dpm621

Good evening, I hope everyone is well. I am about to starting the clinical rotation at my ADN program (BMCC in NYC) and as is normal with a nursing program, there will be a dosage competency exam. Now I consider myself to be very adept at dosage math, and have otherwise no problems with anything I've come across in preparing myself, but one of the exam practice questions was as follows: Order: 3g calcium gluconate in 250mL D5W and infuse over 12hrs via IV pump. (The calcium gluconate drug label reads 5g/50mL, 100mg/mL). So, 3g ordered of a drug where the concentration is 5g/50mL on the label means 30mL for the nurse to draw up, and add to the 250mL of D5W to get 280mL total liquid, and divide 280mL/12hrs to get an IV flow rate of 23.3mL/hr. This was the official correct answer; no problems. However, in my Calculate With Confidence 5th edition (which BMCC uses), there is a similar problem on page 541 which reads: Clindamycin 900 mg in 75 mL D5W over 30 minutes. Drop factor: 10 gtt/mL (the drug label states 150mg/mL) a. how many mL of the solution must be added to the medication? 150mg/mL means a total of 6mL must be added to the solution to satisfy the doc's order of 900mg. So far, so good. b. Calculate the rate in gtt/min at which the IV should infuse. Okay, so we have 75+6 = 81mL of solution to infuse over 30 min, yielding 2.7mL/min, which with a 10gtt/mL drop factor, converts to a drip rate of 27gtt/min. Right? Wrong. The book states 25gtt/min is correct, and in its steps showed that they used 75mL for the volume, not 81mL. Am I missing something here? Why wouldn't the nurse use 81mL for the drip rate calculation? Is there a rule I need to know about when to include the volume of the drug added, and when to ignore it? I've read it varies from place to place, and I've also read a volume of 10mL or less can be ignored, but any insight would be appreciated. Thanks! Dan

Epineda: well, I'm in the same boat too (although I managed to make it work by rearranging some stuff around) BUT what he said was that someone can go in our place and take notes for us at the orientation/registration in July. You'll be fine - someone is actually picking up my packet on Tuesday for me since I'm out of state at the moment. I think calling/visiting the nursing department main office is the best solution if you have any questions...it's what I'm doing tomorrow!

@ Epineda - well, I'm in the same boat too (although I managed to make it work by rearranging some stuff around) BUT what he said was that someone can go in our place and take notes for us at the orientation/registration in July. You'll be fine - someone is actually picking up my packet on Tuesday for me since I'm out of state at the moment. I think calling/visiting the nursing department main office is the best solution if you have any questions...it's what I'm doing tomorrow lol

Congrats everyone! Did he say a date for the registration/orientation? July 12 I think - can anyone confirm?

@mrsmrs12345 From what I've seen on this thread, only the people who applied to evening/weekend have gotten calls so far. And your GPA and score are really good - having seen past semesters' posts about this process, I've seen people with far lower numbers get in. Stay tuned...

I remember asking Mr. Sierra about that and he said it's definitely the overall score that matters, as long as it's 65 overall you "pass" (although a 65 may not get you in, but that's a different story). Also, after your were done with the test, and it showed your scores for the sections, etc, you didn't have to do anything else right? I kind of just wanted to hurry out of the room after taking the test. Like, once you hit "end test" it's all recorded, right? Thanks!