Calculations
Author(s): Prince Shelly J
Issue: Nov/Dec 1997 - Diverse Ambulatory Patients
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Page(s): 425
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Abstract: The reader is shown how to perform calculations for three problems. The first involves a patient who is taking an intravenous infusion of 5% dextrose and 0.45% sodium chloride with 20mEq/L of potassium chloride at a rate of 100 mL/hour. The reader is shown how to calculate the number of potassium chloride tablets that the patient should take daily to receive the equivalent dose of potassium. The second involves a prescription for 100 mL of cefadroxil suspension 125 mg/5 mL and shows how to perform calculations for preparing this suspension from 250-mg/4 mL strength in 50-mL and 75-mL bottles. The third involves a medication cassette prepared with 8 g of carbenicillin disodium diluted to 250 mL with 0.45% sodium chloride, to be delivered via ambulatory pump in a 2-g dose over 1 hour every 6 hours. The reader is shown how to calculate the quantity of sodium the patient will receive per day from this infusion and the osmolarity of the solution.