RN School: IV Regulator Dosage Calculation

Published

Help please!!!! My professors did not go over this in class!

Order: Septra (trimethoprim 80mg and sulfamethoxazole 400mg) IV, q12.

Available: Septra (trimethoprim 160mg and sulfamethoxazole 800mg/10ml).

Set and solution: Volumetric pump regulator and125 ml of D5W

Instruction: Dilute Septra 80/400mg in 125ml of D5W and infuse in 90 minutes

I know my drug calculation is 5ml. I want to find how many ml/hr the patient will receive.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Why don't you show us what you've come up with so far?

ETA: Have you thought about what formula you think might work here?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

The attachment contains seven formulae that I find useful.

formulae.pdf

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Ok, for my drug calculation, I did a conversion problem. 800mg/10ml = 400mg/ x ml. I got 800x = 4000, and divided both by 800. That gave me 5ml. So, for my order I have sulfamethoxazole 400mg/ 5ml.

I need to find how many ml/hr the patient will receive via volumetric pump regulator. I know I am solving for ml/hr, and after that I am lost.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

Part of answering nursing-style questions is learning to read the question and analyze what information is important and what is irrelevant. What is really being asked of you?

In this case, you need to find the drug volume, which you calculated correctly. Then you're asked to dilute that amount with 125mL of D5W. So what is the total volume that you are administering?

And if you're administering that amount over 90 minutes, how many mL/hr is that?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am thinking I would use Volume/amount to administer D(desired)/ H(available) *V(volume) =ml/hr

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yes, the medication volume that you are going to add is 5 mL.

You have been told that you need to dilute this volume into 125 mL of D5W. After you do this, what total volume are you going to have?

Have you reviewed the attachment in my previous post? You can use the "volume over time" formula to calculate the infusion rate in mL/hour.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My bad, the "volume/amount to administer" formula should provide the number of tablets or mL to administer.

I would use the "volume over time" for this problem.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am still stuck on the problem. Can someone explain this one to me? I have 8 more problems like this that I have to do.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

thread moved for best response

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
DosageHelp.com - Helping Nursing Students Learn Dosage Calculations
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Ok, for my drug calculation, I did a conversion problem. 800mg/10ml = 400mg/ x ml. I got 800x = 4000, and divided both by 800. That gave me 5ml. So, for my order I have sulfamethoxazole 400mg/ 5ml.

I need to find how many ml/hr the patient will receive via volumetric pump regulator. I know I am solving for ml/hr, and after that I am lost.

Your problem gives you what you need.

Dilute: Septra 80/400mg in 125ml of D5W and infuse in 90 minutes

Look at what the question is asking.

YOU now need to give, regardless of the drug, 125ml of liquid over 90 min

now open this attachment and see which calculation fits the formulas

The attachment contains seven formulae that I find useful.

Attached Images

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion