Dosage Calculation Problems! Stressed!!

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I have been working on my dosage work (6 quizzes a midterm & final) for the past week tryin to get it done around my kids and I am stuck on these problems!! Could someone please help me!! This class is only offered online!!

  • Pitocin was ordered 2milliunits/min IV. The solution is 9 units in 150 mL NS. What is the pump setting?

  • A doctor orders 500mL D5W with 0.5g aminophylline to infuse at 50mL/h. How many mg will the patient receive each hour?

  • A child weighing 21.4Kg has an order for 500mg of a medication in 100mL D5W q12h. The normal daily dosage range is 40-50mg/Kg/day. Determine if the dose is within normal range, and show your work.


  • Ordered for a burn patient 5000mL over 8h. What should the infusing rate be, knowing infusion pumps are calculated on mL/h?



  • A client who weighs 220lbs has an IV of 800mg dopamine in 250mL of NS infusing at 42gtt/min. The drop factor is 60gtt/mL. How many mcg/kG/min is he receiving?


  • IV of Aminophylline 1g in 500mL D5W infusing at 75mL/h. How many milligrams of Aminophylline is the patient receiving per hour?



  • Amoxicillin comes 5000mg in a powder form to be reconstituted. The instructions recommend adding 100mL of water. How many mg of Amoxicillin are in 5mL of suspension?



  • An IV of 800mL of LR is running at 12gtt/min on a set calibrated at 10gtt/mL. Calculate the infusion time.
  • An order for Cleocin 900mg in 150mL NS is to infuse at 300mg/hr. What is the hourly rate of the infusion?
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Ordered for a burn patient 5000mL over 8h. What should the infusing rate be, knowing infusion pumps are calculated on mL/h?

mL/h=5000mL/8h=625mL/h

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Adrienne, you have started two threads since you joined this site on the 14th...both of which are asking members to do your homework for you. People here will probably help you out because they are a pretty nice group but in my opinion...

not cool.

Do your own homework. These questions aren't incredibly difficult they just require you to spend some time...it should be your time not ours.

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OKay thanks!

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Don't think anyone is being mean...you'll have to learn how to do these calculations very quickly and it takes practice, practice, practice.

At my school, we have an entire class, 3x per week, for a whole semester....just on these types of calcuations.

To help you "pull out what you need", you ALWAYS start with the order and work from there. If you learned how to do these using dimentional analysis, pay attention to the measurement that the problem asks for in the end...your calculations should come out to that when you set it up.

Math is the one subject that you never have to study for...but you HAVE to do your homework.

We started out with such easy problems in our class...they were non-nursing related, and you could figure out most of them in your head, but our instructor kept telling people, "Learn how to set these easy problems up the way I have taught you...or by the mid-semester..you will be in serious trouble."

She was right...those of us who did our homework, were sailing through, those who ddin't, were struggling.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.

I also saw your threads and it doesn't even look like you've even tried to work these problems, except for the one.

If you would try to work them, show your work, then I would be a little more willing to help. Most people here will only help those who help themselves.

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I have been working on my dosage work (6 quizzes a midterm & final) for the past week tryin to get it done around my kids and I am stuck on these problems!! Could someone please help me!! This class is only offered online!!

Everyone is right about you needing to learn how to do these problems & do your own work. However, I'll try to give you a few suggestions because you need help getting started.

  • Pitocin was ordered 2milliunits/min IV. The solution is 9 units in 150 mL NS. What is the pump setting?

This type of problem can be very confusing at first glance. Tackle it by doing the following:

  1. Pumps are programmed with the hourly rate. The order is for the amount to be given per minute. There are 60 minutes in an hour, so adjust the dose by multiplying by 60. Important rule: whatever you do to one side of the equation, you need to do to the other side. You can't adjust the minutes to hours without also adjusting the dose.
  2. The solution is stocked in units, but the order is for milliunits. You need to adjust the order so that they are both in units. Another important rule: keep your measurements consist. Milliunits do not equal units, but can easily be converted. Same for liters versus milliliters, grams versus milligrams, etc.
  3. You are now ready to plug your information into an equation. There are two choices:
    • Desired/Have x Quantity -- For this equation, you'll divide the amount ordered by the amount supplied and multiply that number by the volume. Example: MedX is ordered at a rate of 5 units/hr and comes in a bag of 10 units/200 mL: [Order (5 units/hr) divided by Supply (10 units)] x 200 mL --> 0.5 x 200 = 100 mL/hour
    • Ratio -- plug in the units/mL of the order and it will equal the units/mL of the supply. Cross multiply and you will have your answer. Example: 5 units/x mL = 10 units/200 mL --> Crossmultiply (rewrite these as traditional fractions -- I couldn't do that here) --- [5 x 200] 1,000 = 10x --- divide both sides by 10 --- x = 100 mL/hr

When I would take a dosage calc test, I used both methods to check my work. The key to using ratios is to always place the same unit of measurement in the same place (numerator or denominator). Think of it this way: 1/2 = 2/4 = 8/16 -- you are just working with real life examples in dosage calc.

Give the problems a try, show your work, and I'll try to help you out (if you want...).

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