Help with math problems!!****

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Hello, I came here to hopefully get some guidance. I dont really have to many people to ask for help on these problems and I am saving my instructor as a last resort, since she is an online teacher and is not on campus very often.

We have a 20 question math exam and I need to get 18/20 to move forward. I have 17/20. I have included the 3 problems that I have been struggling with.

If anyone could help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for any help! I know my conversions and how to calculate drip rate, but these problems are troubling me.

Question 1:

Ordered: Nitrostat 7 mg in 250 mL D%W IV to control clients chest pain.

Pain control is achieved at 20 microdrops/minute.

How many mcg of Nitrostat is the client receiving per minute?

Question 2:

Ordered: Lidocaine 4g in 500 mL D5/W IV to infuse at 2 mg/minute.

How many "gtts" per minute should be administered using microdrop tubing?

Question 3:

The order reads, "Administer Normal Saline, 3 liters, over 24 hrs, beginning 12 hrs before Cisplatin chemotherapy begins."

The nurse will program he infusion pump to deliver the NS at what rate?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

What work have you done already? We are happy to help, but will not simply provide the answers. Show us where you are stuck.

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Oh of course, i really need to understand how to work these for future exams. I actually ended up solving question 3. I believe it's 3000/24= 125ml/hr

Question 1, I am stumped. I have never seen a question like this before.

Question 2: 4000mg/500ml = 2mg/xmL

The drop rate is 60 gtt. Am I on the right track with this one?

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Specializes in Pharmacy, Mathematics, Physics, and Educator.

Hi,

These problems are all the same. You are given the rate in one form and have to change some of the units so that you end up with the units of the answer. You will use the ratios supplied in the problems and some conversion factors to get the job done.

1) You are starting with 20 microdrops/min and have to change that to mcg/min. Now you can see that you only have to change microdrops to mcg.

20 microdrops/min (1 mL/60 microdrops) (7 mg /250 mL) (1000 mcg /mg) =9.3 mcg /min.

2) You are starting off with 2 mg/min and have to change that to microdrops /min. The ratios is 4 g/500 mL and 60 microdrops /ml. You will also have to use 1 g /1000 mg. See if you can finish this one. You might have to flip the 4 g/500 mL upside down.

The last one is just changing L to mL and dividing. If you can't figure out 2 and 3 let me know.

Brad Wojcik PharmD

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