dosage calculation

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Can someone out there please help me figure out this problem and explain how it's done?

A cardiac patient is receiving an IV of 2 grams of isoproterenol in 500 ml of D5W at 30 drops/min. (60 drops = 1 ml)

How many mg of isoproterenol is the patient receiving per minute?

Thanks in advance.......

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Can someone out there please help me figure out this problem and explain how it's done?

A cardiac patient is receiving an IV of 2 grams of isoproterenol in 500 ml of D5W at 30 drops/min. (60 drops = 1 ml)

How many mg of isoproterenol is the patient receiving per minute?

Thanks in advance.......

Using dimensional analysis I got 2mg per min.

First you have to know that: 2G isoproterenol = 2000 mg

mg/min is what you are looking for, so you'd set your equation up as follows:

2000 mg/500ml x 1ml/60gtt x 30gtt/1min = 2000x1x30/500x60x1= 2 mg/min.

If you are not familiar with DA, then this may be confusing to you. If so, I'm sorry for the confusion.

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Specializes in ER.
Can someone out there please help me figure out this problem and explain how it's done?

A cardiac patient is receiving an IV of 2 grams of isoproterenol in 500 ml of D5W at 30 drops/min. (60 drops = 1 ml)

How many mg of isoproterenol is the patient receiving per minute?

Thanks in advance.......

I'll take a crack at it.

First, find out how many ml are in 30 drops.

30 drops/ x ml = 60 drops/ 1 ml = 0.5 ml per 30 drops

Now you can just set up a proprtion of mg per ml......

2 g / 500 ml = x g / .5 ml = 0.002 grams per minute.

Hopefully, that makes sense.

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Specializes in ER.

Well, there ya' go...now you have TWO ways to do it! :)

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Specializes in ER.

Oops! I forgot to type in converting g to mg....sorry.

.002g x 1000mg/g = 2 mg

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Well, there ya' go...now you have TWO ways to do i! :)

proportion is probably the easier way to do the problem, and I think it is the way most people learn, however DA has always been easier for me. People think I'm crazy when I say I always do DA unless I can d/h x q.

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Thank you all for your help! I usually use ratio and proportion way and couldn't figure out where the instructor got the .5 ml.

The rest of the "set up" I could get.

Thanks again - wish me luck.. D&S test on Monday. 2 chances to get a 90.

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