Decadron IV given PO?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi All I am new to this site although I have been reading for years, I have been a RN for 8 years currently in Pediatrics. I recently started working in an urgent care setting where the norm is to give IV Decadron PO. This may seem silly for me not to know this but when ordered 6mg PO from the IV form the bottle reads 4mg/ml the DR I work with told me it is a 1:1 conversion, he said 6mg=6ml? Where I want to say no 1.5ml=6mg. Can all your emergency pediatric nurses or urgent care give me your insight please? This believe it or not is new for me and I want to be 100% positive I dose out my meds correctly. Thank you so much for all your help.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

He's wrong. Do you have a pharmacist in the building?

The only thing I can figure is maybe he wanted you to dilute it to a 1mg/1ml concentration.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Vascular Access.

Want over have x volume.

6/4 x 1 = 1.5. You are correct

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

Nope, it is 1.5ml. Always do your own calculations.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Hi All I am new to this site although I have been reading for years, I have been a RN for 8 years currently in Pediatrics. I recently started working in an urgent care setting where the norm is to give IV Decadron PO. This may seem silly for me not to know this but when ordered 6mg PO from the IV form the bottle reads 4mg/ml the DR I work with told me it is a 1:1 conversion, he said 6mg=6ml? Where I want to say no 1.5ml=6mg. Can all your emergency pediatric nurses or urgent care give me your insight please? This believe it or not is new for me and I want to be 100% positive I dose out my meds correctly. Thank you so much for all your help.

Did the Dr tell you that it was a "1:1 conversion," or did he say that "6mg=6ml"? It isn't clear to me if he said "1:1 conversion" and you interpreted that to mean 6mg=6ml or if he said "6mg=6ml."

If he told you it was a "1:1 conversion," then you misunderstood his meaning. When converting an IV dose of decadron to a PO dose of decadron, it is a 1:1 conversion, because a PO dose of decadron has 100% bioavailability. His meaning was 6mg of Decadron given IV is equivalent in efficacy to 6mg given PO.

If he told you "6mg=6ml," then he's just wrong.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I believe what the doctor meant was 1:1 IV to PO efficacy as suggested by another. In our ED we give this PO to our pediatric patients and we just mix them with juice because they tastes real bad. Goodluck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment