

[caringkay RN]

Hi everyone, i need help with me dcalculation...AGAIN!!!

A 3yr old is to receive intravenous infusion of 5% dextrose and water with normal saline .25%. The child is to receive penicillin G potassium(penicillin G) 100,00unit/kg/24hrs, divided into four doses. The child weighs 13.6kg. How many units of penicillin should the child receive in each dose?

please if you get an answer, i will like the formula which is my main problem because i don't seem to get it right.

Thanks every one

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

There is some distracting information in this problem, but don't get confused by the D5W or the 1/4NS. In this case, you're trying to figure out how much penicillin to give based on the child's weight.

It tells you how much penicillin the child should receive every 24 hours. Is it 10,000 units/kg or 100,000 units/kg? Multiply that number (the 10,000 or 100,000) by the patient's weight in kg (13.6) and that is the amount the patient will receive daily every 24 hours.

However, it tells you that this daily amount is divided into four doses, so you will take the amount per 24 hours and divide it by 4 to find out how much is in each dose.