Need Help Trying to Understand Pedi Math Question

[live&love&heal]

i need some help trying to understand why the following calculation does not take into consideration frequency of when the medication should be administered and the weight:

medication problem:

the order if for digoxin 100 mcg iv q12h for a 2 year old child weighing 40 kg.

the dose available is digoxin 200 mcg in 1 ml ampules. how much do you administer?

i understand the set up using dimensional analysis is:

vehicle = ml

desired = 25 mcg

on hand = 50 mcg

equation set up is ml = 1ml/200 mcg x 100 mcg/ dose. answer is 0.5 ml

my question is...why would you not take into consideration the other values i mentioned (q12h = 2 doses and 40 kg)?

when i read medication calculation questions, i tend to over analyze, second guess myself, and get nervous that my answer is incorrect.

thanks in advance everyone!

[Boog'sCRRN246, RN]

i need some help trying to understand why the following calculation does not take into consideration frequency of when the medication should be administered and the weight:

medication problem:

the order if for digoxin 100 mcg iv q12h for a 2 year old child weighing 40 kg.

the dose available is digoxin 200 mcg in 1 ml ampules. how much do you administer?

i understand the set up using dimensional analysis is:

vehicle = ml

desired = 25 mcg

on hand = 50 mcg

equation set up is ml = 1ml/200 mcg x 100 mcg/ dose. answer is 0.5 ml

my question is...why would you not take into consideration the other values i mentioned (q12h = 2 doses and 40 kg)?

when i read medication calculation questions, i tend to over analyze, second guess myself, and get nervous that my answer is incorrect.

thanks in advance everyone!

normally, the question would specify 'what is the total amount administered in a 24-hour period?' or something of that nature if you were to include the frequency in your calculation. this question appears to just want what is administered per dose. the weight is not a factor because the dosage amount you are given has already been adjusted for the weight of the child.

[cjar107013]

Something I have noticed with these math problems is that they tend to throw in numbers that don't mean anything for the question being asked. Your question asked how much to be administered. And it gave you a dose available. There is the math problem. The child's age, their weight, even the route are all smokescreens. Answer the question that is asked and ignore the rest.

[decembergrad2011, BSN, RN]

They write questions this way so you learn what is relevant and what is not in an order, and can see that you know how to separate out the information. I think it's annoying, but over time you learn how to ignore what's not relevant.

I find that this kind of extraneous information will not exist in most orders in the real world. However, if it does, and you ever have a question about the correct dose for any patient, ESPECIALLY in pediatrics, contact your nurse manager or the MD himself.

[live&love&heal]

Thank you Boog'sRN246, cjar107013, and decembergrad2011 for the responses. I hate the distractors/smokescreens in med math problems and how they throw you off. I agree it's annoying.

I have read this med math question over and over and am finally seeing that they are asking....**lightbulb lights up**

I just read it straight forward in 3 parts:

1. This is what's ordered (desired)

2. This is what's on hand

3. How much do you give?

I know it sounds simple but, I get so thrown off when I see more variables than I need to calculate.

Thanks again everyone!