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An adolescent with meningococcal meningitis is receiving a continuous IV infusion of penicillin G, which is prescribed as 20 million units in a total volume of 2 liters of normal saline every 24 hours. The pharmacy delivers 10 million units/liter of normal saline. How many mL/hour should the nurse program the infusion pump? (Enter numeric value only. If rounding is required, round to the nearest whole number.)
Answer and Explanation

The Correct Answer is ["83"]

The nurse should set the infusion pump to deliver the entire 2 liters (2000 mL) over the course of 24 hours.

Therefore, the IV pump should be set to deliver:

Rate (mL/hr) = Total volume (mL) / Time (hr)  ​= 2000 mL ​/ 24 hr

After performing the calculation, we find that the rate equals 83.33 mL/hr.

So, the nurse should set the infusion pump to deliver 83 mL/hr (rounded to the nearest whole number). 

This is because 83 mL of the solution contains the prescribed dose of penicillin G every hour.


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Related Questions

Correct Answer is ["100"]

Explanation

Here's how to calculate the infusion rate (mL/hour) for the nurse to administer cefazolin:

We know:

Total volume of solution: 50 mL (given)

Dose of cefazolin: 1 gram (given) = 1000 milligrams (since 1 gram = 1000 milligrams)

Infusion duration: 30 minutes (given) = 0.5 hours (convert minutes to hours by dividing by 60)

We need to find:

Infusion rate (mL/hour)

Calculation:

Calculate the concentration of cefazolin in the solution (not required, but helpful to understand):

We aren't directly given the concentration, but we can see that 1 gram of cefazolin is delivered in 50 mL. Therefore, the concentration is:

Concentration = Dose (mg) / Volume (mL)

Concentration = 1000 mg / 50 mL

Concentration = 20 mg/mL

Calculate the infusion rate based on the total volume and duration:

Infusion rate (mL/hour) = Total volume (mL) / Infusion time (hours)

Infusion rate (mL/hour) = 50 mL / 0.5 hours

Infusion rate (mL/hour) = 100 mL/hour

Since we typically round infusion rates to whole numbers for ease of use with infusion pumps, the nurse should program the pump to deliver 100 mL/hour.

Correct Answer is ["2.4"]

Explanation

Here's how to calculate the volume (mL) the nurse should administer for cefazolin:

1. We know the following:

Prescribed dose: 800 mg cefazolin IM every 6 hours (given)

Vial content: 1 gram cefazolin (given)

However, we need to consider the reconstitution process for accurate dosage calculation.

Reconstitution information:

For IM use, add 2.5 mL sterile water for injection.

This dilution creates a total volume of 3.0 mL.

3. We need to find the concentration of cefazolin in the reconstituted solution (mg/mL).

Concentration (mg/mL) = Total drug amount (mg) / Total volume (mL) after reconstitution

Concentration (mg/mL) = 1 gram (which is 1000 mg) / 3.0 mL

Concentration (mg/mL) = 333.33 mg/mL (round to nearest tenth)

4. Now, we can find the volume to administer for the prescribed dose (800 mg) considering the concentration (333.33 mg/mL) in the reconstituted solution.

Volume to administer (mL): Dose (mg) / Concentration (mg/mL)

Volume to administer (mL): 800 mg / 333.33 mg/mL

Volume to administer (mL): 2.40 mL (round to nearest tenth)

Therefore, the nurse should administer approximately 2.4 mL of the reconstituted cefazolin solution intramuscularly.

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