Need help with syringe test question?

[mzsuccess]

I know it makes me sound slow and dumb but oh well.

If a med reads give 150mg that equals 0.15ml correct?

How is this drawn up on a 3ml syringe?

If the bevel is at 1 1/2 wouldn’t that be 1.5ml and not 0.15ml?

Thanks

[mzsuccess]

On 4/23/2020 at 11:12 PM, Elaine M said:

If it's 150mg/ ml (the concentration) and you have to give 150 mg then you give 1 ml

Thanks ! That’s what I was getting. However, not understand why my classmates are getting the 1.5ml.

On 4/23/2020 at 11:15 PM, mzsuccess said:

Thanks ! That’s what I was getting. However, not understand why my classmates are getting the 1.5ml.

[mzsuccess]

4 minutes ago, NewEnglandRN16 said:

It tells you the answer on the picture of the box. 150mg/ml which means In 1ml there is 150mg. You will draw up 1ml to get the full 150mg.

Thanks! I really appreciate you. So if the concentration was 3ml? You will give the 3ml, correct.

LOL trying to figure out how to tell my instructor she’s wrong.

[Nunya, BSN]

On 4/23/2020 at 11:15 PM, mzsuccess said:

Thanks ! That’s what I was getting. However, not understand why my classmates are getting the 1.5ml.

Ummm....your classmates are wrong. Now...I don't know this med specifically but I do know that sometimes there's more volume of fluid in the vial than what it says. But it would be HIGHLY UNLIKELY that a 1 ml vial would have 1.5 ml in it. That's an extra half dose. Maybe they are drawing out the whole amount in the vial and it's 1.5 ml??? If they are they're giving an overdose

[chare]

On 4/23/2020 at 11:17 PM, mzsuccess said:

Thanks! I really appreciate you. So if the concentration was 3ml? You will give the 3ml, correct.

[...]

When you refer to concentration you need to know both the dose of medication (mg) as well as the volume (mL). Which you did earlier when you stated that the concentration was 150 mg / 1 mL.

When you receive an order for a medication, you have to know the dose to be administered. Then, based on the concentration you can calculate the volume.

[Nunya, BSN]

Do you get it mzsuccess??

[chare]

31 minutes ago, mzsuccess said:

[...]

LOL trying to figure out how to tell my instructor she’s wrong.

Don't, it will only end badly if you do. Rather try phrasing it as a question. For example, "I understood that to administer 150 mg of X, I should draw up 0.15 mL of the medication. When I work this problem I calculate a volume of 1 mL. Could we work this together so that I can clarify what I am doing?"

Best wishes.

[marienm, RN, CCRN]

If I'm overexplaining, OP, forgive me. But injected medications are usually ordered in WEIGHT (milligrams (mg), grams (g), micrograms (mcg)). But they are diluted and delivered in VOLUME (milliliters (mL), usually). Some medications happen to be 1mg/1mL. Others, like the box pictured, are not. When you're figuring out how much VOLUME to give the patient, this is the conversion you are making.

I agree with you that for a dose of 150mg of this med as shown, you'd need 1mL. But it sounded like you weren't sure about the difference between dose (weight) and volume at the beginning of your post and since your classmates are also coming up with wrong volumes 1.5mL and/or 0.15mL, maybe there is a common source of all of your confusion! (Not that you should put it to your instructor that way... ? ).

[northmississippi]

Is this a pharm question from a book? Sometimes those books have errors and the may have meant 150mg in 1.5ml. My old current math for meds book had a few of those typos.

[Kat Mandu, BSN, RN]

You definitely need to know the concentration before deciding on the mL as numerous posters have said..... I learned a lot from my old Curren book also. One thing that stuck with me is the question when calculating a dose, "Is that reasonable?" Most drugs are measured in whole mLs, however, there are some exceptions, such as narcotics and insulin that are measured in TENTHS of a mL.

Above is a 1mL syringe to give you an idea of the difference between a 3mL and 1mL syringe (which is what you'd have to use if the correct dose figured out to be truly 0.15mL). It is divided up into tenths. 0.15mL would be right about where the red line is drawn. I probably wouldn't mention it to your instructor, either. Some can get quite surly if you point out their mistake. One I had gave everyone the wrong information then marked the answers (which the students got factually right) wrong on the test. It took some hair pulling to get that changed! Sounds like you need to bone up on dosage calculations yourself and learn decimal place values. Good luck. And remember, there are no stupid questions.....

[beachbabe86]

On 4/23/2020 at 11:06 PM, mzsuccess said:

Sorry if it’s confusing.

It seems to me you are confusing mg and ml. Milligrams are the concentration of the drug in the particular vial. Ml is the amount of fluid. The posters above are correct in saying one ml is the amount to draw up the syringe in this case. Each order is different and must be calculated to the correct dose.