Medication Dosing question

cayenne06, MSN, CNM · Nov 12, 2014

Yes, you are right that you need to give 8 grams an hour, but you need to figure out mL/hr because that is generally how you program a pump, and it also allows you to "double check" yourself, so to speak- making sure your calculations for g/h and mL/h match up.

So yes, the 1000mL of LR is a factor in this problem. Does that help?

beckyg323 · Nov 13, 2014

Yes thanks so much! Got it figured!

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2014

Got a med question that I'm stumped on and I'm probably reading too much in to it as it sometimes the case.
Mag sulfate bolus of 4 grams iv over 30 minutes followed by maintenance infusion of 2grams/hour. Pharmacy has provided 1000mL LR with 20 grams mag sulfate.
What rate for loading dose?
What rate for maintenance dose?
Does the 1000mL of LR play a part in this at all?
If you want 4 grams in 30 minutes you've got to give 8grams/hr. Am I on the right track? What's next? Thanks for helping a newbie!

Well yes, but you can't program a pump to give 8 grams/hr. The 1000 mL LR definitely DOES factor into this equation. If you have 20g/1000 mL, how many mL for 4g? Double that and that's your mL/hr rate for the bolus since you want to give 4g in 30 min.

beckyg323 · Nov 24, 2014

Thanks so much for your help! Was way over-thinking the question and it was really only desired/have!

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Nov 24, 2014

Well yes, but you can't program a pump to give 8 grams/hr. The 1000 mL LR definitely DOES factor into this equation. If you have 20g/1000 mL, how many mL for 4g? Double that and that's your mL/hr rate for the bolus since you want to give 4g in 30 min.

This may seem stupid, but be sure you set the end volume to 200cc even though you hung a liter bag, because you sure as hell don't want to get distracted and come back an hour and a half later to discover you've given your patient a triple dose. (Some pumps may or may not have a multiprogram feature.)